claudeC1'60

All grill attachments to body are OK except the upper-outers, see pic. It looks like someting is missing, any idea ?

Bubba63

Does not look like anything is 'missing.' Except the attaching bolt maybe. What is the size of the gap? 25mm Are left and right sides the same? Any photos of the top connections?

GJM

claudeC1'60

No pics of top connections, but all other attachments are OK, ie brackets are in contact with each other. Here same gap exists on the outer right and left.

Bubba63

Here is a photo of my 63 convertible. Notice it seems to be pulled in more than yours. Full disclosure: I re-built the grille, so it may not be representative of other 63s.


63

Frankie the Fink

My attachment looks like Claude's even though the '63 AIM shows the grill should be attached at the end without any bushing or "stand-off" for that mount point.

This picture is from when I installed the A/C; I'll have to check when it warms up outside; I may have fixed this before judging.

IIRC I too was loath to try to bend the grill to make a direct mount there. I think something would break.

It must be possible though, if you look at the very top horizontal grill vane at the far right where it meets the grill surround stainless molding on Claude's pic vs Bubba's you'll see how much its forced inward to make the connection...

claudeC1'60

Direct mount is possible indeed, but the grille must be forced so much inwards that I'm afraid to break it or another attachment point. In addition, with a direct mount the grille is out of its natural bend shape and looks weird. I guess I'll have to leave with it and make some kind of spacers out of SS tubing.
BTW is the grille another one year only item? Can I have a non 63 grille that could explain the issue ?

Rich Yanulis

Here is a photo of my original and unmolested '63.
The grill bolts naturally to the bracket, no spacer is required.
The grill needs to be pulled in further from what is shown in your picture.

65hihp

Rich
with his lower tabs positioned in the fiberglass as they are, which is not how yours are placed, (or mine) his grille will not go deeper into the grill opening. May be due to an aftermarket lower opening body piece. May be same problem with top tabs. I can't see up there. His easy solution, and one I have seen often is the spacer inserted. The hard solution is saw off the tabs, and relocate them inward with fiberglass repair magic.

Frankie the Fink

Interesting Rich, my old eyes think they do detect a bow along the top grill vane, maybe we're just being too fearful to pull the thing in a bit to make the attachment...

Rich Yanulis

The entire grill is not straight, it is V shaped, starting from the center of the car.
It lines up naturally with all the mounting points.

Frankie the Fink

I'm not imputing your car's originality Rich - far from that, I often cite it on here as a benchmark.... I don't have an explanation for why other cars don't mate easily at that point but it appears to be on more than one car...

SW Vette

Easy explanation: bodywork and/or aftermarket parts equals imperfect fit..

Rich Yanulis

I just inspected the two small top grill bars (about 8" long)
They are perfectly straight.

claudeC1'60

Here is a larger view. The grille lines up with the top and bottom tabs on body in a straight line as you can see, except the outer upper brackets. The hand laid fiberglass makes me think that the front clip has been replaced...

65hihp

Rich, Mike
You know what we see. Replacement body parts differ from real factory parts.
Alignments change. Not all comments in these threads are helpful. This car has had a nose.

Frankie the Fink

Well - in between Christmas errands I did some more research and apparently I dealt with this before judging last January and got it attached, without stressing any parts either.... no judging point 'hits'...

I did take a minor hit because the grill mounting screws were not all correct (and black)..

For the OP, I wouldn't break any parts trying to fudge things into position...a longer screw and hollow bushing will work fine to keep the grill ends from 'floating' and 98% of people won't have a clue its not original (as if anybody looks down there anyway)...

65hihp

Frankie
You better believe that many people interested in buying a mid year, and have any knowledge at all look down in the nose, and up at the header bar with a mirror, and out into the corners. And, in NCRS the Ext judges most assuredly do. And I would refer back to this thread about need to do all these things to know what hidden horror stories can be found in these cars.
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/...body-work.html

Frankie the Fink

Wow - who knew ? I thought those judges all over my SWC at Lakeland last January were looking for somebody's lost cell phone

Whatever -- I got trashed in another thread for talking about the '63 oval PG hole for the coolant lines in the radiator core support being important, so I just figured it was "Katy bar the door!" time and none of this stuff mattered...

I think it was pretty obvious I was referring to the average "Joe", or "Pierre" since the OP lives in France and not NCRS-judges or serious purveyors of originality. It would take a lot more than an errant fastener to make me think a front end was replaced without other supporting information..

65hihp

When I find myself digging a deeper and deeper hole to nowhere, I stop digging.




Frankie-
those were your Chassis and Mech judges.
You've been through judging once, and you've OJ'd once (or maybe twice).
There is still much you can learn.

c2performance

You could replace your bracket with a 1965-67 bracket which is about 3/4 of a inch to a 1 inch longer i think the grill would screw right up to it. To most people they would not know the difference. To me that would be a easier fix than making a spacer. Just my thought. Tom