Fixing a bent grill | FerrariChat

Fixing a bent grill

Discussion in '308/328' started by Ossie, Jun 6, 2010.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. Ossie

    Ossie Formula Junior
    Owner

    May 20, 2009
    666
    Melbourne, Australia
    Full Name:
    Owen
    #1 Ossie, Jun 6, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    I pulled out the grill on my 76 GTB today to tighten one of the fans that was vibrating, and to my surprise I realise two of the vertical slats on the grill had bent bottom mounting brackets (see pic). I had not noticed this before but when I sat the grill back in I realise it was sitting slightly further back at the bottom on one side. It must have been pushed in at some point.

    Any suggestions on how I could fix this? I assume being aluminium the mounting brackets will only snap if I try and straighten them. Alternatively I could just drill new holes slightly forward of the old ones and leave them bent.

    Also can someone tell me how these mounts are fastened into the fibreglass? Mine had pop rivets holding it in which seems odd so I suspect someone bodged this at some point. Although I did notice pop rivets were also used on the underside on the leading edge of the fibreglass front panel between the lights.
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
  2. BigTex

    BigTex Seven Time F1 World Champ
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Dec 6, 2002
    79,325
    Houston, Texas
    Full Name:
    Bubba
    My 1976 has some small angle tabs mounted onto the valence, at the bottom and both sides....then the grill BOLTS thru those, but it appears constructed differently than yours...

    Can you post a pic of the whole grill??

    It may have been done that way at the Factory as an interim solution without the tabs......that looks very well done, fabricationwise..

    There's TONS of lttle variations in detail, between my three early cars....
     
  3. Ossie

    Ossie Formula Junior
    Owner

    May 20, 2009
    666
    Melbourne, Australia
    Full Name:
    Owen
    #3 Ossie, Jun 7, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Yes sure here's some more pics. This is a May 76 car (build #19) therefore I'm guessing the factory were still sorting out the best techniques to use. Like you I've seen lots of variations with these early cars which no doubt reflects the fact that they were very much "hand built" in the early days (which is what makes them so interesting and more valuable in my opinion). The challenge is working out what's original and what's the result of repairs or "improvements" by previous owners.

    Sounds like you have a bit of collection, tell me more :)

    P.S. Apologies for the green background on the pics, the front valence was sitting on my pool table at the time these were taken, the car wasn't actually embedded upside in a field as someone else suggested!
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
     

Share This Page