Front grille for Cobra?

[twobjshelbys]

I know, it may be blasphemous and sorry if I offend anyone We have lots of crap on the road and if worse came to worse I'd rather have a grille on the front than lose the radiator. Does anyone make one and if so does anyone have a picture?

[vanoochka]

Screen/Grill Protection for Radiator

[WarrenG]

ERA makes one for their FIA. They might be able to fashion one for a 427.

[JBo]

you might consider a chrome or black mesh that could be flush or inset into the "mouth". Some of the Later "superblowers" from Frimley and CRS's from Malta had them

[strictlypersonl]

Originally Posted by WarrenG

ERA makes one for their FIA. They might be able to fashion one for a 427.

Sorry. Not unless I could sell 20 of them. There's twenty different pieces that fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.

[Bill Bess]

How about just building one that fits your car.
You an use 1/2" angle, build a rectagular frame. Tack weld in some nice looking steel mesh (expanded metal type) and then run a couple of rear braces, 1/4" steel rods on the back side of the rock guard grill. These rods support the mesh and prevent a large object from coming through the mesh and damaging the radiator.
Paint it, chrome it, jet hot it or whatever you want.

You will have to figure a way to mount it just in front of the radiator and deep back in the front end (about an inch out in front of the radiator).

I built two, one for my radiator and one for the oil cooler, they look good and work great. Bill

[Dwight]

I made a grill out of 1/4" tubing and stainless mesh. I have made some that we had powder coated black.

Dwight

[twobjshelbys]

I think the look of the fans on the front is awesome, but we have too much stuff on the roads here to leave the radiator and oil cooler naked like they are. I had it up on the lift today and I think I can make something out of a tight mesh that could be connected easily that would look similar to the existing aluminum. Working...

[WildBill1965]

I have the Oltoff ones they are made of stainless steel, one for the radiator and one for the oil cooler. Doesen't detract from the front of the car.

[westcott cobra]

With the mesh type shown in the pics your are going to loose about 50 percent of the total air flowing through the radiator......

Be carefull and do a test run under hot weather conditions with and then without the mesh and compare water temperature.

I tried this type of mesh first time in 89 and found out that under highway conditions the car run hot.
Today i'm going with a weldet mesh like the original shaker screen used by the shelby team in the 60s.
Mesh size is 10mm to 10mm made from 1mm wire.
Never had temperatur problems again.

Westcott

[convincor]

[Bill Bess]

Get Real! I used the expanded metal for my "rock guard screen" , (just like Dwights's) and it works great..no heating problems at all.

In the summer time here in Lake Havasu City , AZ it gets up to 115 degrees everyday, my FE runs about 190 and up to 210 while sitting at long signal lights. The car cools right down as soon as you start moving and I turn the puller fan to the off mode.

All other times of the year the car runs cool out on the road at 50 to 70 degrees air temp., the biggest problem is keeping gas in the tank.

Best Regards, Bill

[Frank Messina]

I made this one with a frame kit and some aluminum screen I got at Home Depot. Works great, no cooling issues at all.


Frank

["Q"]

This Grille Set was made by first making an oval shape out of stainless bar that follows the contour of the "mouth". Stainless bars are then bent "bow" shape and welded onto the oval. This is then mounted as close as possible to the radiator. The gap between the radiator and the Cobra's "mouth" is then finished by inserting a highly polished stainless trimming all round. On the car in the picture this exercise was repeated in the bottom opening as well as in the bonnet scoop. O.K it is not as easily done as explained, but you get an idea. Maybe not for the purist, but the result is stunning. There are more examples on my gallery and Album.

[Bill Bess]

Very Nice Job! Looks custom, professionally done, and adds some class to the little bugger.

Bill

["Q"]

Thanks Bill. Another example added (taken with the flash on, hence making the radiator visible). The Grille theme was even incorporated into the Brake air ducts.
[/IMG]

[GlynMeek]

Q...on the picture with the stainless 'bars' in the mouth (which, by the way, looks SPECTACULAR), I notice you have chrome trim around the side air intakes. I like the look a lot, so can you tell me how they were made or where you got them from?

thanks

Glyn

["Q"]

Hi Glyn
Unfortunately not available over the shelf. It is basically the same process as with the grille set. Take a thin gauge strip of highly polished stainless steel (either cut or buy in the width that you desire it to protrude inwards). Measure the diameter of the side air intake and ad a little bit extra (enough to spot weld the two ends together). Now using various round shapes (pipes, bottles, the wife's rolling pin, anything that basically gives the same curve as the top and bottom curves of the side air intakes), bend the plate to follow the shape of the air intake. When you have the shape of the air intake and the funnel can tightly slide into the intake hole, spot weld together. That was the easy part. Now to get the small lip that follows the edge of the side air intake, you need a small hammer, a surface with a small rounded edge and a lot of patience. Taking the "funnel", you place the edge on the rounded surface and start "clinking" the edge over to create the lip. Keep test fitting as you go. Once the lip is finished all round it will more than likely have some unevenness, this you sand down. The final touch is then to buff the lip up to a brilliant shine. Slide in place and mount (silicone works nicely). Not for the faint hearted. Good luck if you wanna give it a bash.

[GlynMeek]

Q...thanks for this. I may actually have a go at it. I made a whole lot of aluminum 'bits' for mine, including the custom gearshift knob you can see in one of my posted pics of the interior, so this would be an interesting challenge. This sounds like a project for a rainy day/week/month!!! How long did it take you?

Glyn

["Q"]

Yip, that's about how long it takes. Day /week/ month depending on how many friends pop in, how many blades break and how many times you have to redo things. Adding just one last pic them I'm out of here.