Topic: 65 Grille replacement stock thickness

[fjm]

My factory 65 grill is a mess, with some broken and distorted honeycomb I would fix if steel, but can't because it's aluminum. I found a lot of replacement grilles I can buy online and bought one from Mustangs Unlimited.  It's only half the thickness of the original stock and very flimsy and bends easily.  Does anyone know where I can get a replacement with an original stock thickness?

[CharlesTurner]

Your money was wasted on the repro.  Only way to go on this part is NOS or good used original.

[fjm]

Yeah.  I know.  Not the first I've wasted money on.
So far I haven't been able to find either, and it's hard to trust what you find online.  Will keep looking.

[evantugby]

Yeah.  I know.  Not the first I've wasted money on.
So far I haven't been able to find either, and it's hard to trust what you find online.  Will keep looking.

It shouldn't be hard to find an original grill from a parts car, craigslist, ebay or even find a NOS one from any one of the guys across the country that sell NOS items.  Fred Ballard in Canyon City California is a guy I use to buy NOS parts. 

[carlite65]

be careful of some n.o.s. parts as i have seen them incorrectly finished. you may have to repaint what you find.

[rrenz]

be careful of some n.o.s. parts as i have seen them incorrectly finished. you may have to repaint what you find.

+1.Having done a ton of research during the restoration of mine I've seen 66 NOS grilles without the center blackout ,unpainted rivets and even with more modern style rivets.

[CharlesTurner]

Ford serviced the '65 grille, later version, with incorrect style rivets.  It's a little work to make right, but way better than the repro.

[jwc66k]

My factory 65 grill is a mess, [and] it's aluminum. It's only half the thickness of the original stock and very flimsy and bends easily. 

Just out of curiosity, what was the thickness? I measured mine, it is aluminum too, and it's 0.053-0.055 inch thick on the upper horizontal edge to the left of the latch support bracket.
(As long as I was there, I measured the steel radiator support and it's also 0.053 inch thick.)
Jim

[fjm]

Using an old micrometer, my original grille thickness reads about 0.042... the repro is 0.023.  Not sure how accurate the micro is but even if it's off a bit the original thickness for sure measures about 2x the repro.  Pretty thin and easy to distort.  I'm still looking for a good original and will change out the repro if I find one.

As for rivets, I've seen pictures of solid rivet heads that are supposed to be original.  Looking again at my old grille, a couple original factory rivets still on brackets have a hole in the center of the head and look exactly like stock Surebonder aluminum pop rivets I picked up at Menards.  Side by side, can't tell them apart, though the bottom of the replacements bulge a bit more after install.

Sure learn a lot on this forum.  Fun, and aggravating at the same time.