TECH: Salvaging a '32 Grille Insert

I traded for this "bundle of sticks" not too long ago. The guy i traded said that there was not one usable bar...





Plus, the guys at work laughed at me when I got this, so I just had to see what could be done with it.

Here's the pile spread out a little...



Let's pick a nice one to start with...



Hammer it flat...



But it's still wavy...



Drive a putty knife in to open it up and start to straighten it out...



Then a piece of 18 ga. to get the final dimension...



It's getting closer...



Now I've got a pile of "kinda" straight one's going...



Now the whole batch is reasonably straight...



So I turned my attention to the surround...



The bottom was pretty bad. I had another stainless trim piece, so I popped the old one off, hammered and tweaked until it fit the shell. The replacement trim went on real easy. I then straightened out the two cross braces using the shrinker and started fitting bars in place...



I ended up with 30 of the 43 bars...



...but it kinda looks like something usable now, with just a few hours of work. I was looking for a shell and insert for my sedan, this came along, so I thought I'd give it a shot...I'm happy I did.

I located some more original bars. When I get it all done and on the car I'll try to get a "finished" pic...but for now this'll be my first contribution to Tech Week.

Thanks,

Neal

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Update:

Here's the "finished" pic, installed on my old Fordor...

 

WOW!!! Think of how many nicer ones were tossed! That's amazing!

 

Just goes to show you a little bit of hard work and tenacity makes for a great project. Great job!!

 

OH, GREAT! Now I'll never be able to throw out ANYTHING!

 

Tell em all to EAT CROW!!!

Nice job! a few more bars and some gloss black and you're set!!

 

thats cool!! all it takes is patience. my dad straightened a 36 grille out for my friend that i would of labeled as scrap....after he straitened ALL the fins i was blown away!!

 

"I then straightened out the two cross braces using the shrinker and started fitting bars in place..."

Can you explain how you use the shrinker to get the cross braces back into place? This is another great post Neal.

 

As you can see here...



...the cross braces were bent pretty bad. When I tried to straighten them out it was obvious they were stretched, as they wanted to pop up/down and in/out. Shrinking the back flange straightened them right out and made them strong again.

Neal

 

You give us hope.

 

With all due respect, as you were doing this for yourself the time investment is like most of our projects..ie time doesn't enter into the final value. BUT, if this was a job for a paying customer, would the hours, at the current billable shop labor, be less than purchasing a quality reproduction?
For those of us who don't have your fantastic talents, or really deep pockets for this kind of restoration of highly damaged parts, buying the reproduction is our only answer.

 

WOW ! Nice work .

 

Rich,,you gotta remember,,this is an original Deuce piece and take a look at what he is going to install it on,,,repro just wouldn't work.

I admire the talent to take a pile of sticks and reshape it,,,nothing that is original Henry is too far gone anymore,,,proof is in the photos! HRP

 

Nicely done Neal.

How many hours do you think you have in the project?
Not as many as most think I suspect.

How you gonna do the replacement pieces?
I always thought a person could do them with a sheet metal brake.

Length of wider than necessary sheet metal so the brake could grab it.
And . . . a piece the proper width may fold without slipping.

Anyway, bend the piece at a 45* and finish the fold in an aluminum padded jaw vise.
Don't close it flat, just so the sides are parallel.
After the first bend you could shear it to proper width.

Just a thought, I'd guess you have an even better way to do it.

Regardless, impressive.

 

Rich, those are good points. Myself (and probably a good % of us) would have wrote this insert off as trash. The tech article gives hope to those that can't so easily afford a cherry or repro part-or simply take great pride in a "save from the dead"-be it a part or an entire car. Plus, there's not ANY welding involved. Simple hand tools and tons of detrmination and some labor.
Another factor is how lucky us early V8 Ford guys are when it comes to repro parts. The tech article could apply to a similar grille from an off brand make where zero repops are available and a tedious restoration is the only choice unless you get lucky enough to find a cherry part that's not priced through the roof.. Shows where restoration labor costs from the pros go.
Great tech article!

 

WOW!! I've seen much better parts junked! Goes to show what can be done if you set your mind to it!!

 

C9 is right, I don't have too many hours in it, just a couple of evenings. The bars took about 5 minutes each...so there's two or three hours and the surround took an hour or so to straighten out...then about an hour to piece it back together. At shop rate, it would be cost prohibitive, but as others said...that's not the point! Doing projects like this is the only way I can piece together two (or more) 32 Fords.

As far as the replacement bars go...I have found more original bars. I have got some and waiting on a few more. I hope to end up with some extras, as my brother is fixing a similar insert. We just like messing with old Ford parts...

Thanks,

Neal

 

Just curious, how much cash do you have in this? It doesn't look hard at all. And to counter Rich's point. If he did fix it up and put it on ebay, how much would he get for an "orginal" 32 grille? I bet that cash could buy the repro and some more parts for him. For us poor backyard folks, that's how you get them built.

 

Great job Neal,love to see the early Ford goodies brought back to life.Louie

 

Primo thread as always Neal!

 

Who cares about what a shop would do. Tech week is not about what the shop does that is why you never see Jesse James post any tech. This post was a challenge too see what some of the high dollar and nay sayers said could not be repaired and look what he came up with. NealnCa for fact has put that roadster truck together with bits and pieces from all kinds of 32 that people would have thrown away. For the talent part you can do this just take your time because as you stated the time means nothing.

Great job Neal now the cat is out of the bag about all the grill bar bundles you see at the swap meets.

Really Neal I hope you show more on the pickup it just plain bad ass.

 

GREAT save! This rates right up there with the '32 shell someone made last year from a '52 or so Chevy pickup grill surround. If this is going on the RPU in your acitar we need a full size photo.

 

These talents are what one develops over time, by doing it. I'm sure most of us have turned perfectly good material into scrap developing our talents. If ya never try, ya never learn or improve.
Kudos to Neal for instruction and inspiration.

 

wow, you did wonders with that, great job.

 

great job i hope i get to see a finished picture when its complete

 

excellent...

 

good idea! they are worth saving, even if you can get them new.

 

Very cool........if my mind is correct........didn't you build a 32' Grille shell outta' a 50's truck grill when the HAMB was alot smaller.

Chris Nelson
Kansas

 

i have a pretty good stash of original bars if u could come up with one of those cross braces i would be willing to trade u some as i need one more cross brace to build an insert i have laying around ! nice work also good to see stuff like that being saved instead of just opting for repo !

 

Gee Whiz! Nice goin

 

Yeah that was me...about five years ago. The post is still in the Tech Archive...

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=221

And yes, I know you can buy new bars, but 40 of them at $3 each exceded the budget of this cheap skate.

Neal