TUBE GRILLE on 72

[bean]

I know this may be blasphemy... but I m interested In good recommendations for a tube grille for my 72. I need a new outer shell anyway so may as well go all out. Those of have done this where did you get yours from and how was the fit? Thanks guys

[CG]

So you are talking replacing the egg crate center section with tubes? I personally really like that look, but have never found a set that I would like. The ones Im talking about are actual tube grills from the 60's and 70's. I have seen billet square tube grills, but not my style so I never looked in to them.

BTW its not blasphemy to build your truck the way you want it =)

[72c20customcamper]

Had one on the 72 when I bought it was nice but wasn’t the look I wanted. No idea the brand though

[best view]

Bean there are professionals that can help you with this weird thought

[dagnabbitt]

I support your idea, although I don't know who makes them now. I'm sure there are vintage ones available that you could restore.

Everything that is old is new again: if you want a tube grill I think it would look good with some cragars etc.

[special-K]

It's not a weird thought because companies used to make them by the hundreds. Maybe outdated, but was once common. I remember JC Whitney had pages of different car front ends sporting tube grilles


I put one in this Blazer because it was less likely to damage off road, and to be custom. Hey! It was early '80s. Cut me a brake!


The whole way they came about is they are an easy way to create a custom grille. They were super popular back in the good old days when custom meant do it yourself

[Steeveedee]

^ True. In fact, I made a tube grille for my '68 Skylark, many years ago. Certainly cheaper than stock.

[Sheepdip]

You might want to research that you can actually get your fingers thru the grill to open the hood if you retain the stock latching system, some you cannot.
The PO of my truck had installed one that you first and foremost had to have arms like an orangutan, then lay down on the ground reach up to open it. I cured that within a couple of days. Hey it's a work truck.

[Steeveedee]

Originally Posted by Sheepdip

You might want to research that you can actually get your fingers thru the grill to open the hood if you retain the stock latching system, some you cannot.
The PO of my truck had installed one that you first and foremost had to have arms like an orangutan, then lay down on the ground reach up to open it. I cured that within a couple of days. Hey it's a work truck.

Yeah, I didn't want to go there. I had to engineer my Skylark's grille to be able to open the hood, as well.

[Ironangel]

After some close inspection of store bought billet grills that are WAY overpriced I decided to make my own. I used a 1/2" stainless steel thin wall tubing, 1-1/2" x 1-1/2" x 16 gauge stainless steel angle. It was quite simple to make actually, the hardest part was getting the center bend angle on all 8 pieces correct. I used 4 sticks of 10' thin wall stainless tubing and one 10' piece of angle. I fastened it in four places with 10-32 stainless screws. If I make another one I'd make the top and bottom tubes slightly longer to fill the contour of the headlight bezels. .23 stainless wire with Argon gas set very low on the welder... PS. Evenly spaced there's enough room to fit your hand to reach the hood latch.

[special-K]

I remember Bigfoot had a tube grille. The original owner had put a square tube, wheels, and tires on this '78 Silverado I had. This picture is days after buying it. I ended up putting a '73 grille in it with the 454 badge. It's funny, back before drop spindles lowering was flip kit and cut the front coils. I bought a Rancho kit that called for cutting coils and gave part #s for shorter shocks.

[chiefcfd]

I bought mine from SOKY Classics. It's been a few years now. Not bad to install. I did put a push bar up to the latch handle accessed below the bumper.

[tutone]

My 71 had one . I replaced it first day. It was probably JC Whitney circa 1974. It was a heavily built piece.

[truckster]

It's not a tube grille, but something similar:

https://www.lmctruck.com/1967-72-che...ille-chevrolet

Very pricey, though.

I do think it would be pretty easy to fabricate one, though.

[Rickjz]

I created the look using the original grill. Just painted black in between the horizontal parts.

[cornerstone]

Originally Posted by Rickjz

I created the look using the original grill. Just painted black in between the horizontal parts.

That's a great way to get that look! Nice work.

[bean]

Rickjz that looks great!

[LockDoc]

-
Mine isn't a tube, but to overcome the latch problem it has a piece of threaded rod double nutted into the latch handle and it extends down just past the bottom of the bumper. It actually works very well. Your hood has to open easily and you have to keep all of the moving parts lubed though.

LockDoc

[bean]

Where did you get your grille lockdoc?

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by bean

Where did you get your grille lockdoc?

It was already installed in the truck when I got it. I got the truck from member "Kingsolver72" so I will ask him if it was there when he got it or if he installed it.

LMC does carry them as well as a few other suppliers. Just type '72 Chevy Billet Grille into Google

https://www.lmctruck.com/1967-72-che...-for-chevrolet

There are a couple of different ones as far as the number of bars, mine has 19.

LockDoc

[dagnabbitt]

Originally Posted by Rickjz

I created the look using the original grill. Just painted black in between the horizontal parts.

That is a really cool and subtle look, I am surprised I have not seen it done before.

[dmjlambert]

Originally Posted by Ironangel

After some close inspection of store bought billet grills that are WAY overpriced I decided to make my own. I used a 1/2" stainless steel thin wall tubing, 1-1/2" x 1-1/2" x 16 gauge stainless steel angle. It was quite simple to make actually, the hardest part was getting the center bend angle on all 8 pieces correct. I used 4 sticks of 10' thin wall stainless tubing and one 10' piece of angle. I fastened it in four places with 10-32 stainless screws. If I make another one I'd make the top and bottom tubes slightly longer to fill the contour of the headlight bezels. .23 stainless wire with Argon gas set very low on the welder... PS. Evenly spaced there's enough room to fit your hand to reach the hood latch.

What a good idea. I need to make a pair of those for my 1969 truck, since it has the big divider that says Chevrolet and has the turn signals.