History 32 grills on 28/29 roadsters

Hey Chris, just have to say your roadster is one of my faves...Beautiful! So...how much did you lower the shell? And did you just cut the sides, or section? I realize every car is a little different but yours does looks great.
Thanks, Johnny

 

Take a look at this grill shell. it sets way above the cowl.



A deuce grill shell can look good but it is not just a bolt on hey I am cool thing, this one is just a bolt on hey I am cool thing. if you are going to run a deuce grill shell you cannot just scab it together, that is just sloppy. None of the guys that had their shit about 'em would run one like this. Which is probably why I don't care for a deuce shell on an A. This is was a smooth build until they dropped the ball.

Its easier to see in the second pic





This one on the other hand is built right. it is not just scabbed on there.

 

Definitely agree that shell sits too high. It's not overly difficult to section the '32 grill so it sits even with the cowl, or even an inch below the cowl. We sectioned 5" from my shell so it looks 'right'. The most difficult part was welding the insert back together.

 

On the left is my sons '31 Roadster with an original '32 Pines Winterfront grill shell and my '28 Roadster with a '32 Grill shell

 

Reading comprehension is not a strong suit obviously...

 

We have all seen those cars where its real obvious that the builder just screwed the pieces together without ever stopping and backing off 20' to take a good long look.
For my money, when you are looking at something like a grill shell position, headlights, or a top, I would give it 48hrs, sometimes you dont see it clearly right away, and it takes time to sink in.

 

I think my pal used to say it looks like it was built in a "shotgun shop".
Not enough room to stand back and take a look before finish welding.
We used to see a 57 drag car with rear wheel openings that weren't too bad looking up close, but were absolutely hideous looking from 20 feet away.

 

It kinda blows my mind that guys use the fact that some guys do something in a shoddy half-assed way as a "reason" not to do it. Hell, if I used that line of reasoning, I wouldnt build ANY hot rods, cause man there sure are some UGLY ones out there!!!

 

I just know there will be some sore toes from this but............sorry about that.
Just too many wannabe's that take that whole 50's traditional thing too far, a lot of ugly death traps came from this era, why do we still perpetuate these abominations to "fit in".
Coilovers and TIG welds are not a crime.

Edit
I should be clear that this is more of a generic statement, not directed at the pictured examples.

 

Hi I have put a 32 shell on a 30 and found that when you are running biggies and littles you first need to do is get the car square to the road ,place a level on the running board as a guide this will eliminate the rake illusion I have stands and place blocks under the front wheels to level ,run a straight edge along the belt line and this will determine the bonnet angle around 3 to 4 degrees is good shorten the radiator and grille shell with the bonnet angle as a guide steady as she goes, I then alter a front lower valence to suit I also had to alter the front and rear bonnet edges by welding on and the scribing a 1/4 in or 5 mm gap and trimming same for uniform gapping when work is completed lower car and you will find the rake to be just right all ticitty boo good luck Dave

 

My tow cents: I like the Deuce grill but it seems that every A rod run them, why? The A grill is a nice piece. Do all of those A owners really wish they had a '32 but settled for a model A and installed the deuce grill. Aerodynamics? Some look good but "everyone" doing the same thing?

And how about the position of the grill? I have seen some that are perpendicular to the ground and others that are parallel to the firewall. I prefer the latter. What say all of you?

 

man, seems the other way round to me. And if you cut fill and peak the shell and flank it with King Bees or Arrows, like they did back when, there are hardly ANY being built that way now...And parallel to the firewall, always.

 

I really like 32 shells on model A's if done right, but I preferred the A shell on my old 29 RPU.

Mick

 

Just today, I was just flipping through an R&C from 1995 and had a little blurb on your car, Mick. Yes, it does look good.

 

Mine from years past

 

This is an example of that "too small shop" syndrome Beaner mentioned above. The shell is mounted too high compared to the cowl, and it looks like it's leaning forward.

 

I’m pretty proud of mine.


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

of course Bonniville roadster have to have one.

 

I looked up this thread because I'm trying to decide whether it's worth the trouble to run a full hood on my '29 roadster with a deuce grill. It's an interestingly universal phenomenon on message boards that if someone asks for factual first-hand knowledge on any particular subject, the first response almost always starts out with "I don't know, but....". If a person can admit to the whole world that they don't know something, why do they have so much trouble coming to terms with that fact themselves.

If the thread is an opinion piece about a trend or a style, it's reasonable to reply with an opinion. It gets really boring to sift through everyone's opinion about deuce grills or split wishbones or what really constitutes traditional. I get it about tweed and billet two-tone jobs, but traditional rods ran the gamut and people buy cars and invest a lot of time and money to honor what they like.

Have an opinion all you please, but it would be so refreshing to have technical questions answered by people with first hand knowledge. As for my build, I'm going to figure out what happens when I try to mount a deuce grill with a '32 shell on an original frame, and maybe I'll post it.

 

I'd just make sure the hood / side seam lines up with the cowl / gas tank seam. Making a new hood probably makes it all easier. Do the final mods on the shell last?

 

A Friends Conversion...