is the grille in the pic, have the custom piece on it? the piece in the middle of the grille. it replaces the bullet.
The 54 grille is actually two pieces and indented a bit in the center. The photo is kind of blurry, so I imagine that is the seam you see. Now, there may have been an aftermarket filler piece made way back when to sort of fill the gap but I have never seen one. Heck it would not be hard to make a filler piece. There are quite a few 54 customs that have had that done but they usually look professional. Like it came from the factory that way. That could very well be an old backyard job never finished or coming apart though.
Since it's not so clear, and you're looking at it from the rear, it almost looks like a '51/'52 Chevy tooth... R-
It does look like an aftermarket filler pice to me. I think the "seam" you guys are seeing is the edge of the filler. It appears that the rust area you can see is the same piece. These were available form places like J.C. Whitney. In fact, I just looked it up in my 1959 J. C. Whitney catalog. Here's what it says: Custom Grille to fit 1954 Ford Replaces center spinner. Designed with bolt-on feature - no alterations necessary. Beautiful chrome finish - guaranteed triple plated. No. 70350 - each $5.75 They also show several other custom centers to replace the bullet on the 52-54 Ford grille.
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