34 commercial grille ID?

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drfromnc

Senior Member
I recently bought a Bob Drake 34-35 grille shell ornament to fit my 34 pickup grille because the ornament I had didn’t fit right. It didn’t have the curved notch on the bottom tail where it mates against the SS grille trim. The new ornament doesn’t fit right either. It doesn’t appear to be long enough to wrap around the bull nose of the shell. Plus the rad cap (part 46-8100-b) won’t spin into place because of no clearance with ornament.

Can Someone help me by verifying my grille is a 34 pickup or has the bull nose area been modified?
 

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drfromnc said:
I recently bought a Bob Drake 34-35 grille shell ornament to fit my 34 pickup grille because the ornament I had didn’t fit right. It didn’t have the curved notch on the bottom tail where it mates against the SS grille trim. The new ornament doesn’t fit right either. It doesn’t appear to be long enough to wrap around the bull nose of the shell. Plus the rad cap (part 46-8100-b) won’t spin into place because of no clearance with ornament.

Can Someone help me by verifying my grille is a 34 pickup or has the bull nose area been modified?
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drfromnc said:
Thanks, I do agree that it is 34 commercial but I don’t understand why the ornament doesn’t fit right.
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Many reproductions don't fit like the original parts. Yours is not an isolated case, it's a fairly common complaint. Still, it's better than not having replacement parts at all, so the usual remedy is to rework the repro to fit, sometimes with very good results.
 
ford38v8 said:
Many reproductions don't fit like the original parts. Yours is not an isolated case, it's a fairly common complaint. Still, it's better than not having replacement parts at all, so the usual remedy is to rework the repro to fit, sometimes with very good results.
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Before assuming the repro part or the grille is the culprit of poor fit (as repros may be "off" or vary, and original parts may be NOS rejects, modified after 80 years, or simply vary.



1. Check the repro ornament to a known "good" grille. Better yet to 2 or 3.
2. Check the grille to a known fitting ornament (finish not important), again, better 2 or 3.
Based on results the ornament will be "off" the grille will be "off", or both. If its the ornament then first try for an exchange with Drake, if that does not provide a fix then modify the ornament as Ford38V8 suggests.
 
 
drfromnc said:
...Can Someone help me by verifying my grille is a 34 pickup or has the bull nose area been modified?
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Look at the backside of the bullnose, you may see hammer dolly marks. The precise contour of a panel is critical when it fits up to another part.
 
Alan counsel is right on. Even without alternation, my experience with '32 radiator shells (a fair number) which are similarly shaped is that a NOS die cast trim will fit best on one shell, a Drake reproduction being the best fit on another radiator shell, and a Vintique reproduction being the best fit on another radiator shell even without any evidence of body work repairs on any of those three radiator shells.
 
DavidG said:
Alan counsel is right on. Even without alternation, my experience with '32 radiator shells (a fair number) which are similarly shaped is that a NOS die cast trim will fit best on one shell, a Drake reproduction being the best fit on another radiator shell, and a Vintique reproduction being the best fit on another radiator shell even without any evidence of body work repairs on any of those three radiator shells.
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I also have one of the Vintique repro ornaments and it didn’t fit right either. Like flatheadted stated the ornament didn’t reach the trim.
 
'33 did not have all that extra molding at the top of the shell. They only had a small indent for the tiny blue FORD oval and a thin center bow point. Hardly nothing around the radiator filler cap either. And the '32 shell was straight vertical. 33 and 34 had a slight rake.
 
al's28/33 said:
'33 did not have all that extra molding at the top of the shell. They only had a small indent for the tiny blue FORD oval and a thin center bow point. Hardly nothing around the radiator filler cap either. And the '32 shell was straight vertical. 33 and 34 had a slight rake.
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I have a 34 pickup with the original grill shell it is like the one pictchered by petehovie.
BUT. the edges have the factory tiny slotted holes for the screws that slide around in the factory or Drake grill shell surround stainless trim.
The shells in the pitchers do not appear to have those holes indicating they are 33s not 34s.
I bought the Drake SS trim and it fit like a glove...............
 
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