Vintagevin here on the HAMB installed one on his 57 red Nomad. I'll look to see if I have pictures of it.
A local guy had one in his 57 Bel Air hardtop around 1960. He kept the car for years and years, I used to see it around from time to time.
Put one in my 57 last winter,not to hard to do. I used the smaller of the two sizes grills. Lots of cutting to the Buick grill,so once you start there's no going back so it's going to be either a nice custom grill or a pile of junk potmetal. Unfortnately I didn't take any"during"pictures but I do have some Afters that I'll try to post when I find them.
Congrats to ralphies54 this is the way a finished install should look. Ends rounded around bumper ends and cut to neatly tuck under top bar. Have seen so many cobbled installs so it is nice to see one so nicely done. The grille in my '57 was installed in Jan. 1958
i remember seeing that particular swap in several of the "little books" from the 50s. i've always thought that was one of the nicer grille swaps.
What model grille did you use? Is it the Roadmaster that has a bigger grille. I never knew there was more than one grille in the 57 Buick line. Pat
I put one in mine and used the bigger of the two grills, which made it a huge pain in the ass but the end result was worth it because it flows better with the shape of the bumper then the smaller ones. Quite a bit of fab work to the front end to make it a bolt in though. The headlights were an experiment, they were actualy off road halogens, but drew too much power and burned up headlight swithces and i didnt want to hack up my wiring harness to install relays.
It was so popular back in the day that the AMT 3-in-1 model kit made the grille bar a seperate part and gave you a '57 Buick grille insert for the stock bumper as an option.
Check out the pix on "vintage shots from days gone by" Post # 59075. It's a great looking '57 Chev with a 57 Buick grill . ...................Jack
LOL...in 1962, I was working in Fremont, NE...wrecked my '57 150 two door- center punched a '60 Ford...insurance paid for a new front clip...I bought a '57 Buick grille to replace the stocker...took it to the body shop to have them install it before the car got painted...I called to ask when I could come over to see the new grille and the guy that answered the phone said "I don't care how they do it in California, in Nebraska, that grille ain't going to fit in that opening. Come and get it." I never got that fine grille installed in my '57 but I did get it nosed and decked instead... R-
I did, back in 1986, I bought my grille from a junkyard for $50, those were the days. It was quite the job as I recall, not exactly a drop in, it needed a lotta chopping to fit and I couldn't use my stock hood latch, I had to do reverse hood pins it was a a pain in the ass, looked gorgeous though.
The Jalopy Journal
