Technical Deuce grille bar straightening

Anyone have tips or advice on how to best straighten stock steel 32 grille bars? My insert needs some help and I could not find any threads on this topic.

Thanks

 

It's has been covered. Takes time and patience. Here are a couple of links:

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/tech-salvaging-a-32-grille-insert.297188/

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/making-your-own-replacement-32-ford-grill-bars.362494/

Use google for your searches. Type in your query and put "hamb" - no quotes- at the end.
Hamb search function is pretty much worthless.

 

Thanks for the search tip. Think I need to read all @NealinCA tech posts.

 

Any decent sheetmetal shop could fold you up new bars, save yourself time and trouble

 

The old car body shop I use always talked about using a hacksaw blade? He could get them straight. He saved several for me.

 

Not the bars themselves; but my kid was working on an insert where the horizontal support bar was pushed in, he was used a shrinker on the back edge to get it straight again.

 

They are 22g I measured a stock one . Just going to get new ones bent

 

I got run into at the RoundUp few years ago. I removed the bent bars and straightened them. I took a big piece of sheet metal that had a straight side and put them on it. I would clamp one end in the vice and push the other end down and work them until straight. It was easy and went fast. You can’t tell any were ever bent.

 

I got this thread saved:
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...housand-dollars-34-ford-grille-repair.677645/

So I can fix this one day:
http://waywardgarage.com/parts/250dollar1934grill/250dollar1934grill.html

 

I used a wide paint scraper and used a hammer to pound them straight on a piece of wood. I did it gently working from both ends of the damage. I also used a body hammer to work out some the side damage.

 

I straighten my 32 3 window grill bars in 1970 with a hacksaw blade as suggested by krylon 32

 

I use stiff thin putty knives,blocks of wood that are grooved to keep the bar from moving.Here is a grille I just finished for a friend.The bars that were rusted gone I trimmed to where it was solid.I then use a spare bar and grafted pieces to them. I fitted the ends into the slot then trimmed the new piece to length. I found some thin scrap tin that fit tightly in the back slot of the bar and used the pieces to join the 2 parts.Epoxy filler to smooth out the seam sand and primered the entire grille after scraping and sanding the existing bars.I don't have a bead blaster.The crank hole bezel was gone so I got a repro Vintique one .They don't have the tabs on back bottom edge to fold into a slot on the grille frame like the originals and since I don't have a tig welder I epoxy glued it in place. Just posted a pic of a grille insert that has the to holes for the crank hole tabs.It is the insert that has the stainless that pops off and snaps on.

 

I have at least three different original versions of the crank hole bezel. Not sure which is first or later, and I don’t know what kind is currently being reproduced.

 

The one with the stainless that pops off has the 2 slots or holes for the 2 tabs. I just repaired 2 of those.This grille insert has the entire Stainless surround. I didn't know either until I started working on this insert ,there were pieces of the old orig crank hole bezel and it was spotwelded on.I have had a couple of the 3rd style insert that has the stepped outer SS but did not pay attention as to how that bezel was attached. Look at picture 4 which is the bottom center of this grille.You see the stainless has no seam or joint. The insert with the stainless that is removable is different in that there is a 1 inch gap that is coverd by the crank hole bezel.

 

Here is a grille I restored to sell.The ornament is Vintique.All the rest is OEM.The insert had 5 bars and crank hole bezel missing.Some bars were bent . I replaced the missing bars with orig ones and found an original crank hole bezel.That bezel had the 2 tabs. This insert has the removable stainless.Shell is red oxide primer and grille bars are a light gray primer.

 

Just because I love showing off my Vintiques shell and Dales insert.

 

When I cleaned-up my deuce grill ~'75, I used a putty knife ~1.5" wide & a rubber hammer along w/a block of wood. But the bars weren't tweaked all that bad. What I did find interesting, as the grill was from a 4cyl, was the folded sheetmetal bars were heavily zinc plated. & the coating would lightly dust-off onto my fingers. So I scuffed each bar & painted them black enamel/hardener. Worked well. At least back then.
Marcus...