Thread: Alumicraft grille

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I'm not posting much these days, but I've been working on the '37 Oze 7 days a week through the winter. It's running again, with all but three body parts painted. There's still a lot of color sanding and buffing to be done.

I had to leave the hood sides and hood unfinished because I had no grille and all those parts must be fitted to the grille.

I finally got my Alumicraft grille about 10 day ago. I'm about done fitting the body to the grille, so the last three parts can go to the paint booth.

My Alumicraft grille was made to match the mounting flange profile of the model grille I provided and it matched perfectly. About 100 hours of labor were required to build a new welding fixture for my grille. I was not charged for this work and only paid the normal $1800 price. Alumicraft grilles of this type have polished leading edges and the rest has a brushed finish. The welds are all hidden, unlike the ugly front and side welds on my Oze grille. The fins spacing is also perfect, unlike my old Oze grille.

It did take 15 months to get the grille, and fouled up the build sequence, but at least I now have a grille worth putting on the car. Many thanks to Dan Baker at Alumicraft!

Good to hear that you got a piece you can enjoy. Maybe a bit pricey but not once you see the quality.

A thing of beauty is a joy forever.....
John Keats

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Photo? Sure would like to see the difference.

Originally Posted by Scooting

Photo? Sure would like to see the difference.

I'll post some pics when the front is painted. The old grill looks pretty sad after I split it apart in 5 places , welded it back together and applied bondo where needed to fill the remaining gaps between the body and the grille. Apparently it made a great model though.

It looks a lot like the Wild Rod grille that Alumicraft makes. 1937 Wild Rod & Atlanta Hot Rods

As for the price, it's really well-priced when you consider that the grille has 50 laser-cut fins that require 150 individual welds and some very precise fixturing.

Does this "new" grill design allow you to remove one side of the nose to access that side of the engine without remove the other side of the nose and grill? That would be a major improvement.

Originally Posted by hammer-time

Does this "new" grill design allow you to remove one side of the nose to access that side of the engine without remove the other side of the nose and grill? That would be a major improvement.

That would actually be impossible since the hood side must be moved forward and up to remove it. The hood side laps under the main body, right below the A pillar, at the belt line by several inches and must be moved forward by that amount. The fenders also bolt to the hood sides, so they would need to be removed first.

I have my hood sides separated, which does allow me to install or remove the grille for access to the A/C condenser and hoses, without removing anything else. The stock Oze hood sides are one-piece. That requires the grille to be mounted to the nose section, before it's installed on the car. Removing the grille then requires the hood to be removed first and then the fenders and hood sides. To me, it's a major design flaw that really fouls up servicing.

I can't think of much engine service that can't be done with hood sides in place. The fenders are what really get in the way of getting up close to the engine compartment.

The grille design is really unchanged, other than adding the aluminum top plate. All Dan did was drill four countersunk holes for some #10 flat head bolts, into the top fin. The top plate slides under the top fin. The top plate has four matching 10-24 threaded holes so there are no nuts needed. The top plate is installed after the grille has been attached to the hood sides.

The top plate could also be made to sit flush with the top fin, but that requires more work, like welding some mounting tabs to the underside of the top fin. Eventually, I want a custom top plate that is flush and has a 90 degree bend at the back, to cover the gap between the top plate and the top of the radiator. I have some ideas on how to do this with .06" aluminum that I can bend, without too much trouble. The top plate I have can serve as the mounting surface. Adding some .06 aluminum as a spacer under the new top plate will space it up flush with the top fin. That project will have to wait until a whole lot of other things are done.

Great to hear, if any grill is worth the money its the one you just got, in a year from now the pain of the 1800 will long be gone but the joy of a quality prouct will still be there, besides I gave the same amount in 2006 for a Wildrod grill so considering the dollar cheeseburger at McDonalds from 2006 is now a $1.38 you did quite well (That folks is not just 38 cents but 38% inflation)