1968-69 grille repair

[ptbump67]

Has anyone successfully straightened the smaller grille bars on your 68-69 grille? I bought a used grille and one of the smaller bars was bent a little and after looking at it closer I noticed the shape of the bar is distorted a bit and has lost some of the sharpness in the bends.

[jzjames]

A skilled metal guy can usually tap out those dings. So that they’re almost invisible.

[sport71]

I've done it.. it takes time and plenty of patience...

[Ranchero50]

Ditto, it's much easier to stretch metal than shrink it. That means use a minimum of hammer work and block everything you tap against so only the distorted surfaces move. Polish your hammer faces so they don't imprint dings on the surfaces. I try to do most of the beating on the back side, rest the good front edge against a 2x4 in a vise.