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Forgive me if I'm in the wrong forum for this, but I'm looking for a grille shell for my 79 F-150. I finally got the go-ahead from the boss to let me spend on renovating my truck. I cannot believe these things go in the $750+ range! Mine is pretty sand blasted, the truck was a farm truck for the first 40 or so years of its life. I would really like to find one thats in really good shape.
Since I caught my wife in a weak moment, im going to go ahead and get it repainted in its original gold color. Very little rot/rust, mostly just sun faded, and I have a great body guy/painter who's done work for me for a lot of years. I want to catch the rust before it turns to rot, and the interior needs a little love too. Nothing fancy about the truck, its just a 2wd 4sp Custom, but its clean and reliable, and fun to drive. I've actually had offers on it while sitting at a light, and In a parking lot.
If you have ideas, let me know what you might do if it was yours. Keep in mind I want to keep it stock, its too good to mod up. The picture of it is a few years old right after i bought it, and the seller put a cheap wax job on it. The paint ain't that shiny!
I'd keep the grille that is on it, buff it lightly, keep it waxed ... unless a tree fell on it since that picture. A cheap wax job that works is better than a high dollar boutique wax job that does no better.
After redoing my truck a few years ago (one could actually see rust holes in places), I looked at new grills, steel with chrome, but then the bumper and guards would look worse, and totaly out of place, so I just did a polish with a little Hipatchi Semi Chrome, cleaned up nice, did not go through the anodizing.
Since you asked for opinions...
I really like the Alcoa wheels from the 90's on these trucks paired with a set AT tires make a really good look. This was a unit I bought to body swap onto my 4x4 but decided it was still to good to do that to it. I put the 90's F150 Alcoas & 31" AT tires
There are trim restoration businesses that could polish that grille up no problem. King of Trim is a good one I have experience with. They are out of Pacoima, ca.
restorations aren’t cheap so brace yourself for more…
I know how expensive full faithful restorations are. In the last 20 years I've done a 66 Mustang coupe, a 71 Mustang Mach 1, and a 67 Ford Fairlane GT, and my 79 F-150 is my next target. Believe me, I know what that costs. It's either a "hobby" or an "infatuation"! 😊
