FRONT GRILL MATERIAL

Yes I found a vendor ..the name slips my mind .. I was going to buy some but I had to buy a large sheet ..if your insterested .. I could buy it and sell you a piece for cost and use some for myself ... but I think I will still have a giant piece left if anyone else is interested ?

Ron

I wonder if McMaster-Carr has any available?

I would be interested though I would like to see and or have the actual grill specs. prior to a purchase. the reason being that I have found materials that are similar, but not close enough for me personally.

Its a paper magazine that comes every once while in the mail.

Ron

You mean like this mesh that Mike Drew found?

This is posted at the new POCA site:

http://97.74.65.60/index.php/gallery/?g2_itemId=2028

Larry

Ok here is what I found.

Mcnichols Corp has anything we need only 4 x 10 sheets.

TWP in Berkley calif has the same.

Thanks for the link, I just sent the company mail with an attachment of a photo of the actual gill with all the corresponding measurements. Unfortunately in the link it doesn't identify the specific wire cloth product number used by Howard Wire Cloth Co.

quote:

Unfortunately in the link it doesn't identify the specific wire cloth product number used by Howard Wire Cloth Co.

Sorry about that.

Here is the full posting Mike made to the POCA forum:

Hi guys,

I've recently been parts-chasing for a Pantera owner in New Zealand. His
front valance is all smashed and rusted, so he did the smart thing and ordered a
replacement from Johnny Woods (he's actually an airline pilot, so he flew
from New Zealand to London, then travelled three or four hours down to Devon to
visit Johnny's workshop and pick it up in person--saved a pile of money on
shipping charges, but he sure had to work for it!)

His mesh grille in his valance was also thrashed. Although you can buy
replacements for the radiator grille (Wilkinson's website lists them for $331 in
either the early (with studs) or late (screw-in) style, nowhere can you find
just the material to fill the opening in the valance.

Some time ago, Mangusta owner Tom Galli found a source for that stuff (since
this same material is used on front and rear grilles on a Mangusta), and I
reached out to him for help. Turns out there's a company in Hayward, CA (east
bay, a few miles from San Jose) called the Howard Wire Cloth Company that
specializes in just this sort of thing.

Tom wrote to me:

What I found was a 1/2" sq. mesh inter crimp with .080 wire. Available in
steel, stainless, brass, galvanized and electro polished stainless. Comes in 4
foot wide rolls with a $50 minimum order from Howard Wire Cloth in Hayward, Ca.
1-800-969-3559 (contact was Tim) There is also a 5/8" sq mesh that has a .542"
opening that may be just as appropriate.


I ordered a sample yesterday, and it arrived today in the mail--gotta love
fast service!

It came with a surprise.

I didn't know that early (1971-72) cars and late (Aug-72-on) cars used
different materials for the grille!

I have adapted a later-style L-model grille (which screws to the car from the
outside) to my car, which originally had an early (July '72 Pre-L) grille
(which had small studs affixed to it, which passed through holes in the body, and
were secured with nylock nuts on the back side). I still have the early one
as well.

So, it turns out that my early grille has a perfectly square pattern, and the
later grille's material is squashed ever so slightly, resulting in a very
mild diamond pattern.

Interestingly, the material in the front grilles is turned at a 45-degree
angle to the ground; the same material is used on the rear grille (for the A/C)
but is oriented parallel to the ground--I wonder why the difference?

The spacing on the early grille is also slightly greater. The wires on the
early grille are exactly 0.51" apart (inside-to-inside, not center-to-center,
on both my front valance and grille, and rear A/C grille), whereas the later,
diamond-pattern front grille is a bit closer, at 0.47". The sample that I
got from Howard Wire Cloth is 0.42". I've posted a photo of this material atop
my early .51" grille to show the difference:

http://www.poca.com/index.php/gallery/?g2_itemId=2028

Now, the reality is that nobody is ever going to tell the difference of
5/100ths or 9/100ths of an inch in your grille spacing. But if you're going to
buy new material, you might as well be happy with it. The stuff pictured is
called 1/2" mesh; they also make a 5/8" mesh which has a 0.545" distance between
the wires. In fact, they make a whole lot of different options:

http://www.howardwire.com/square_mesh.html

The sample that I got is called "2 Mesh, .080 wire", and the website claims
that the opening is .420 inches, which my digital micrometer indicates is true.

If you have a mangled valance, usually the mesh itself is in decent shape.
It could probably be cut out, gently hammered flat, sandblasted, powdercoated,
then attached to the inside of the new valance, and you'd be good to go.
But if yours is really demolished (or missing entirely), then this is probably
the best solution.

Supposedly their minimum order is $50. The stuff is sold from a
four-foot-wide roll; a two-foot length gives enough material to do both the lower
valance, and the front grille, and costs exactly $50, conveniently enough. (Well,
actually, I told him I needed a two-foot length and he quoted me $50; I didn't
think to ask if three feet would have cost any more? It's possible that this
stuff is substantially cheaper than $25 a foot, and I just was quoted the
minimum order price).

Ordering info etc. can be found here: www.howardwire.com

SOBill--one for the database! :>)

Mike

Wow, I need to bookmark this thread. Has anyone found the mesh for the engine cover? Maybe that's just asking too much for one day?