perforated metals for grille inserts questions..

so out in the garage digging today and still thinking about a grill choice for the new 56 dodge truck. happen to remeber i've still got the grill bar from the 64 buick sitting in the storage shed. wander out and grab it and whata you know the damn thing would be perfect width to do a floating grille in the stock grille shell. it would have a go bit of open space above and below the side spears so i got to thinking and i came up with 2 solutions.
1.
Perforated metal. i'm thinking something like a stainless or aluminum. get on line and look around find LOTS of sources but NO WHERE listing any kind of pricing. well i'm a cheap *** and this is a budget build so i decide to hit ebay. the only listing there is for 1/16"thick 1/2" holes staggered 11/16" apart. lots of the online places had a large variety and most of it offered in stainless. my thing is i think for this application a smaller hole would maybe look a little better. well the above listed has 48% open space. is 48% enough for airflow for cooling. i'm thinking aluminum or stainless i can polish possibly and brighten up the whole cavity if i want to.

2.
do a perforated or maybe some expanded, but black it out. run the grille bar. and maybe dress it up a little with some late 50s/early 60s poncho trim "stars" in the 4 open areas. i know i could evolve it to any of the above if i didn't like first try.

3.
i still haven't ruled out a drawer pull grille but man buy enough drawer pulls to fill a grille cavity can get expensive real quick. i looked at everytihng from round chrome disc style to chrome ball shaped to bullets. prices ranged from about a buck each on the low end to the chrome ball(what i liked best) being about $3.25 each. i'd have to figure on about a hundred maybe more to do this job.

i guess the biggest question of all is what percentage of open space is a "must" when thinking on doing something like this?...ken....

heres the grille in question

 

Go visit a large sheet metal shop - perf comes in all shapes; round square diamond, oval. Get a piece of rem; they can shear it to size, and even brake up the sides to stiffen it up.

 

Goto McMaster Carr and do a general search for perforated sheets. They list prices.

 

Mcnichols co has a lot of different perfs. i was just looking at perf sheets at lowes or menards the other day too

 

Check out www.mcnichols.com . Anything you want in perforated metals.

 

I was just thinking the same thing for my 55.

So what are you gonna do with the stock grille?

 

I tried to go the pull handle route with the grill on my '60 Plymouth, but that got expensive real quick... even trying to buy in bulk on the bay. This may be another option for me too. Thanks for the info.

 

I made this grill out of 1/2 bar. I get a lot of compliments on it. I roughly copied the original grill. So it looks kinda stock, but it isn't. Check out the picture....

 

If your question is about %'s measure the opening then measure one of the bars and do the math to figure out what Dodge thought was a good %. Looking at your truck and the factory grill I would guess that it has less then 48% open now.
A nice shinny perforated panel would look nice in there but it would really need something else also. Just my two cents.

 

the perf would be backing for the floating bar from my 64 buick. and if need be a few pontiac stars in the empty spaces(don't know if that'd be necessary or not just have to get the rest in first.

i'd actually like to do a bit of a smaller hole if the airflow would be up to par. i'll do some checking on that and i'm gonna call a coupla places in charlotte that deal in this kind of thing. i've gotta spend the better part of next friday there anyhow. local would be nice.

thunder rocket. i'll probably do this to see how it turns out and if it goes well i'll probably sell my grille. anything i can put money back towards the truck with. going to look at a 5th ave for a suspension donor in the next coupla days. i'm probably gonna work with a local guy who does lots of those clips to put it in. between being busy with work and only having a old beat 110 mig i'll pay the reasonable price he gave me to do the clip....ken....

 

mocked the grille bar in. pay no attention to the high tech mock up rope hahahaha. it wouldn't wedge in because the center section always tipped t forward so i look over and see the rope and...........................ken....

 

jrblack30 has the right idea. McMaster-Carr most likely has what yer looking for.

 

I just found this catelog in my shop today. Try Mcnichols Co. www.mcnichols.com or1-800-237-3820. I've nnever bought from them. They got my name years ago and have sent catelogs every few months since. They have all flavors of expanded and perforated metals.

 

We were going to use these guys for the perforated metal on the Kopper Kart. They DO list a lot of different sizes and styles of perforation, but not all are readily available. So be forewarned.
The sizes and arrangements we needed were listed, but NOT an in-stock item. For them to re-tool up and stamp them out, would be about $1000 a sheet (4 x 8) unless we bought 50 or more sheets!