Horn grills; how close to perfect can cut modified ones look?

[kenikh]

If a person machined out the center bar in a set of regular horn grills, hand filed the cut edges to the correct chamfer then had them rechromed, is there any way to tell the difference between these modified units and factory cutout horngrills? I am pondering doing this but want to know if it is even worth my time. I would want them to look 100% correct or I wouldn't do it.

[bob tilton]

I seem to recall a guy over on 912bbs.org who created a template from an original. He then fabricated a set from regular horn grills and had them rechromed.

[gruen911]

It's very doable and they will look like the real thing if they are cut properly and rechromed. I did it with a pair of rough horngrilles just to do a dry run. Glad I didn't use nice ones because I made a few mistakes. Since then, I have bought one good horngrille and am looking for the other side in order to do the real thing. Best tool to cut the grilles is a dremel. Get a very strong steel bit because these things are a bitch to cut...

[tfmcmahon]

I have done them and it was fairly easy.I found originals and made templates to within a mm.I used a Dremel cutting disk for my gross cuts,went to small metal files for beveling the edges and I glue sandpaper to paint stirs in varying courseness for final finishing.Wear a mask with the Dremel and eye protection as the metal dust is bad news! Royal Plating here in Tucson did the chrome work for less than $100 for both.Been through three concours and no one has said a word,but I took my time and they look damm good.

[hoffman912]

i didnt have an original SWB example to go by, so i made my own. with the help of my best friend, who is and industrial engineer, and pics of original ones, we modified a set to what we thought would look better than just a big hole. this was done about 2 years ago, and i havent had a chance to get these chromed yet.

its not correct, but looks good. you can probably at least get some ideas about how to do it, but you will need an original to get the pattern from in order to do it 100% correct.


here is a link to my original thread on 912bbs.org on how i did it, what is needed to do it, with pics of all the steps.

http://912bbs.org/index.php?a=thread&p=74726

[caproader]

Harry,

Do you have access to any LWB templates? I need something to do in the garage here in Cincinnati this winter.

John Meyer

[kenikh]

The ones you made look very different from these. The black ones only have the middle bar missing. What's the deal?

[pwd72s]

tfmcmahon's grills look BETTER than original...better plating. And a better "smooth" on the grilles themselves. My originals look like cheap cast pot metal, taken out of the mold bumps and all, with a lowest bidder chrome plating job. The factory grills weren't smoothed & plated that well. Wow, whoever plated those did a superior job!
Different angle, but here's a pic I have on file of originals. Kenikh, I'm not sure on the black plastic grills. Maybe removing the center bar was all that was needed? A source I trust told me the factory plastic grills were moulded, not cut.

[kenikh]

If they are plastic, they were definitely molded. Thanks for the pics of your grills. A few good pics is all I will need to modify mine.

[reed]

The ones you made look very different from these. The black ones only have the middle bar missing. What's the deal?

I believe the photo of the black plastic grill that kenikh posted is correct for dealer ordered grill foglights after 1973. I have never seen a black plastic grill with molded cutouts like the earlier chrome ones.

I think these points were brought up in another post but if you ordered factory fogs in '73 your car came through with the earlier metal chrome grills with molded cutouts. If you ordered the factory kit from the dealer after '73 you were supplied with what I have pictured below. That is black plastic grills simply with the center bar cut out.