The Grille Man Does It Again
by Leighton Rawlings
reproduced from Restored Cars Australia Jan-Feb 2004
page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

The 1935 Grille

The 1935 unit also sweeps down underneath the front, following the line of the fenders, this is where most damage occurs due to it being vulnerable to any object projecting above ground level. The fit here is excellent, as can be seen in our pictures of the installation of the re-manufactured grille.

	The un-plated new metal grille in a test fit on a 1935 Ford. Gaps are good even though the fender is not bolted to it at the side.

This close fit was in evidence right throughout the procedure, the only problem existed on the top right side where the original bonnet had been damaged and bent at the leading edge of both the upper and lower bonnet panels, this could be easily corrected by a panel beater and the alignment would be perfect.

As can be seen we even fitted up a repro V8 1935 upper grille bezel to both the original grille and also the reproduction unit, with the result that the fit again was excellent. Another fascinating fact to come to light is that when coming from the Ford factory in 1933-1934 and 1935 the recess where the bonnet lacing is located was painted black, this could possible be due to production line fit up, where time was of the essence, so the final fit did not have to be perfect.

The re-manufactured grille we worked with was in raw polished steel and has not yet been chrome plated, this was a real benefit as if there had been any flaws they would have been more than obvious. At this point it is interesting to note the actual production figures of Ford vehicles both in Australia and America.