Front grille for 1971 Mach 1

[ponypastor]

Looking for an undamaged front honeycomb grille for a 1971 Mach 1 that can be refreshed.

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

Daniel Carpenter makes new ones off original tooling. I was at his shop in spring and saw some of the original Ford tooling and was surprised how good a shape it was.

They do run the grill tooling in China or Taiwan and usually too shiny. A blast with walnut shells will make it look correct. Some do paint them but a pain with the honey comb shape.

Carpenter does not sell direct except at times on ebay for parts with seconds. Any Mustang supply should have his products.

I see them on ebay a lot. Old ones are so brittle from the UV I would not even fool with them. 71 & 72 grills are very fragile on the ends also. Screw holes always broken or missing.

 

[OMS]

Daniel Carpenter makes new ones off original tooling. I was at his shop in spring and saw some of the original Ford tooling and was surprised how good a shape it was.

They do run the grill tooling in China or Taiwan and usually too shiny. A blast with walnut shells will make it look correct. Some do paint them but a pain with the honey comb shape.

Carpenter does not sell direct except at times on ebay for parts with seconds. Any Mustang supply should have his products.

I see them on ebay a lot. Old ones are so brittle from the UV I would not even fool with them. 71 & 72 grills are very fragile on the ends also. Screw holes always broken or missing.

The 71-2 Mach 1 grill is not made on OE tooling.

 

[Don C]

With my car having spent many years in the Nevada desert, including Las Vegas, I can attest to the degradation of the grills. Not easy to keep them looking good.

 

[Hemikiller]

My 71 had the original grille and it was a Northeast car it's entire life. While the grill was in mint condition, I could see it was going to go downhill and be fragile in short time. I went with the Carpenter reproduction and am very pleased.