Duster Custom Grill

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jonn6464

1970 Duster
Joined
Mar 29, 2017
Messages
1,066
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949
Location
Weatherford, TX
Let me start by saying a couple of things...

1. I'm not sure that I really like how it turned out. I saw it differently in my head.
2. Yes, I know that light argent is not correct for grills. But, the car will be painted in a dark charcoal color, so I wanted to give it a stark contrast.

I found a great donor grill, with no cracks in the main body. After some trial and error, a bunch of cussing, and a few beers, I got it to the finish line. Still a couple of small tweaks to do though.

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I'm doing carbon fiber accents on this car (interior & exterior), so I thought the upper and lower trim would be a good place for it.
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You may be wondering why the emblem has a red background instead of black. I grabbed an old emblem and removed the metal filler around the Plymouth symbol, then cut a marker light to fit and added some LED lights. I need to get a couple more lights to fill the area better, but you get the gist of it. It will work off the headlight switch, so when lights are on the emblem is lit. Should look pretty slick at night.
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Like I said, I'm not sure if I'll use it or not. I guess we'll see if it grows on me once its mounted on the finished car.
 
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Looks like lots of effort spent. I think it looks good in a different sorta way. If you decide you dont like it on the car you can always hang it on the wall of your man cave or sell it. I am sure theres others out there that like your vision but lack the skillz to pull it off that would want this. An FYI Depending on the state you live in, red light on the front may be an issue. Amber or white lighting on the front is never an issue
 
I love your concept and if you aren’t happy with it when you install it PM me and I would love to put that on the front of mine! My grill sucks and that red emblem would cap the front. I have done a few carbon fiber things inside on the dash so it would be cool. Great job and let me know if you aren’t satisfied with it, you have a sale for it!
 
Put it in the grill opening of the car, that way we have an idea of the over all look. Personally, I like the way it looks now being as it's different.
 
An FYI Depending on the state you live in, red light on the front may be an issue. Amber or white lighting on the front is never an issue

You are correct and just for $hits and giggles I looked up the actual info for Texas.

Sec. 547.305. RESTRICTIONS ON USE OF LIGHTS.
[…] (b) Except as expressly authorized by law, a person may not operate or move equipment or a vehicle, other than a police vehicle, with a lamp or device that displays a red light visible from directly in front of the center of the equipment or vehicle.


But hey. It looks like laws these days are sort of like "The Pirates Code". Just a set of more like guidelines than actual laws.

But still, nice job. I like it.
 
You are correct and just for $hits and giggles I looked up the actual info for Texas.

Sec. 547.305. RESTRICTIONS ON USE OF LIGHTS.
[…] (b) Except as expressly authorized by law, a person may not operate or move equipment or a vehicle, other than a police vehicle, with a lamp or device that displays a red light visible from directly in front of the center of the equipment or vehicle.


But hey. It looks like laws these days are sort of like "The Pirates Code". Just a set of more like guidelines than actual laws.

But still, nice job. I like it.

Yeah, laws seem to be subject to interpretation these days. Pretty sure I would be in jail for doing exactly what I'm seeing every day on the news. I think I'll risk the red light in front. Can't see that attracting too much attention from the boys in blue.
 
I'll be honest, and say that I opened this thread up expecting to not like whatever it was. When I saw it, I immediately changed my mind! You did a GREAT job, and I think it will look good in the car.

:thumbsup:
 
I like it and think it will look very good on the car. The only drawback may be if the rad support is painted black, as it should be, then the structure and design of the diamonds may not be apparent.
 
I like it and think it will look very good on the car. The only drawback may be if the rad support is painted black, as it should be, then the structure and design of the diamonds may not be apparent.

Yeah, I never thought about that. But, the fins on the stock grill are often black and they show up fine, so hopefully these will too. It's a good point though.
 
Are you going to put the parking lights/turn signals back on it? I think that would help it even more. If you get yelled at about the red center light you made, you could always cut an orange one to replace the red.
 
I like it

I toyed with the idea of a custom grille for a while...until I realized I was never gonna top the grille they put in the 69 valiants, so I just used that one
 
Are you going to put the parking lights/turn signals back on it? I think that would help it even more. If you get yelled at about the red center light you made, you could always cut an orange one to replace the red.

I wanted to keep the grille as minimal as possible, for simplicity. So, the turn signals are being relocated. But, that's something I will unveil in another post, at another time!
 
I also debated going with a black housing and argent grille insert. But, with the car being a dark color, I felt like it would be too much darkness at the front of the car.

I guess I could finish this one out and have them both to compare, side by side. Maybe try them both on the car, once it's painted, and see which looks better.
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Been wanting to do this exact sort of project, where did you scource the mesh and how did you get such even folds in it?

customcargrills.com

They have a bunch of different patterns. Call them. They have more bulk mesh sizes than whatvis on their website.

I used a piece of 4x4 and formed the bends with the palm of my hand. Grab a tape measure and also use your original grill as a template.
 
I like it and think it will look very good on the car. The only drawback may be if the rad support is painted black, as it should be, then the structure and design of the diamonds may not be apparent.
This was my first thought also. The lighted emblem could look like its floating in mid air if the mesh pretty much disappears.
 
This was my first thought also. The lighted emblem could look like its floating in mid air if the mesh pretty much disappears.
The original grill is black and it doesn't disappear into the rad support, so I'm not worried about it.
 
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