Any experience on Repro 1940 Ford Deluxe grille Bob Drake, Vintique, and Speedway Motors. The cost of an original grille is similar and generally require re chroming. Just curious which direction to take. Any advice much appreciated.
Both are currently available, Speedway for $619 US, Drake $1400 US, original around $900 !!!! At the price, Speedway looks good, not sure of the quality.
Hello, If there is anything worse, it is a nice deluxe grille that is pitted or flaky. So, if you can get an original N.O.S. replacement, do so. But, it is tremendously difficult to tell the difference in replacement grilles. It is the sight of the old hot rod that draws the attention of the folks around where you drive or park. The local hot rod folks will scrutinize your hot rod as usual and someone might say your grille is nice, but a reproduction. So what? Luckily, as a teenager, my 40 Ford Deluxe Sedan Delivery had excellent chrome parts everywhere. as a teen, I kept them shiny and nice. Despite being in a salt air environment constantly. Early morning road trips along the coastline anywhere usually is packed with the salt air mist still hanging around from the night before. Then if it is one of those days, the salt air fog starts to creep in toward the shoreline and inundate the cars parked or moving along the shoreline. We can’t all live in a bubble when out on the road enjoying our hot rods or in our case surf breaks. So, a power wash afterwards always kept our hot rods clean and shiny. As I got older and married after college, my wife and I were in the middle of expanding our business and bought a big time project 327 powered 40 Ford Deluxe Sedan Delivery. At first sight, we thought it was complete and ready for our coastal journeys. But, despite the original viewing and driving home, it was one long project ahead of us to get it safe enough to drive. The front end wobbled, the sedan delivery drifted in the lanes, the motor ran fine, but the overall car needed help. So, it took several long months of work, repair, replacement of parts by me and our expert wheel, tire, suspension and alignment guy to make it all work together. After many months of work and repair to the running gear, it was one reliable hot rod for all purposes and it took us all over So Cal during our adventure days… Jnaki Although both Ford Deluxe Sedan Deliveries 6 years apart, still had wonderful chrome parts and accessories. But, in case of more replacements, luckily, we lived near the Ford Parts Obsolete that was a couple of blocks from our teenage high school house era. But, we never had to buy a whole deluxe grille set up. So, if comments are going to ruin your day, get the N.O.S. version and be happy with the decision. We never let others decide what was going on or off of our builds. but, a pitted chrome part does need some help and the easiest thing is to buy a new one, unless you own a chrome repair shop. YRMV
Used a couple Drakes with great results, perfect fit. Never used Vintique or Speedway but I suspect their quality and fit are reflected in the price. No place to pinch pennies.
If an original grille needs plating, it w ill be very expensive, and pot metal, so may be worse when you get it back than when it went. I bought an 'NOS' grille over the net, when I received it, its not what it was sold as, so be careful wuth anything second hand, if its not in front of you, give it a miss. Makes Drakes a better, although not cheap, option
there are people on the hamb with much more knowledge & experience than me ***embling 40 grilles .it seems like 3/8 bolts will fit in the grille holes but you need to use 1/4 inch.also the Frank Oddo article on ***embling a 40 dog house is a helpful read
Its a wonder he had one. Every time i call, no matter the item, its out of stock, back ordered, , discontinued, or no longer available. My luck. He use to be my fav.
search on the Hamb for this thread it did not have the article .but had what magazine it was in & good info STREET RODDER TECH ARTICLE - 1940 FORD SHEET METAL
The Jalopy Journal
