'63 grille or no grille ?

[BillyBob]

I'm the new owner of R4314. By all indications, this car was built without a grille (no holes drilled). Tho I haven't yet seen the car, it has an egg-crate grille that is "attached somehow" and very noisy when "bumped". The question - install an Avanti grille? Or, no?

A photo...

BillyBobs

[Gunslinger]

I believe the grille is really a stone guard since the low opening for the radiator and a/c condenser makes them quite prone to damage. While I haven't seen anything to back that up, I wouldn't be surprised if complaints from consumers prompted the addition of it.

It's not surprising the car doesn't have holes drilled for attaching one...I used to own a '63 (R4341) and it didn't have the mounting holes either. The parts manual specifies the grille for cars after R4892, generally considered the "official" start of the '64 model year. Many cars have had the grilles retrofitted.

It's your call whether to keep the egg crate grill...if you like it, keep it...if not, remove it. See why it rattles and maybe you can do a better job of securing it to eliminate the noise. It looks like it might actually do a better job of keeping stones and debris out than the factory style grille.

Edited October 26, 2010 by Gunslinger

[BillyBob]

Thanks & interesting - will look at securing egg-crate!