1934 grille shell removal

[Matt Harwood]

I'm sort-of thinking about painting the grille shell on this '34 Packard 1101 sedan to match the body. One, I've always liked the painted grille shell look, two, the radiator shutters are chrome anyway, so it should look right, and three, the chrome on the shell is a little rough and I think it'll improve the looks of the car. I'm looking at the shell and how to remove it and take it to the body shop--is it just held on by the headlight mounting bolts? I don't see any on the bottom or the top. Is it just a (relatively) lightweight shell over the radiator? Can it be removed without removing the radiator itself? If it's too much of a job, I'll probably leave it alone, but if it can come apart relatively easily, I think it'll really enhance the look of the car.

 

Thoughts?

[Owen_Dyneto]

Remove the hood, the radiator support rods, hoses, etc.  Then the headlight/fender support bar bolts.  You might want to turn the headlights outward to provide a bit more space and lessen the chance to damage them.  There is also one (or is it two?) threaded sltuds/nuts in the underneath cradle.  Then you remove the shell, radiator and shutter assembly as a unit.  And it's HEAVY.

 

A matter of personal preference of course but the car is apparently an Eight - so plated shell and painted shutters would be how the vast majority of them left the factory. 

[Matt Harwood]

OK, chrome it is!

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Matt, FWIW your not missing any opportunity to improve the appearance IMHO.  I think the chrome works well with the current color scheme.  That car would look fantastic if body matched top and fenders, you left the reveals as is, and maybe added a matching light blue accent stripe.  I usually like darker wheels but you could even leave them as is,  Oh well, just spent all of your profit on this one,  Beautiful car, BTW.  We once traded two cars for a Packard, this one is tempting to repeat that strategy on...