3200GT Chrome Grille Surround

[Massa in Perth]

Where can I locate one of these please? Eurospares says obsolete now.

Thanks.

 

[StuartW]

They crop up on ebay from time to time but you could try David Askew?

 

[Massa in Perth]

Thanks Stuart, good idea I have emailed him. Anyone have other suggestions? 4200 grille will definitely not fit, right?

 

[Almichie]

Re chrome of its not damaged?

 

[davy83]

yes i re-chromed my grill surround and it looks like new, i got the trident done too and it is starting to corrode again so not sure thats as good a fix. it still looks better now than before i had it done and thats been 5 years at least

 

[Massa in Perth]

Found one in Germany 400Euros. FYI David Askew has a bent one painted black for 220GBP in case anyone needs one. Maserati won't be making any more (where have I heard that before...?).

 

[Marlon]

Davy,
How easy was it to remove the grill and trident as I have a piece of chrome missing from the surround so would like to get it re-chromed but I've heard its bumper off which is a PITA to do???

 

[jluis]

Found one in Germany 400Euros. FYI David Askew has a bent one painted black for 220GBP in case anyone needs one. Maserati won't be making any more (where have I heard that before...?).

Maseratis aka expensive 10 year throw aways.

 

[Almichie]

Maseratis aka expensive 10 year throw aways.

It'll make a small bump mean the car is written off....

 

[davy83]

You don't have to remove the bumper to get the grill out. there are some screws which you can see if you look up at the top edge of the chrome surround, remove these first. The bottom edge is held in place by some quite stiff spring catches, but these just pull out. they are a bit Italian so be careful here, but they do just pull out. You should then have the complete grill assembly in your hands and the mesh and trident can be separated easily.

Davy,
How easy was it to remove the grill and trident as I have a piece of chrome missing from the surround so would like to get it re-chromed but I've heard its bumper off which is a PITA to do???

 

[miket]

A full front grille has just come up for sale on eBay.

 

[Marlon]

I see there are a couple of front grills for the 4200 but I have a 3200GT, can't see them on e-bay? do you have a link?

Davy, thanks for the info on getting the front grill out. Next weekends project me thinks.

 

[miket]

Item No 151813967581 on eBay UK

 

[Moz1000]

I spotted this and thought - YMBJ - for a used part!
The weak point with these grille assemblies (3200 and 4200) is the the chrome on the surround is plated very thin and it doesn't take much polishing to actually remove it.
This leaves the nickel pre-coat which can be shiny but never buffs up like chrome. Re-plating can work out ok, but a good job can cost good money.
The other weak point is the grille - it get's damaged buy stones, and also buy removal (removal is not easy if the lower clips are seized up with corrosion, which leads to damage of the wire grille when you try to pull it out from the front bumper surround). This applies to the 3200, 4200 and probably the GranSport.
The remedy here is to straighten it out, square-up all the criss-crosses, treat it and respray it black. Comes up ok.
And then of course is the trident itself. This is chrome-plated cast aluminium, and it will corrode as soon as the plating receives a stone chip, or rain water is left to settle in the gullies.
Apart from a new trident (quite a few quid), the remedy here is to remove all the corrosion/pitting with a fine file, and then treat affected areas with a lacquer. This prevents further corrosion and still looks good.
My 2-euro cents worth.
Dave

 

[greeny12]

I see there are a couple of front grills for the 4200 but I have a 3200GT, can't see them on e-bay? do you have a link?

Davy, thanks for the info on getting the front grill out. Next weekends project me thinks.

A little tip from someone who did this job recently:

The bullet plugs that hold the grille in at the bottom do indeed pull out, but they need a bl00dy good wriggle! Each one sits inside a ring of metal and they have to come out right through the middle of the ring or they won't budge, trust me!

I found pushing down gently at the points where the plugs go in helped enormously, as the main place they were catching on my grille was at the top of the ring. Good luck!!

 

[greeny12]

See also:

http://www.sportsmaserati.com/showt...g-quite-chuffed-with-myself!?highlight=grille

 

[rs48635]

I have a spare bent chrome grill surround for the 3200. Slightly twisted, chrome generally good, but polished thin on the lower inner face.

Had new one fitted after mine was reversed into. Someone nicked the beefy chrome wire mesh though.

 

[Marlon]

Found the item on e-bay but a) I am too late and b) not prepared to spend that much on a used grill so many thanks for all the tips, tricks and photo link to the other thread: "Feeling quite chuffed with myself!" I'm now going to put some time aside later in the year to remove mine and get it re-chromed and may well send it off to company linked again in the other thread.

Good stuff - cheers all!