The 1935 Ford Grille Shell

Here is some pic's of my 35. It's coming apart in January for a chopped top, some chassis refinements and a return to a more retro old style look. No more 2 tone just solid black. JIM

 

Hey all,
does anyone here know who makes a 1935 Ford splash apron or the sheet metal to connect the grille to the fenders/frame at the bottom??

 

I think they were using a 4 die stamp or in other words it was a 4 station stamping not just on blow stamping and so there isn't any single die for the grill. It was tried and failed several time before and so the inexperienced gave up but actually it's not hard if you know the stamping procedure. Condition of steel being used and 4 part dies for the grill bars and a 2 piece die for the tuck under portion below the radiator with grill bars. This is why no one knows where the dies are because they are looking for one die and that's not going to happen. It's far too expensive to reproduce to because the dies needed for the grill would cost more than you could sell them for. Two piece grills have been tried but still too much labor involved for cost efficiency. Fiberglass looks cheap and wont sell for what they want . I know where one is now in fiberglass and I wouldn't but it either because you have to do way too much prep to make it work even as a painted grill . If you had the dies necessary for the grill production you would have to send it to a third world country to have them made and we all know how the quality control works with foreign countries Not so good. Sometimes you can't even message the part to even make it fit right because it's way off on the dimensions. Over a million 35 and 36 ford were made 35 had the first year of almost everything bodywise and dropped in 36 for a simpler design which made it cheaper to produce. First thing was a 2 piece front fender ,second was the grill, third was the wheel hubs to do away with wire wheels which were more costly to produce. In 1937 finally they went to a two part roof die to get the center closed with steel and not have it wrinkle . thus no roof ribs made of wood parts just metal ribs . It's all about the buck at this point . The designer of the 35 Ford was the same person that designed the Pierce Arrow Car.

 

Yes Bob Drake early V 8 parts. about 135 bucks or so as of December 2021.

 

I just saw this thread on the 35 fords. I have a 35 fordor flatback sedan. The grille that was in the car when I got it was bent and poorly repaired. I found an N.O.S. one at a swap meet for $100. (that was in the 1980's). could not afford to plate it so it is painted. The P.O. of the car had some kind of plaque mounted to the middle of the front bumper
and had drilled 2 holes to mount it. I used the holes to hang a couple of bells from. when I get too close to a curb, I can hear the bells so know it is time to stop.

 

Plus, they'll keep the gremlins away...