For $235 shipped form AZ I got a rust free & fairly straight assembly that is cheaper than a new grille panel alone. It will need some cleanup & dings fixed, but it is miles better than what I had.
The only real issues are the missing outer buckets, a dent above the right headlamps, and a bullet hole next to the right outer headlamp. Honestly the bullet hole may stay, as it is pretty cool looking.
I’m not sure yet what will replace the GMC letters. I have seen some people use a Buick grille piece there, but I would really love to find a set of Chevrolet letters that are the right size so it looks kind of stock.
Also, when I bought the grille I asked if he could send me the mounting hardware, and offered to kick in some extra $$. He said he didn’t have the original bolts but would throw in some spares for free. What showed up was 30+ original style bolts already stripped of rust & paint. This should be more than enough to replace all the snapped/busted ones. Hell of a nice guy.
The day after the grille arrived I went to the first Swap Meet of the season at Stafford Speedway. Spent 3.5 hours wandering around looking at other people’s junk. I always intend to take lots of pictures, but it is so busy & exhausting that always falls by the wayside.
I did pick up this fender for $60. Why did I buy a badly dented fender? It has absolutely zero rot, and the dent is in the only place my fender doesn’t have rot. So I’m hoping I can combine the two into one good fender.
Nice! I’ve always preferred the GMC grilles over the Chevy ones myself. What are the dimensions of the GMC logo piece? I can keep an eye out if you like. I think a Greenbrier part would look the part, but might be too small. I faintly recall an Apache ambulance with a cool Chevrolet crest/script there.
I’ll have to go measure it. I do know that the space is smaller than the “CHEVROLET” letters on the larger c40 & up truck grilles.
I think the Apache was a ’61. The middly bit of the ’61 Chevy quad light grille looks near-ideal ( says I without the benefit of measurements) but for being the opposite roundy-trapezoid shape from the maw in the GMC grille (top heavy vs. bottom heavy) though it’s possible that it could work nicely as is regardless. It’s also possible the individual letters could be popped off and run rightside up on an upside-down grille.