Been a long time but I picked up another truck so I had to come see what everyone has been up to and share... It's a 1969 F100 that I had seen on Craigslist but then it got hit by a drunk driver when it was just parked. The guy knew that I liked these trucks and had my contact info so he offered it to me at a price I couldn't pass up... So I ended up with another one that I wasn't looking for... I have all the parts to fix it so I brought it home and started replacing the damaged panels. But the only grill I have is a steel grill that had damage and had been repaired poorly. So that prompted me to try something I've been thinking about for awhile and that is a custom grill.







I got to work cutting out the center section and cutting a panel to go around the inside.

















After test fitting and trimming to fit. I then drilled holes and cut some 3/8" threaded rod and dropped them into the grill. I also cut some pre-molded aluminum strips and some aluminum rod for spacers and started sliding them onto the rods.





Also I gave the aluminum strips a little bend so they have a bit of a point and follow the slope back of the grill. Continued cutting spacers and strips and adding them on until it filled up the space.











So now that it's mocked up I need to pull it all back apart and finish body working the shell and clean up all of my cuts on the aluminum. Polish the aluminum strips and then paint the shell the body color. Oh I probably will customize the headlight buckets a little as well but a lot still to do before I start on them.

Thanks for looking.
Fopar1972

 

I'd say for a first attempt, that looks great. Nice job.

 

That looks Bitchin. I would send the other grille to Robert. I bet he could make it look like brand new.

 

Looks very nice, it's very seldom when I like the look of a custom grill but that looks good to me. I would never get that many holes drilled in the correct place to line up without a mill.

 

Thanks!

So far so good, Yeah I've seen Robert's work and his grills look amazing.

Thank you, I'm with you there I'm pretty picky when it comes to custom grills so I'm hoping I can pull this off. I did cheat when it came to the holes... The aluminum strips came with pre-punched holes so all I had to do was drill them a bit larger to fit the 3/8" rod . Then one little relief cut in the center was all it needed to then bend it to match the grill profile.

 

I LIKE it !
Very good work. It complements the truck nicely.
Well done.

 

Amazing work there. Your completed project looks great and I would say provides better radiator protection.

 

Likin’ it!

 

That really looks great. Nice work. I doubt you will win any awards for an inexpensive solution, but it's looks fantastic.
I was going to ask about the bow in the aluminum slats, but I see in the pictures how that was done. Very cleaver.
When will you start selling these?

 

looks great keep posting
RJ

 

Thank you, hopefully when it's fine tuned to fit and polished and painted it will really flow together well.


Thanks, yeah it is surprisingly very solid for being a bunch of part and not really bolted into place yet.


Glad you do so far all very positive replies... I'm sure there are some that don't like it.

As for expense you might be surprised I've only spent about $90 for supplies. The Aluminum strips are a roofing product we sell at work (GAF Termination Bar with lip 10 LF) We sell it for $7.29 a stick (I got it for cost) but even still you make 2 strips per 10' and so far I only needed 5 of 10' strips to make the insert (I bought extra as I wasn't sure how many would be needed) Threaded rod was $14 for 12 LF and the 1/2" Aluminum tube was $10.68 for 3' at Lowes, I bought 3, so another $32. (I'm sure you could find that cheaper but the metal supply was closed) So over all that doesn't seem too bad.

As for selling... let me finish this one first...

Thanks! I plan on it... unfortunately I spent most of yesterday in the ER so now that I'm home and not dying maybe I can get some more work done on it

 

ok guys here is the nearly completed custom grill for my 69 F100. I still need to make some more spacers for the top of the grill (I don't like the threaded rod showing at the top) and I need to pull the bumper and gravel guard off my parts truck clean them up and bolt them onto this truck. The plan is to paint the truck Satin Black or Matt Black and the grill shell will be painted to match so this gives you an idea of what I'm going for.








Thanks for checking it out.

 

Very nice work. I love it when people think outside the box and go for it. Your idea is great and looks amazing. As you know I've done a few grilles all were restored to better than original. I've done a couple of custom grilles and my favorite is the one on my 64. It's a 66 grille modified to what I think they should've looked like.
Yours is vey nice and strong. Just goes to show you don't need to be a professional polisher or work in a fancy shop to be creative.
Keep up the good work.
Robertthegrilleguy

 

Thanks Robert I appreciate your input. I really enjoy the challenge and figuring out how to make something more your own/custom. I don't recall if I've seen your custom 64/66 grille... please post a pic or a link to it.

Thanks
FoPar1972

 

[QUOTE=FoPar1972;19273749]Thanks Robert I appreciate your input. I really enjoy the challenge and figuring out how to make something more your own/custom. I don't recall if I've seen your custom 64/66 grille... please post a pic or a link to it.

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