(AD) Any opinions on who makes a good repop grille?

[torchlight]

Hi all, it is getting close to time in my rebuild to mock up the front sheetmetal, and my original grille is too rough to save. I've had me eyes out for a good condition original, but haven't had any luck. I do prefer original sheetmetal, but probably easier to go repop on this one. However, I've heard some horror stories about aftermarket grilles not being true to original and/or not fitting correctly. Anyone have knowledge of a repop parts seller that offers a good replacement grille option? 1953 3100

Thanks!
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[parkwood]

Not sure who made it, but we got it from Brother's and it fit pretty well... had to open up some holes a little to let it move around but for an after market grill it fit nice..

[coralhead]

Mine also from Brothers.

[donandal]

I bought one from LMC.
I saw one on an AD at a car show so asked where the guy got it.
I bought the chrome/chrome unit and it looks pretty good.
That being said, it was very pricey. The main problems with it that i see
are as follows.

One, all of the bolts, nuts, and screws were cheap hardware store variety
and would probably rust in no time, spoiling the chrome. Some of the screws
and clips were not even plated.

Two, the outer dimensions at the bolt holes to the fender were slightly off.
the result being that the grill would fit slightly different in the grill opening
and requires readjusting all the fender to grill gaps.

Three, the bolts and nuts that needed to be replaced with stainless were all
previously tightened with the grill slightly bowed down in the middle, giving that common
pinched look at the first row with the park lights in it.
I jigged mine on the bench with all stainless hardware and now it is nice and square.

good luck

[RedneckRodder]

Got mine from Brothers as well. The frame fits the opening, but required some finessing to get it just right (sagged down about 2" in the middle as assembled from the supplier).

I tore it all apart for my mock up so the bars wouldn't get damaged, and corrected all the issues before reassembling it. There's a lot of little hardware, and some of it is a pain to access. I suspect any aftermarket grill is going to be like this. Best trick I found for getting everything lined up was to mount the hood, then adjust the fenders to the hood first before even attempting to mount the grill.

I'll try to get a better picture tomorrow.
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[mr48chev]

From what I have read most of the horror stories come from the ones that run straight down on the sides and don't have that slight taper to them or the bars are all the same length rather than being individual lengths.

[Zach B]

Brothers does I think but personally I would try Jim Carter classic truck parts. He has some good products and the are American products if they are still produced in America.
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