1974 Camaro

[MarkJ]

Thanks , Patrick. I'm going to give it one more shot. I have learned some things from the first 2 failed attempts. I'm going to make a better locating image and I'm going to make the location image to where it can be removed . Also the grille will be open at the back and I will use rod material first before I go to strips. The process will also involve masking tape, so I can make a better outer boundry for the grille that will fit better in the grille opening.

[John1955]

Would this work? 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/161470269365?hash=item259860c7b5:g:rKoAAOSwQItT63iK

[David G.]

I can imagine how frustrating this grille situation must be for you.

Have you considered building the grille with only the horizontal pieces? I think I remember seeing some of the Camaros from around 1977 or 78 with grilles that had a predominantly horizontal grate.

David G.

[MarkJ]

8 hours ago, John1955 said:

Would this work? 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/161470269365?hash=item259860c7b5:g:rKoAAOSwQItT63iK

It would probably work, John. and I might have to go that route but I'm going to give it one more try. Thanks for your input.

[MarkJ]

46 minutes ago, David G. said:

I can imagine how frustrating this grille situation must be for you.

Have you considered building the grille with only the horizontal pieces? I think I remember seeing some of the Camaros from around 1977 or 78 with grilles that had a predominantly horizontal grate.

David G.

David, I have come up with an idea in my mind that I think will work with both horizontal and vertical pieces, but this time they will be rods instead of strips and I'm going to cut tiny slots where the position image I have made shows me where to put them . The horizontal and vertical pieces will overlap but I think I can clean that up after I get the cross hatch pattern done. Stay tuned. And thanks for your input.

[David G.]

7 minutes ago, MarkJ said:

David, I have come up with an idea in my mind that I think will work with both horizontal and vertical pieces, but this time they will be rods instead of strips and I'm going to cut tiny slots where the position image I have made shows me where to put them . The horizontal and vertical pieces will overlap but I think I can clean that up after I get the cross hatch pattern done. Stay tuned. And thanks for your input.

Clever solution Mark!

I'm eager to see it in process.

David G.

[MarkJ]

58 minutes ago, David G. said:

Clever solution Mark!

I'm eager to see it in process.

David G.

Thanks, David. The trouble is that things that look good in my head don't always translate to the real world. 

[David G.]

31 minutes ago, MarkJ said:

Thanks, David. The trouble is that things that look good in my head don't always translate to the real world. 

Believe me Mark, I know the feeling.

David G.

[Oldcarfan27]

14 hours ago, MarkJ said:

David, I have come up with an idea in my mind that I think will work with both horizontal and vertical pieces, but this time they will be rods instead of strips and I'm going to cut tiny slots where the position image I have made shows me where to put them . The horizontal and vertical pieces will overlap but I think I can clean that up after I get the cross hatch pattern done. Stay tuned. And thanks for your input.

I have an idea,

Take the vertical strips, stack them together tight, cut evenly spaced notches into the front sides of the stack and then spread them out.

Next do the same with the horizontal strips, stacked together for each half and cut notches in the BACK side of the stacks. 

Assemble them like tiny bookshelves. Angle the vertical strips to allow for the angle of each half of the grille. Then trim the grille halves to fit the opening you've made.

It's probably tedious, but it's the only way I can think of to get even spacing for the eggcrate shape of the grille. 

I hope I explained it clear enough.

Best of luck.

[Oldcarfan27]

Or you could try this.

Photo etched model railroad boxcar walkways. (Found these online)

[MarkJ]

Thanks , Patrick. But I actually put the grille together yesterday. I will try to post some pictures today

[MarkJ]

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, but I basically found a picture of a 74 camaro with the left side of the grille facing the camara directly . i turned the image into a 1/25 scale image of the grille and enhanced it by making the grille black on a white  background. I then flipped that image horizontally to get the right side of the grille. This gave me patterns to put on the grille opening so i could mark where the .025 rods I used woud go. These were the smallest rods I could find, but they were really flimsy to work with as you will see on the pictures I post today. it was really hard to cut the slots on the sides of the grille for the horizontal rods. I will need to cut the back out of the grille assembly, so I can bolster the rods from the back to give them a more flat appearance.

[David G.]

What a great idea! I can't wait to see how it works out.

Over the years I've learned a number of different techniques just so I could make a particular part for a build project. At this point I might consider teaching myself how to photo etch.

David G.

[MarkJ]

18 minutes ago, David G. said:

What a great idea! I can't wait to see how it works out.

Over the years I've learned a number of different techniques just so I could make a particular part for a build project. At this point I might consider teaching myself how to photo etch.

David G.

Yes, photoetching would be great for so many things. I had to remove the grille work I did and start over by making the side grille slots more pronounced to fit the horizontal rods better. hopefully I will nave better results today.

[MarkJ]

Finally got the rough grille assembly finished. I now need to fine tune it with more styrene in certain places, and then some block sanding to give it a more egg crate appearance and also it needs a more pronounced  pointed edge to  the  middle of the grille. The smallest material I had to use was .020 rod which was really too big for the grille bars, so to speak, but anything smaller would have been impossible to work with and the glue would melt it. I think i can get it presentable when finally finished. I also need to adjust the grille opening for proper fit.

[David G.]

That looks like it may work.

David G.

[MarkJ]

Grille and bumper are not in their final locations. They wont be installed until after they are painted. They both need some more work before painting them.

[MarkJ]

[Oldcarfan27]

Dude! I'm really liking how you are including the headlight shell detail.

That's exactly what they looked like! And they fit right over the same '73 fenders.

[MeatMan]

Awesome work!

[gks1964]

Very well done Sir!!

[David G.]

It's all coming along quite nicely.

David G.

[MarkJ]

[MarkJ]

[MarkJ]

The continuation of this thread  has been moved to the , " Wip, other racing ,road racing, land speed racing" forum. I figured since its a race car it should have been posted there to begin with. Sorry about that.