Original 1923-T grille shells

[Rick]

Going over to this guys house who i met at the car show last night he had collected a bunch of parts to build another t-bucket as he had one already.Old lady busted him for speeding around 90 miles an hour with there 8 year old son.Got rid of the car then recently her LOL.He had a bunch of saved parts to build another one but bought a full fendered '29 roadster(sweet).I'll check out what other"junk" he has.Said for me to make an offer for the shells.

 

[tfeverfred]

I hope it works out tobe a good score, Rick. For some reason, those things are hard to find and the ones you do find are next to junk.

Hey! Have you seen these in the Speedway garage sale!?

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/p/3133,1054_24-25-Radiator-Shells.html

 

[Rick]

Yea i did but $124 is a bit much when 1)you don't really need one.2)I can score these vintage ones for a steel.LOL

 

[Youngster]

I won't even think twice...buy 'em!! If nothing else, there probably would be someone on here that would take them off your hands.

Ron

 

[Rick]

That was/is my plan sell two here at cost.

 

[Brucer]

i'm in the market for a steel T grill shell.. i have a steel body and would love to have a stell shell to match.

 

[Rick]

I went to see the shells and you can tell there from 1923 alright.2 23's and a 26-27 shell.I had to pass on them cause they have some rust through and are in my opinion not worth the $50.00 he wants per each.Sorry for the false alarm.

 

[Youngster]

Too bad, I would have passed too. Oh well ya still got the Falcons, right?

Ron

 

[GAB]

Anybody game for a little project?

The subject of the lack of good T grill shells got me to thinking a while back. I got to doodling on how to go about making one and this is what I came up with.

Start with a piece of 1" tubing bent as shown and then split in half. A die grinder with a thin cutoff wheel mounted to a piece of particle board and set at the right height to split it should work.

Then a piece of 16 ga. sheet metal sheared to whatever width you need for your particular radiator depth. The 16 ga. would be to match the wall thickness of the tube. Hand bent around a piece of material that matches the outside radius of the bent tube. A sheet metal brake would make quick work of the two bottom bends but they could be done with careful and gradual use of a hammer over the edge of a piece of steel clamped to the part.

Now a piece of 1/2" tube with a couple of bends on the ends and another splitting project with a bit of trimming to match up to the 1" tube on the ends.

Cut a filler piece for the top and you got it.

Weld it up and dress out the welds.

Piece of cake ? ? ? :sad: Oh! maybe not huh? About this time that $125.00 shell looks pretty cheap!

 

[tfeverfred]

$125 seems like a lot, but when you compare it to the time and energy you'd save, it' might be worth saving up for.

 

[donsrods]

When I was building my T I wanted a steel shell because all the fiberglass ones I saw were too thin or too thick. I remembered that Total Performance and others used to carry steel ones so I started making some calls. I found out no one was repopping steel ones any more because the presses had worn out and were too expensive to warrant remaking them.

I finally scored a mint grille shell from a very nice guy on another forum and we modified it to work on my car. From that Speedway ad it looks like they have found a source for them and the steel ones are available again.

Don

 

[butch27]

George: How you going to cut the tubing in half after it's bent?

 

[Youngster]

When you look at your options, $50 each dosen't sound so bad. I just saw a Speedway shell last weekend. They are nice but lack some of the details of a stocker. The big thing for me would be the absence of the Ford logo on the face.

Ron

 

[GAB]

Butch27,

Here is one way to do it. It would take several cutting disc though. Cut the outside and then the inside.

A bigger piece of particle board would help too.

 

["The Bat" out of hell]

When you look at your options, $50 each dosen't sound so bad. I just saw a Speedway shell last weekend. They are nice but lack some of the details of a stocker. The big thing for me would be the absence of the Ford logo on the face.

Ron

I know the older repops had the embosed FORD,but these newer repops don't have. I too like the looks of an FORD emblem on rad shell,maybe it would look good with one from "A" added to it.
Ford Radiator Emblems
Not "T" as made but still would look good I think. and help take away the fib-glass look.
Funny thing is before all the fib-glass,that in the 1950's having a wiped off clean FORD embosing would of been very cool on a metal shell.

 

[Rick]

The guy still has the rad.shells But in my opinion the rust on them (not much)over rides there use.Sorry but i don't want any part of being the broker on these.

 

[LumenAl]

Butch27,

Here is one way to do it. It would take several cutting disc though. Cut the outside and then the inside.

A bigger piece of particle board would help too.

That is such a cool idea! I swear... I learn something from you almost every day you post something...