1934/35 grilles

G

Graham Freeman

Senior Member
I have a question on the 1935 passenger grille finish.
According to the 33/34 restoration manual there is a flat black finish under the hood webbing on the 34 grille.
My question is does the same apply to the 35 passenger grille?
I can not find any mention about this in the 35/36 restoration book.
Could someone clarify this for me please.
Thanks
Graham.
 
Graham, the spare grille I have and the grille on my '35 Roadster has the same finish un polished chrome. Regards,Gary
 
Graham about 12 years ago I bought some parts from a man in Mayberry NC. Yep home of Andy and Barney on tv. He had NOS 34 and 35 chrome grills and a very nice unused chrome 34 reproduction grill and he pointed out to me the dull chrome on 34&35 but repo was shiny or had none.
 
KiWinUS,


One of the most common mistakes made in the restoration of '33 to '37 passenger cars is the finish of the grilles. Ford did not use bright nickel plating as a plating base, but rather dull nickel was used. Only the areas of the grille that were intended to have a bright finish where then polished so that the end result is that only the front edges of the grille bars ended up with a bright finish along with the perimeter raised sections on '33, '34, and '35 deluxe grilles. The most extreme example was the '33 grilles where the bars were not polished at all and only the raised perimeter had a bright finish. All of the NOS '33-deluxe '35, '36, and '37 that I have had and seen are consistent with the above as are numerous Ford U.S. and Ford of Canada archives photos, including the process of polishing the dull nickel.


Nearly all platers these days use bright nickel rather than dull nickel as a time and money saver. A dull finish can be created on bright chrome with a course grade of ScotchBrite.
 
Thanks for the input guys but the main object of my question was on page 7-8 of the 33/34 restoration book there is a mention of semigloss black paint beneath the padding on some 34 grilles.
Was this also possibly carried onto the 35 grilles?
 
The practice began with the '33 grilles. The paint appear to have been applied with a brush, rather than sprayed, as though it was an afterthought.


Hopefully Don Rogers will enlighten us regarding '35 grilles.
 
Dave, your description of the dull nickel plating and polishing of the 35 grille is spot on. No paint any where
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top