Installation 34 grille trim

rhphotord

rhphotord

Senior Member
Bought a Bob Drake stainless grill trim for my 34 and have been frustrated by this seemingly easy installation. My grille has been painted to match my car so I have to be extremely carefull. I taped the hay out of the grille to protect the paint but I broke two mounting clips attempting to install the darn thing and they keep sliding all over during the process! OK, there has to be some secret handshake thingy and a wink of the eye to those in the know. Any tricks of the trade I can use to makes this job easier on my psyche? Thanks to all.
 
You think that's bad, try a trim kit for a '39 Deluxe grille. Nice stainless but, unless you have a stock grille in perfect condition, the clips are not worth anything. They hold, sorta'. One piece of trim fell off somewhere on the road and when I called Drake to ask about buying a replacement, I got zip. It was just too bad.I understand their reluctance to break up a set but I also have a feeling I'm not the only one that needed one replacement. I was extremely disappointed with this and have tried to send my business elsewhere since then.
I still haven't located the part so I'll ask here. Anyone have the smallest piece of the grille trim that they would sell? There were, evidently, two versions of this piece, one longer than the other. I need the one that is close to 4" long. Please let me know.Here's a pic of the trim I need. Thanks.
 

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The grille trim was purchased from another vendor sourcing Drake parts. Called the sales dept at Drake and was told the "T" bolt set was not available for sale seperately. Very courteous but unable to help. So I presume if you need them or misplace them you are up the river so to speak.
 
rhphotord said:
The grille trim was purchased from another vendor sourcing Drake parts. Called the sales dept at Drake and was told the "T" bolt set was not available for sale seperately. Very courteous but unable to help. So I presume if you need them or misplace them you are up the river so to speak.
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Sorry to hijack your thread. You got the same "courteous but unable to help" response that I got. But, they did offer to sell me a whole new set of bars for full retail. :eek: Good luck finding the clips. Do any of the aftermarket hardware suppliers have what you need?
 
39coupe said:
Sorry to hijack your thread. You got the same "courteous but unable to help" response that I got. But, they did offer to sell me a whole new set of bars for full retail. :eek: Good luck finding the clips. Do any of the aftermarket hardware suppliers have what you need?
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You know I had the same problem with Home Depot I re roofed my house with their shingles, later we had a 70 mile wind that blew off two shingles, they wouldn't sell me just two shingles, ya know i bet other people have had this problem to! Now long do you expect Drake to warranty his parts, you installed the trim piece, is it his fault it fell off after you installed it, drove how many miles? Most of his parts are top rate parts.he has filled a big need in this car hobby . were lucky to have him as a supplier. I'll bet you wouldn't break up a set either repops or originals, By the above post it looks like he has joined this Forum , As far as your trim piece, have you tried the classified section, HAMB, Hemmings.
 
34coupe said:
You know I had the same problem with Home Depot I re roofed my house with their shingles, later we had a 70 mile wind that blew off two shingles, they wouldn't sell me just two shingles, ya know i bet other people have had this problem to! Now long do you expect Drake to warranty his parts, you installed the trim piece, is it his fault it fell off after you installed it, drove how many miles? Most of his parts are top rate parts.he has filled a big need in this car hobby . were lucky to have him as a supplier. I'll bet you wouldn't break up a set either repops or originals, By the above post it looks like he has joined this Forum , As far as your trim piece, have you tried the classified section, HAMB, Hemmings.
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Yeah, I would expect the part to stay on longer than a month. The clips are the issue.They do not have enough spring to pop open once they are inserted into the hole. I tried opening them up and they still were not tight. It seem silly that they would not have had calls for the one or two bars for a situation like mine or to replace some maybe damaged in shipping. Or maybe, just to help a good customer out. I'm glad there are guys like Bob out there making these pretty high quality parts. I bought plenty of them. But, he lost me as a customer over this deal.
And yeah, I'd sell off the extra bars if I was foolish enough to buy another set of these trims. But, I'm not going to spend $400 for a four inch piece of stainless. I have tried some classifieds but no luck yet.
 
We all have had bad experiences with vendors but Drake is not one I can complain about. I was contacted through this site by Drake and they have made the t-bolts available in their catalogue. Ordered the parts today and I am more than pleased with the service I received.
 
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