Recently acquired a 1949 Ford Custom from a friend. Small block swapped cruiser kind of car. I've had it a couple months now and it's time to start making a few subtle changes. I gotta say, I'm not a fan of the hood ornament, so I thought a bullnose would be a good start. I remember seeing them for sale but now I can't find one listed anywhere. Have they quit making them or am I not looking in the right spot? Plans call for a little lowering, skirts and lake pipes for now. Later? Maybe some subtle scallops and shaving
Dennis Carpenter has them I think if not Chris should have them laying around. I have a few here but couldn’t put my hands on them to save my life so I’m no help
I did actually. Tried numerous times with a bunch of different search terms. When that failed, I figured I'd try here.
I had found that but the image was the same one I had seen on the Worthpoint. So I researched and saw a bunch of bad reviews about the site
That is a part I was considering casting out of aluminum. I looked for a while before I was able to find one a few years back.
No body makes them any more, there is a person that has advertised on here for a long time but has not found one, the person in the eastern state claims to have every thing but does not produce. Good luck i finly found one in Los Vegas.
I dunno about '49-'50's, but I had a '51 when I was in high school in the fifties and was able to remove the "Jet Plane" from the full length center hood strip and filled the two holes with "Plastic Steel" from the local hardware store, sanded it down, primed it, and painted it with a "spray bomb" that was a very close match; done. It took two years for the "Plastic Steel" to crack and fall out, but by that time, the car had rusted away to the extent it was scrapped.
they were made by Gem Manufacturing back in the day. look for a box at the next swap meet that looks like the picture below. newest car on this box is 1956. the 49- 51 Ford is part number 553. the problem is the bullnose itself doesn't have a part number stamped on it this one is 49-52 Chevrolet search ebay for gem manufacturing twice a week until one pops up. they were easier to find before ebay screwed up ebay motors search where a bunch of unrelated junk pops up. I used to search 1949 Chevrolet every week and found all kinds of stuff. I've found several different bull noses at swaps over the years to buy and sell.
Not wanting to correct you on your own stuff but the box on your photo says "553" for 49-51 Fords. "1053" seems to be for 49-51 Mercs and interestingly also for 53-54 Plymouths. But it's a bit difficult to make out from your photo. That said I would love to have one for my Mercury. Gem Manufacturing no. "1053" anyone?
Look at swap meets through boxes . You’ve put the word out here maybe someone will find one and PM you. Study other pieces of trim that might work. I took a piece of fender trim and used it for a bull nose on my 47 Mercury.
looks like a nice car... I used to have about a hundred NOS Gem bullnose moldings. I traded them to a friend about 20 years ago, I called him and alas, nothing for a shoebox
If I were to do it again, I'd do it like I did the first time : Fill in the stock mounting holes (in a more substantial manner) and paint. I think it would be a much cleaner appearance which in my opinion looks a lot better than a "J.C. Whitney" chrome add on. With the available of matching paint in spray cans, I'll bet the color match would be good too.
It wouldn't be that tough to make one. Do a search for 'steel half oval', you'll get multiple results in steel, stainless steel and brass. Bend/grind/file to shape, install a couple of threaded studs and have it plated. You could even attach it with two-sided trim tape.
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