At 09:07 PM 6/6/04 -0400, Steve Demko wrote:
>"Any tips on fitting a repo grille assembly to the MGA that I am rebuilding?"

Pray a lot. Keep plenty of ale handy. Don't rush it. Be sure the radiator is out and bumper off before you start. It wouldn't hurt if the front valance panel was also removed, making the three bottom grille bolts easier access. Run the bolts into all of the threads before trying to install it. If any of the threads bind, chase the threads with a tap to run free before going on. Those little nagging problems you DON'T need when you're facing the real problems.

>"The grille just does not want to lay in there nice and flush to the body and the piping around the grill is impossible to keep in place. Everyone I've talked to says that these grills are a real bear to get to fit properly and that the piping is always a headache to try and keep in place."

Could be right. Last time I bought a new grill was in 1986. I'm not sure it was right then either, but it only took me a day or two to get it to fit (yikes). I think the newer ones might be "less correct". I have never seen a repro grill that fit like the original ones, so any one of them may be a challenge, maybe some just worse than others. Not encouraging enough yet?

When I restored my car I had to deal with a somewhat mangled nose. In particluar the grill opening at the top corner passenger side was smunched in, step bead flattened, and had a couple of cracks in the sheet metal running away from the opening. I welded the cracks first, then heated the metal and bumped it up from behind as best I could. There was an area about the size of one hand right around the corner of the opening that was located generally over the top of the inside steel body brace channel so I couldn't hammer it up from behind. In that area I filled it with body lead, which is almost a lost art, but easy enough to learn if you need it. The lead fill is about 1/8" thick in the heaviest places near the inside radius, thinner farther from the corner.

In the process I remodeled the stepped recess around that corner of the grill opening, sort of sculpted in lead, using the replacement grill as a template. I may have also moved the grill a smidge sideways to fit better at the other top corner. Once the body surround matched the grill profile fairly well, I cleaned and painted the body, and it fit well enough to assemble for reasonable appearance. 125,000 miles later in 1998 I had it apart to repaint the car again, nothing much changed, and it went back together okay again. For the record, I have fitted the piping all the way around with the butted ends at bottom center, as original (I think). Some people ultimately give up with less than total success and install piping over top and down sides, stopping at bottom corners, not running across the bottom.

Original grilles had brass surround shells, triple chrome plated, with stainless steel slat insert. Most repro units have steel shells, barely chrome plated. Some have cheap chrome right on the base steel and tend to rust and/or flake off in a year or two. Some have thin chrome over copper flash, which is a little more durable, but sometimes bleeds through to the surface with copper color stain. I think some of the newest ones now are triple plate on steel, copper flash for adhesion, nickle plate for thickness and durability (bare minimum I suppose), and thin chrome on top for appearance. Still nothing like original quality, but better than in past years, nothing to write home about.

To add insult to injury, a few years ago there was a batch of repro grills with molded plastic shells, absolute crap, thin and flimsy, flexible, wouldn't lay flat, and not close to the right perimiter shape either. To the best of my knowledge they were always returned with complaints, and I do not know of even one which was kept and permanently installed (although there could still be one out there somewhere).

First problem with a new grill is that it may not lay flat against the body. As I understand it, they usually touch at top center and lay maybe 1/4" away from the body at the top corners. If you stand in front and press the top corners with the flats of your hands you may be able to bend it to match the coutour of the body. This is not a permanent set, but more like a leaf spring which will go back to original state when you let go. So it can help of you sprout a couple extra arms and hands to hold it in place while you fiddle with the screws. To make this contortionist chore tougher, you need to tuck the thin edge of the piping behind the edge of the grill while you are pressing it into position, so maybe 5 or 6 hands would seem more appropriate.

I also seem to recall on mine the tabs that carry the captive nuts, three at top and three at bottom, were not formed in the proper plane. The bottom ones need to be horizontal to lay on top of the air pan ahead of the radiator. The top ones need to be angled back and downward to match the angle of the flange at the top of the grill opening. Life should be easier if you can get these six tabs to line up with the mounting holes in the body, taken one at a time first. When each can be made to reach the mounting hole, then you can get down to pressing on the corners of the grille to see if they might all line up at the same time.

If you are attempting to fit the grille first without the piping, do not be too surprised if you chip the paint. If that happens, maybe you get lucky and the piping will ultimately cover the marks. Otherwise you may have a little paint touch up to do after the fact.

Some comments I recall from a few years ago said the outside corners of the grill surround had too large a radius. This makes it leave a small latteral space between the piping and the step in the body shell at the top corners. With piping in place this may not look too bad (but not concours). The key to success here seems to be to press the shell firmly against the body when the bolts are tightened, so it stays there with no gap and holds the piping nicely in place (without falling out).

For the bottom corners the overly generous radius leaves a slightly obnoxious flat surface showing just inboard of the step in the body shell, which terminates going straight down, effectively making a square corner for the bottom of the grill opening on the body. The larger the radius on the shell the "less original" it looks. Here too it will have better finished appearance an be less noticeable if the piping runs around the corner and at least part way across the bottom. Ideally piping should run all across the bottom to meet at the center bottom. But if it tries your patience, piping extending inward 2 to 3 inches from the bottom corners may not look too bad, and certainly better than stopping short and square near the bottom at the sides.

This may a two 6-pack job, but it is one of the prime appearance items on the MGA, so have patience and do try to get it right. Keep the faith. Keep the faith. Keep the faith.

Aftermarket grille with large corner radius top and bottom (and incomplete piping).
Thanks to Walter Tange for the picture.


Better reproduction grille from Jorge Cervera.
Note the more square outer corners, and slats with correct curvature and angle.
Still missing brazed reinforcment brackets at upper corner attachment points.

Addendum April 18 2005:

From Mark Hester, Perth, Australia (or London UK):
>I tried purchasing a grille outer shell from Moss the other week and it did not fit my bars, so much so that it bent the locating pegs when I tightened up the badge and damaged the face. So I returned it and got my money back. I then purchased a new full Grille. When I went to fit it on the weekend it did not seem to fit and the gap between the grill and the bumper was about an 1 1/2 inches. I admit my car seems to have had a front end at some stage, but there was no way this grille was going in the hole without damaging it.
>
>Judging from the box this grille came from Tasker Metal Products and seems to have a Moss US part number of 990-061 Grille Assy, Plastic nose piece. They didn't tell me that part of it was plastic either !!!

From Frank Nocera in Florida:
>Jorge Cervera is a manufacturer of reproduction grilles in San Diego, California. He sells them on eBay Motors. Here is a link to item number 7968385168. I purchased one two years ago and have been quite pleased with it. It is well made out of heavy gauge steel, nicely chrome plated, and, best of all, it fits perfectly. It's not cheap at about U.S. $360, but you get what you pay for.

Contact information for Jorge Cervera: JorgeCervera@JaguarByJorge.com
Phone & Fax: (562) 867-0576 - Direct: (619 )948-6972
Web site: www.JaguarByJorge.com
eBay: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZangelheartpancho

From G T Foster, New York, USA:
>My experience with the Moss replacement grille was that its necessary to reform the mounting tabs a significant amount (aka: bend the crap out of them) to get the grille to fit the opening. Might even be necessary to remove and reposition them. I had an original, but damaged, grille to compare against which helped a lot. Eventually I will get the original grille restored.

Addendum April 2006:

Moss Motors has just finished re-tooling to produce original equipment style MGA grille with all original factory specifications. Tooling was produced using original factory drawings and referencing a number of original equipment grilles. The new grille surround and false nose are made of brass with edges trimmed after forming, triple chrome plate and polish. Grille slats are stainless steel as original, properly riveted to plated steel frame. All brackets are original style and in original location. These new grilles test fit on real cars exactly the same as original grilles with a minimum of fiddling. Quality is second to none, and the price is right. If you want better chrome you would have to have one custome plated.

Only the 1500/1600 flat style grille is available at this time. The 1600-MK-II recessed style grille slats and recessed chrome panel are in the works to be produced soon. The front chrome surround panel fits both types.

View and download Moss Motors Grille Installation Sheet - (223 KB pdf file).

Moss Motors OEM style reproduction grille