Having nicely bared my soul in asking about fiberglass grill shells, it is just possible that I can use steel after all. So, please comment on your experience with steel, filled, unchopped 1932 Ford car grill shells from Brookville or Bob Drake (same price) or Mac's (slightly more). I am interested in fit, quality of stamping, amount of work needed to get paint ready,etc. I thank you all, in advance, for your input and for staying on topic.
We have werked on several Brookville grill shells with minimal straightening via block sanding. once powder coated they turn out great. Here's one on a 29 RPU we just did
Mine was a vintiques shell that I chopped 2.5" It was easy to do and work with and the insert fit like butter. Before: During: After:
Another vote for the Vintiques '32 grill shell. Mine's a filled and unchopped stamping, it's a very nice piece.
i have a stock height 32 ford fiberglass grillshell. the insert is from an original 32 ford passenger car grillshell. i want to replace the fiberglass grillshell with a steel reproduction one. i have heard some of the reproduction steel grillshells will not fit the original insert. what steel reproduction grill shells will fit the original insert?
So, where is Vintique? I Googled them and only get a site "under construction". None of the general suppliers I checked out list them. Do they still exist?
I personally bought and sold a few from ebay .Guy by the name of gearhead world,Pat Pryor has one and I showed him that an original insert fits his perfectly ,There usually around 185 ,Not fat rodder though ,Diferent manufacturer ,I had Drake's ,Moon .Wescotts ,gearhead world,Fatrodder Tried to make money on all of them,Always broke even ,Thats as far as I went ,Did not get into inserts ,I have 3 original and 2 original shells ,Im keeping mine ,
This was the last repo I did with a couple relief cuts and had to rework the inside edges with some filler ,,Took only a couple of hours , Fatrodder Also Brookville doed not have provisions for shell lacing .
a buddy recently bought one from gearhead with no troubles but be warned http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=559643&highlight=gearhead http://stores.ebay.com/Rodpartsdealer-Gearhead-Enterprises they have several handles and even go as far as being located in 2 different towns.
i'm actually pretty sure the vintique shell is made in the states, i'm not 100% on that though. they are my preference, both in terms of money and quality. as far as the inserts are concerned, the drake insert is heavier and better quality than the vintique one, but the vintique insert is drastically easier to install and make fit.
i don't think anything vintique is made in the USA....not bad quality for china but i haven't seen anything buy them yet that was made in US i am pretty sure FATRODDER and gearhead are the same place and a few other names, they probably buy in bulk and have different vendors as far as macs or brookville ...chances are they might be the same or at least they once were brookville used to supply all those guys...with the new mfg of steel shells that may have changed pretty sure brookville is the only game in town that is made in the USA unless you are talking fiberglass or origional
I believe that Vintique has a retail store named C. W. Moss, in Orange, Calif. They have a website that lists their phone number. Try www.cwmoss.com
Thanks,Jim. Their website at that inks seems to be pretty old and outdated,I think I read 2007? Plus you can't view anything online. Guess I could call them but i'd really like to see some data on it first and be able to compare shipping. Compared to Bob Drake or Sacramento Vintage Ford, they're not very user friendly!
Eric Riley ( Riley's Automotive ) is a Vintque dealer. http://www.riley-auto.com/-_32_FORD_GRILL.html He went by Vaphead here. He was a ALLIANCE vendor for the Hamb at one time. I have bought from him many times without incident ... but do a search ... I recall that some here have said they had problems. He is no longer a Alliance vendor ... I believe So you be the judge. The Vintque is the best fitting repro shell IMHO. I bought one for a friends project and it fit like a Henry Original.
I've done a lot of research on this as well haven't bought mine yet but the consensus seems to be that Vintique's shell and insert blows everyone else out of the water.
The shell looks great. Reading through the posts, I guess I wouldn't get one from Riley if it was the last one standing. Noone needs that hassle.
I might be able to give you my take on the Brookville shell if they ever send it to me,,I won one at the Goodguys show in Charlotte,North Carolina last October (almost 4 months ago now) but I have yet to see it! HRP
I bought Vintique from Sullivan's Garage-nice folks to deal with-my first order. http://www.sullivansgarage.com
I re-used the insert I already head from the 2 part, Bondo'd bastardized shell I replaced. No idea of the manufacturer, but the painter had quite a bit of work to get it in place-removing/replacing some of the bars,etc. I'd suggest buying the shell and insert from the same mfg., but I really have no experience doing this so I don't know how they'll fit.
Thank you. I am leaning on a vintique shell with their insert or maybe the dales insert. Hard to know which way to go.
I bought my Vintiques shell from the Early Ford Store in San Dimas, Ca. www.earlyfordstore.com Far as I know, the Vintiques grille shell is the only repro shell that has accurate details like the little slotted holes where the webbing goes.