Road Runner Nest

On the center section on my 72 grill as like many out there it does not lay flat to the bumper..Is there a way to maybe heat it or whatever to get it back to laying flat?? Any help would be greatly appreciated..

I've had good luck with placing plastic parts in the oven in the kitchen, at about 175 degrees for about 15 minutes, then taking them out, laying them on a flat surface and using like paint stir sticks and weights, shaping and holding them where they need to be with weights, and letting them cool. Once cool, they remain in the position you had them shaped to.

BuckNeccid wrote:I've had good luck with placing plastic parts in the oven in the kitchen, at about 175 degrees for about 15 minutes, then taking them out, laying them on a flat surface and using like paint stir sticks and weights, shaping and holding them where they need to be with weights, and letting them cool. Once cool, they remain in the position you had them shaped to.

I would recommend practicing this technique on something other than your grille.

471Magnum wrote:

BuckNeccid wrote:I've had good luck with placing plastic parts in the oven in the kitchen, at about 175 degrees for about 15 minutes, then taking them out, laying them on a flat surface and using like paint stir sticks and weights, shaping and holding them where they need to be with weights, and letting them cool. Once cool, they remain in the position you had them shaped to.

I would recommend practicing this technique on something other than your grille.

With what '72 grilles are worth, absolutely!!!

Mine is like that and I see it as a "badge of speed"! i.e. high speed wind flowing over the lower bumper and pushing the center grill piece up slightly. The higher the "bow" the longer & higher the speeds of the car have been! This entire grill is all original and 38 years old now!



That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

FWIW when I restored mine, I left it like it was. Just cleaned & painted it! Wasn't about to try and "reform" it, especially with heat or anything else. A "bowed" '72 Road Runner ORIGINAL grille is a thousand times better than a (1) melted one, (2) broken one!

Guys, I know it sounds scary, but think about it. At what temp does plastic melt? That's not even hot enough to melt the paint on the grille, let alone the plastic. On a hot day, take the temp of your grille when it's been sitting in direct sunlight for a few hours. And like someone said, try it on something else first. You may be surprised at just how well it does work, and how safe it is. I know a '70 GTX grille isn't as scarce as a '72 rr grille, but I've done it to that grille, as well as the front eyebrow spoilers from a '71.

There should be studs with nuts to hold the front of the grill to the bumper. Alot of times the studs break off. The car I'm working on was missing two and I broke a third taking it apart. But I repaired it with some short #6 screws and epoxy.