VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1933-1936 1936 Chevrolet Pick Up Grill

Could someone confirm that the grills were chrome with black paint in between the bars? That is the way that mine is now, but I want to be sure that is factory correct, since I need to have It rechromed. Also, any recommendations on a good chrome shop in So Cal, California or anywhere else?
Thanks,
Richard,

My '35 Standard Coupe grille (same screen material as your truck) has plated ribs and painted background as you describe.

Mike

my 36 coupe is like you said .rechrome it will most likely be all chrome smitty

P.U. Guy, I've got some bad news and some good news for you.

First the bad news: Rechroming your grill will be EXPENSIVE!
I know of a fellow who had his '36 Ford passenger car grill
rechromed - $1600!! Oh, it looks great, but....

Now the good news: A seller has offered repop '36 Chevy SST
pickup grills on Ebay Motors. I got one for $475 plus $15
shipping. And it is beautiful!

Whether you rechrome or get the SST, you'll still not have
the black background that you (we)desire.

It you'd like contact info on the seller, let me know. I'll
be glad to pass it on to you.

Bummer for me: I need to have my grill surround trim piece rechromed.
Because it's part of the grill shell, I'll have to have the
whole thing, grill shell and trim piece, rechromed. Ouch! Unless, of course, one of my friends out there is ChevyLand
knows how to do it differently. And to think the chromed
shell will have to be prepared properly to hold paint!

JOhnny

Whoa! I guess It has been a while since I had any chroming done. $ 1600!!!!! My current grill is starting to look really good again.
Richard

Haven't had a Grill done in a long time but have had several other parts done. $1600 seems like a lot. Try Electroplating of El Paso. They do a great job and their turn around is pretty good right now. They've done a lot for me in the past. They will probably give you a verbal quote over the phone. Their No. is 800-333-5766 at electroplatingofelpaso.com. JET

I recently read about an interesting alternative to rechroming for those of us that are antique auto poor!

There is a powdercoat chrome silver finish that can be applied with a clear coat powder finish that looks very good in the final analysis. It is not a substitute for the real thing, but I intend to do this for my 36 grill since the shiny portion is so small compared to the area of the complete grill assembly. AND it is much more reasonable. I am going to consider using this approach to the front bumper as well.

I asked for and received a sample of the "chrome powder coat"
I'm really not impressed. After considering how much it will
cost to restore my ride, I took into consideration the diff-
erence in the "chrome powder coat" and a SST repro grill. The
difference was minimal when weighed against the total cost of
restoration. (Also there is a '35 panel truck bumper of EBay
now for $300.) You might want to really consider the original look against the budget look. Best to you.

P.U. Guy, I had an experience at a plating shop that totally blew my hair back. I had searched for bumper guards for my '36 high cab for decades with no luck. A guy who advertises in G & D, Jim Mothershead, finally advertised a set with "surface rust" and I bought them.

Those things were deeply rusted, total pieces of trash but they were cheap and it wasn't worth fighting with the seller so I put them aside and didn't even thing about them for about 10 years.

One day I came across them and just out of curiousity took them to Faith Plating in Los Angeles to see what, if anything, could be done top save them. Faith said the pits were so deep that they could not be polished out, something I already knew.

Faith took these things on just as a challenge. They left them in the copper tank for an extended period of time and plated on an extremely thick copper section. Then they polished the copper down until a smooth surface was obtained and then continued with the nickle and chrome.

Those pieces look perfect now! I can't overemphaize what Faith Plating accomplished for me.

They do production work and also custom jobs like mine. I saw other unique pieces there, like antique stove parts.

The '36 grill (and shell)were originally completely chromed. The grill was painted on the surround and the grill was painted black, then the verticle ribs were polished out. This is easy to do; just use rubbing compound and a stiff rubber sanding block. The '34. by the way, had every other verticle rib polished.

Greencorn and all:

I just read your post and having a 1934 myself I am very curious about it. If I get you right, I need to:

1. chrome plate the grill shell and then paint over most of the shell to have the chrome surround around the grill area.

2. chrome plate the grill itself, then paint it black, and then polish one every other of the vertical lines, leaving of course the horizontal in the rear black as well as one every other front one.

Am I correct?

Thanks,
Victor

Victor, I can see where all the confusion comes from. I, too, wss confused upon first reading all the replies. Now, if
I am wrong, pls, someone out there correct me - for Victor's
sake, mine, and any others'.

Is your '34 Woody a Master or Standard. On both models the
grille surround trim is separate from the grille shell. Thus
it can be chromed without (re)plating the shell.

For sure the '34 Master grill was painted black. Every other one
of the vertical bars, starting with the ones on either side of the center trim piece was black. The others were chrome.
All vertical bars on the Standard were polished.

Our confusion came with the '36 pickup grille. The grille
surround trim is an integral part of the grille shell. Thus
to have it replated, the trim and the shell both have to be rechromed. Then the shell itself is painted body color.

Victor, I sincerely think I'm right and wish to help a fellow
man. If I am wrong, again, pls someone correct me as I have
a '35 Standard and a '36 Suburban.

Best to you!

Johny:

Thanks a lot for your response. I have to admit my absolute ignorance and say I don't know what I really have, Master or Standard

My 1934 woodie is on a commercial chassis, and I would guess it is a standard, as it has painted headlight shells (chrome headlight ring only), painted headlight bases, but also completely painted grill, which brings me to an additional doubt, as it would appear from your post that my grill surround would have to be a different moulding? In my case, it is not; it is just marked on the full grill Could it have been changed in the past? I do have commercial catalog that shows several units without the chrome around the grill.

Thanks for your help,
Victor

Victor,
The way to easily tell if it's a Standard or Master is to look at the dash. The Standard dash gauges are in the center
of the dashboard. The Master gauges are in front of the driver and it has a glove box in front of the passenger.

Your description of the headlights and grill tend to be that
of a Standard.

Another was to tell is the manufacturing plate. I don't have
the codes, but many of our fellow members do.

Johnny

If your woodie is on a "commercial" chassis, that means it is a truck chassis. Therefore all the mechanical and tin parts are truck parts. Trucks were considered "Master Series" vehicles but it is not particularly relevent for parts consideration. If your vehicle retains its original I.D. tag, it should have the letters DB in the VIN. DB means 1934 1/2 ton. I think you will find this tag on the firewall, passenger side, engine side, if it is indeed a truck chassis.

Mike

Yes, I believe it is a commercial or truck chassis. Serial number is 3DB11 53720. Engine number is K4706976. From those numbers, is it possible to know exactly what I have?

So, in trucks, how are they called when they have the chrome trim? In my case, mine has painted headlight shells and painted grill, with no chrome surround. How should the grill insert be treated?

Thanks,
Victor

The trucks in 1934 and 1935 were available in Deluxe Trim. I am not an expert on this but my 1936 parts catalog shows a Deluxe radiator shell and screen, as well as chrome headlamps for your truck. My guess is that the shell had the raised "moulding" area around the opening chrome plated. The catalog says it was supplied primed, I suppose that referred to the part that would be painted body color. No description is given for the screen except that it was for the deluxe truck. I'm assuming that meant it was chromed.
You should move your questions to the truck area of the forum. The truck guys may not be looking here. The DB in your serial DEFINITELY means you have a truck chassis. Any mechanical or sheet metal parts will be truck stuff.

Mike

Thanks Mike: It all makes sense as you describe it. I will place my question in the truck forum... I got carried away with the grill subject, sorry

Thanks,
victor

Mike,

I'd be interested in more info from your 36 parts catalog. My 36 truck has a fully-chrome plated radiator shell and grille. It also has chrome headlamp buckets and rings, as well as a chrome windshield frame. Are all of those items shown in your catalog as Deluxe Trim?

Thanks.
Wally

Wally,
I remember looking for the chromed w/s frame, in the catalog, before. It's not there. Your grille shell should be painted body color except for the raised "moulding" area around the front opening. I believe all '36 trucks were produced this way and with the grille screen chromed as well. Chromed head lamps are listed in the parts catalog but I have no info as to their availability as factory installed items. The standard lamps were painted black with chromed rings.
My guess is that someone has "restored" your truck and liked the look of some added brightwork.

Mike

Mike,

That has been my understanding all along, but your post had me wondering. My truck was originally Apple Green, but was painted Brewster Green "sometime in the 70's", and I suspect that the radiator shell, w/s, and headlamp buckets were spiffed up then as well. I like it the way it is!

Wally