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Talking to a plater who seems both reliable and halfway reasonable.

There, I pinched myself and I am awake....

Looking to do the main front bumper bar and the undergrill bits. The lower teeth, if you will.

Although my car is a 1956 Patrician, there is no visible evidence that the screen part was ever gold.....

The plater wants to use yellow zinc for the screen; I'm wondering if that's a good idea or something he uses on farm machinery.....


What was the gold? Surely not gold.....

Yellowtone, like a cheap watch?

The circles around the "V", front and rear, and depending on model the script was in fact gold plated, not 24 kt to be sure. I'm not certain about the mesh, I thought it was aluminum and gold anodized (except on some early cars) but if I'm wrong someone will surely correct me.

I believe the early screens were steel and chromed. Later screens were aluminum and anodized. IMO, if you have the steel screen and the plater can do something to come close to the pale yellow gold on the script and emblems and it will last, it would look halfway decent. That look would be important because some of the zinc is kind of garish and I think would look really out of place if the grill turned out a pronounced yellow.

The yellow zinc chromate is used on lots of more hidden items as corrosion protection but I have no idea how well it would hold up in that forced wind and moisture environment. That would be a question to really press the plater on.

It's really too bad none of the regions or vendors picked up the gold repro screen project from a few years ago. I bought a set when they were available and they were first class repros. Doubt if any of those are still around.

Did you try testing the screen with a magnet to see if it was steel? Check the both halves of the screen in the main grille as well; verify that the base materials match.

Chrome-plate grille screens were installed early 56th Series production early on, but the story is that when they saw what Cadillac was using they switched to gold-anodized aluminum. I would consider any finish to be a deviation by subsequent owner(s).

It's not something that's documented in any STB, but evidenced by two distinct P/Ns (for each location) in the parts book. However, you'll find the gold-anodized screen prominently featured, along with a little bit of insider detail, in this advertisement - scanned for our Photo Archive by member 423reed.

One of my two Patricians has the chrome-plated steel screens; the VN is 2853 and the back of the clock is stamped 'DEC 55'. It will be restored as original with chrome-plated screens that were repro'd decades ago.

If it helps any, a 56 Senior shipped ex-factory on 12/8 had a chrome screen, another on 2/19 had anodized gold. Sorry but I don't have any data in between those dates.

Is the anodized gold on the 56 grill the same as the gold used on the 55 dash screen?

Didn't Bob Berg produce the 56 grill screens?

Bob Berg did reproduce the gold screens. I have a set that was sold by Max. They look very authentic.

Since my grille was not originally gold--as far as I can see--I'm thinking chrome is more accurate for me. Been over the screen with a magnifier and can't find any gold....

Rereading noted the vin distinction. Mine is 25xx, so chrome seems the correct choice..... Satin finish?