Aluminium engine grill - which is the correct finish for the 5 bars?

[tomster]

Hi all!
I am right in the middle of getting my engine grill back to shine. Some PO spray-covered the whole thing under numerous layers of matte black.
I finally got rid of all of the old paint from the aluminium bars but now I am wondering which finish of the 5 bars would be period correct for my 1970 "S"?

Are the gaps between the bars blank aluminium or painted black? The paint remover I used (dichlormethane, hey!) is such good stuff that it would remove anything, so I have no idea whether there was already some stock black under the spray-over or not. I have seen it both ways on pics on the web. Any help appreciated!

[Richy]

Gaps between the bars were black originally , I don't know exactly how it was done but it appears the bars were painted after the cross pieces were installed .

[tomster]

Thank you for your reply, Richy.
I made that exact observation after having taken off the crossbars, but discarded this option as highly unlikely.
The more so that it could also be because the PO spraypainted the whole thing assembled.
I would agree that it makes sense to have to top section of the "teeth" on the 5 bars not painted in terms of a tighter fitof the crossbars. But such an effort just for the looks?
Anyway, I will try to find a way to paint it black exactly as you said. Thx!
Tom