Hot Rods Original 32 grill verses repop

How can you tell a original 32 grill from a reproduction ?

 

Original bars were painted steel. Repros are unpainted stainless.

There were also 3 versions of originals, but that's another story.

 

I can only speak of the reproductions as I have never owned an original.
There are good repro inserts and there are some that are not so good.
The real cheap ones are made overseas and do not fit in the grill shell very well.
The first one I bought would not even begin to go in my Vintiques grill shell, my current insert is a Dales Mfg. made in OKC and is a perfect fit, the extra $100 was money well spent.

 

Does Dale's Manufacturing still make 32 ford incerts?

 

Nope, long gone.

 

Original vertical bars are folded in a V shape.
Horizontal bars are pressed steel. Quite unusual.
Stainless outer ring.

if you have an insert that you want identified, put some photos up, showing detail.

 

Here is a grill I have. See what you guys think.

 

I'm a 32 grille hoarder and have a small collection of nice original grilles and shells. All my cars have original shells with Dales Inserts. Sadly my supply of Dales inserts has finally ran out. That said personally I think today the best insert is being made by United Pacific, as for shells it's a crap shoot. I've had some good and some not so good from Vintique, I have given away a couple of Brookville shells because the insert to shell fit was so bad I didn't want to fuss with them. Still nothing beats an original grille and shell.

 

The back side would be a good giveaway on a shell, I know the back side of mine has so many pounded out dents and welded in patch panels that would never show up on a reproduction shell. I suppose if you had an NOS shell or something it would be hard to tell it from a reproduction if both of them got repainted front and back.

I know there are quite a few places that made repop shells and I've not seen them all but a lot of them don't have the 3 holes in the bottom where the crank handle would go through, and others seem like they're thinner gauge steel.

But a really top quality repop shell that was painted would be pretty tough to differentiate from a really minty original shell that was also repainted.

 

Are you looking for info on the grill shell or the insert? It seems the insert is what everyone is offering info on. As to the shell itself, the quality of the reproductions is a crap shoot. I gave up after two and purchased an original for my Deuce roadster.

 

Price.

Chris

 

I recently sold a really nice original grille and shell with no bezel or rear stainless for 2500.00 plus the ride. I currently have one with original bezel, blue oval and rear stainless that I've priced at 3500.00. No takers and I don't really care.The ridiculous price is based on condition, and I've gotten 750.00 out of a nice patine-d bezel and blue oval, plus the condition of the rear stainless.

 

So can anyone tell me with the pictures I posted above if this is an original one? I think it is. I just want to confirm it.

 

I'd be shocked if that was a replica, were they ever reproduced with mild steel bars? And if they were, how long ago?

 

If that was mine I’d say it was original. MHO

 

It’s an original, looks the same as one I have.

 

original

 

Hoarding might be why the prices are high on original ones. Cut some loose if they are just wall souvenirs.

 

Thank you all for confirming what I already thought. If anything hopefully the close-up photos will help other people confirm what they have. It's the only one I have so I will restore it and put it in my coupe.

 

Hoarding 32 Grilles and shells has been going on forever. I've been in shops with over 100 hanging on the wall. I remember when I had the privilege of touring the legendary Seacrest collection there were grill shells hanging everywhere plus a few stacks that hadn't been hung yet.

 

John Stimac has a pretty nice collection of deuce shells and inserts.
I've not seen them in person, just photos.

 

Dead give away right here. Every repro insert I've ever seen has slots on the crank hole cover and slides over the grille bars.

 

Absolutely 100% Original
- the other thing to look at is the horizontal bars.
The triangular shapes that hold the vertical bars in place, are pointing in opposite directions from the centre out !
I’ve not studied reproduction ones, but I doubt they would even be held together like an original.

take the paint off and you will find a stainless steel outer ring and crankhole.

what @hotrodjack33 says above is correct also.

 

Krylon32 I went through a period that I purchased a lot of 32 grilles and inserts. I sold off some but still have a couple. They are such a great design.

 

Smart guy that I am, I decided to start downsizing 10-12 years ago. Over the years, I had accumulated over 20 grilles, '32s, '33s & '34s. I was amazed that I was getting $500-$800 apiece for them...and thought this has got to be the "top" of the market, and we'll never see prices THAT high again...oops

 

@hotrodjack33 at least you’re not like me, buy high and sell low.

 

Never understood why the original grill bars were mild steel instead of stainless. Cheapass Henry I guess.

 

I'm not a hoarder, just a caretaker

 

Nice group John.

 

He was in the business of selling cheap cars