Thread: Grille- yea or neh

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Go for it. But hang your original insert on the garage wall. You may change your mind after a while. Or not.

The truth HURTS sometimes ...

But you could not PAY ME to put the flame grill in my car.
I really like your car ... and I believe that a true knowledgeable " Deuce guy " would love it also.

Sometimes at the shows ... the general crowd walks right on by ... and that's cool too ... but when the " Deuce guy " stops and looks my Roadster over and smiles ... or gives you the thumbs up ... That's when I smile ...

Most of the general crowd does not have a clue ...



Photo taken by Don Dillard @ the LA Roadster event 2007

Deuce makes a point that we have also discussed ourselves..........to build a car to please the average non-car crowd that attend shows you would have to put some outrageous accessories on it and paint it with cartoon characters all over it. Then they would love it. But when a real car nut stoops down to study some little detail you have built into the car, that is the real reward. It's even nicer when he or she takes the time to talk with you about the things you have done.

Don

After you put the flamed grille in be prepared for questions like, "How long do you have to leave that in there to pay off the bet you lost?"

It really is difficult to do "different" things to a Deuce, especially tasteful mods. There are only so many pieces to work with, and so many have been done. As has been said, it's about execution of the details where the appreciation of the knowledgable comes. If you're thinking (out loud or otherwise)of having custom grille pieces made, look at trimming out a stock (or stock like) insert with some additional patterns. I saw a couple cars at the Roadsters Swap and Show that had a Pines Winterfront trim set (or masterful copies) on them, it really gave some nostalgic pop to the grille. I'd post a pic if I've got one in the file, but I'm visiting my mother, using her decrepid computer, and don't have my pic files handy. But you could spend some time doing online searches of pictures of similar vintage luxury cars (Lincolns, Nashes, Imperials, and so on) for inspiration. Some of their grilles apply trim in a very tasteful way. Another would be sports cars of the era (Jag, Lagonda, Bentley) for some other alternatives.

Once again, just an opinion, but I wouldn't even hang that flamed insert on my shop wall let alone put it on my car. Everyone has different idea of what the "perfect" deuce should look like, if it should have fenders, if it should be chopped, and if so, how much, what kind of hood, what kind of graphics, what type of wheels, how wide of tires, traditional bias plys or modern radials, roadster or coupe, etc... if they were all the same they'd be boring.
Your car looks awesome in the first pic you posted...sometimes changing stuff just for changes sake isn't a good thing... on the flipside of that, if you like it, use it, and tell everyone who has something smart as$ed to say about it (like me!) to $#%*-off.

Well- I've decided it won't be going on the car. Sometimes, a guy needs to be slapped silly before he makes the big mistake & now- it seems it would have been a huge one. Who better to ask advice from than a bunch of Deuce owners?
I keep going out to the garage & look at that grille & the more I look at it- the more I dis-like it. And..... the more I like the Bob Drake grille I borrowed.
I called Dan Fink this morning to get an idea of lead time. They say anywhere from 14 weeks to 24 weeks- depending on style. I see they have these grilles priced starting from $800.00 all the way up to $2200.00
The Bob Drake grille is $400.00
Decisions- decisions- decisions.


Hey- it could have been worse, I could have put this on the car.

I have a Dan Fink grill insert in my '32, but I chose it to stay with the theme of the car--modern California smooth look. I like the traditional grill in your deuce because it is built on a traditional theme. Style is important, and when you have a stylistic inconsistency, it jumps out at you as wrong--like the deuce 3W highboy I saw at GoodGuys in Des Moines a couple of years ago with a 4 piece hood, gas tank out back, independent front suspension, and 20 inch Budniks. Beautifully finished car but a gross mismatch of parts.