cutting upa 38 truck nose???

hey guys,

im sure weve all seen a couple examples of 38 ford truck noses being used on hot rods and the ones im most drawn to are of the full hooded variety. the jim jacobs "jake" 34 three window comes to mind right away when i think of this kind of car and what im hunting for in this post is information on how to cut up ~narrow, section~ a 38 grill to look like the one on that car.

figure just pick places that look less complicated to cut then the rest of it and narrow/section till it fits right. but on the off chance some ones done this and wants to share some tips i figured id post.

tim

 

The yellow coupe has a '37 pickup grille, sectioned right down the middle.

 

oh ok, article i read on it said 38, never thought about just taking it out of the middle though now that you say it it makes a heck of alot more sence then anything i was coming up with

tim

 

anybody knwo for sure 37 or 38?

 

Jake's car definitely has a '37 grille.

The '37 grille comes to a point at the bottom, the 38/39 grille is rounded at the bottom (just like the top).

 

ok thought so
thanx
tim

 

still an interesting idea,
the '38-'39 is very large and could stand a little shrinking..
on the right car

 

Jake's coupe has the '37 for sure.
It was delibrately built as a "traditional car" at a time when that wasn't being done anymore, or yet, depending on which way you want to look at it.
He used it because it was already "traditional" but still never too common.
The '38/39 truck grills were, IMAO, the first ****-ugly attempt at intigrating the "Ford Oval" into the vehicle design instead of just leaving it as the FORD Badge as it shoud be.
Why guys are parking those "fencer's masks" out in front of Mustang radiators on "ratrods" is beyond my senses of reasoning. : rolleyes:
The last attempts, hopefully, are that second generation Taurus back window and that Van grill from around the same time.

ETA:
On the other hand, Those Fencer's masks are probabaly the best looking grill Ford ever put on a COE. Depends on the application. Whether the shape intigrates into it's surroundings or just looks "stuck on"

 

yeah the 38/9 narrowed up could make a cool track nose/ westigard mix

 

here's a very quick photo chop
narrowed about 3"
chopped about 8"
and flipped upside down

still just as ugly as ever...

 

I've always thought a 38 truck grill would look good with the first couple of bars covered up. Maybe even a "widow's peak" style that comes to a point if done smooth and graceful.

 

Are you going to reuse the center trim piece?