A customer of mine wants me to make him a custom billet grille for his 72 ranchero. Since prices on these things are crazy/silly expensive and the fact that they dont make billet grilles for rancheros I took on the deal.

since I didnt want to crash and burn I figured I would test on the lower grille spot of my SS. I lost the lower grille in the first snow storm the car went through.

Im thinking I need to follow the body line on the inside a bit more. I followed a pattern when cutting the aluminum and it is pretty close to that. As the angles taper in as it rises they become more extreme and leave a small void.

I have very few mods done to the car and want to keep it like that I cant stand the ricer deal so Im trying to avoid the chicken wire painted bright color deal. I probably wont polish it and will either leave it satin finish or powder coat it. I was just curious of the opinions on this board.

On edit, It needs to really follow the radius of the bumper instead of it being flat..

thanks

 

yeah, if it followed the lines a little bbetter, it'd be pretty fresh.

although, IMO, i like the dark gray of the factory piece better.

 

HMM Im wondering if a black chrome powder coat would look bad ass??

Yea I would have to get it to match the upper grille so I would probably fab one of those up as well.

 

Black would look nice

 

Glad to hear I'm not the only one that did the "Snow Method" of lower grill removal

Looking pretty sweet - like you said, match the contours up a little better and it will kick ass

I also think black would be the way to go, flat black.

 

looks alright, pretty sturdy at least!

 

it looks good but i would look better if it contoured with the bumper

 

doubt it!! right now for mock up the aluminum bars are taped to two pieces of cardboard and wedged into the space.

since it seems like the stock plastic piece used clips to hold itself on Im going to use the two holes that mount to the bumper to hold it in. I will weld it all together. Im not gonna worry about the side fitting the curve but I will throw in a curve to follow the bumper line.

 

It Looks good.. But i agree with everyone else... Make it follow the body a little more and it will be Damn Near perfect.

 

Dude I was so pissed. Stupid snowplow guys. And not like I was going to stop as I was on my way to the firehouse for a fire call.

 

Oh, lol. Mine is pretty sturdy anyway... lops up birds and gophers like nothing!

 

how did you mount yours?

 

looks crooked

 

probably the cheap ass chevy bumper... Plus Im not sure how accurate aluminum rod taped to cardboard would be.

 

L brackets drilled & washered straight through the fascia.

 

oh really? I dont think Im going to do it like that. There are to push locks up inside for the bumper cover I will bracket that location and use the 3 holes on the bottom over the cover.

Thanks

 

Oh

 

Doesnt look bad but the aluminum looks very... thick IMO, I think it would look better with more(thinner) horizontal bars.