The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop terrible fitting grill

Hey Guy's, I haven't posted in years, but still have my truck. This is my 4th 48/53 and my most extensive build. I'm very close to the final fit and finish on my 51. Today I took out my original grill and tried to put in the repop grill I bought. The box says APEC, CVT1070KO, chrome with white. I bought it from a reputable dealer, but it's probably the same one everybody sells. I was shocked and surprised how bad it fit. I see no way of making it work. If I wasn't into it over $400, I would have thrown it in the pond. It's absolute junk. Can anybody give me your feedback on these after market grills? Did I just buy the wrong one, our are they all like this? Thanks in advance. Ronnie

Hi Ron, since this is your fourth build, I am not going to tell you to loosen all the front end bolts and screws, you know your way around these trucks. What you just attested is exactly why I spent hours hammering out the dents in my original grill in lieu of a after market chrome one. I have heard stories that man has to reinvent the wheel to get those things to fit correctly. Send it back and it is alright to say the vendor for others to be buyer beware, no sense others learning the same fate. Please post a few pictures do we can see exactly what you dealt with.

Steve

Thanks Steve. What I'm really wondering about is are all of the aftermarket grills the same, just in different boxes? Mine says APEC, CVT1070KO. Looking around on line, I do see a Goodmark grill, but is it the same thing in another box? That's what I need to know. I'll buy another one if a quality grill is available, but don't want to buy another low quality part. Here's some of the issues with the grill I bought.

-With the grill bars against the fenders on the side, the gaps vary about 1/2", and the top bar is 1/2" away from the top of the fender. These should be flush with the fender and on the same plain.
-The bottom bar is about 3/4" out of flat. Too much to pull down to meet the apron panel.
-With the grill pulled in place with the 6 side bolts, the top latch panel bolt holes miss by at least 1/2"
-The grill is 1/2" to 3/4" too far forward in the front center and the center hits to bumper filler panel.
I'm use to fitting aftermarket parts, but this is so bad I can't believe they sell it.
Keep in mind, this is a chrome grill, so cut and welding isn't a very good option.

Please let me know if there is a quality grill available, and what experience anyone has had with these grills. Thanks.

I have had this problem with 2 new grills. The best advice I can offer is to drill the holes in the inner fender which bolt to the grill oversized to 3/8". This will give you plenty of movement to swim the grill into place, up/down and in/out.
How does the contour of the top corners of the grill match with the corners of the fenders? I had to remove the screws which hold the tips of the top chrome bar and bend the side support of the grill inward in order to allow the grill to be raised up into position. I did not replace those screws. Didn't seem to need them.
Carl

Wow, that sounds pretty bad, I bet you were scratching your head when you saw all of that. I dont know what to say, maybe others will chime in and hopefully there is another vendor that is made to tolerance, pretty sure it is all off shore products. I have to say for my 53 resto, some of the off shore products were just really bad and not usable. Good luck.

Carl, do you remember the brand name on the grill you had trouble with? My box says APEC, CVT1070KO. It sounds like you had some of the same problems. My top bar does hit bad on the fenders, and is not the right shape in the fender area. This alone keeps it from bolting up. It also is too far down to line up to where it should sit. Like I put in my description, also, the bottom bar sticks out so far in the center, (out of shape), that it hits the bumper filler panel. This thing isn't bent from shipping, it's just made wrong.

Does anybody have a good experience with the fitment of an aftermarket grill? If so, what brand, and where did you buy it? I said I bought mine from a reputable dealer, but they don't specialize in trucks.It was GM Classics. I know the owner, he's local and a friend. He ordered it from who he calls his best quality supplier, for what that's worth.

Any help is appreciated.

I am confident that you can make your ill-fitting grill work. None of the reproduction grill fit. I bought both of mine from Classicparts.com. I consider this vender to be as good or better that all the rest of the vendors.
You can send yours back and order another one from someone else, but I will bet 3 dozen donuts that they are all made by the same outfit.
Re-read my solution to your problem. It will work.
Carl

For what it's worth, I got this email message today, but I'm still checking.


It is an Apex part but they are the only manufacturer who makes this grille so everyone in the industry carries the same one.
However we sell a bunch of these and I honestly have never received a fitment complaint on this particular grille…?

Sincerely,
Tony Pascale
Sales Manager | Location-3184 | Goodmark
682 US Hwy 78 NW Monroe, GA 30655
(O) 770-207-5069 | (C) 678-768-5122 | (F) 770-207-5966

Old thread I know but I imagine this is a pretty often searched topic. Posts by 52Carl have been really helpful for aligning the whole front clip. Carl, when you say that you drill out the holes in the inner fender to 3/8", I'm assuming you are also drilling the fender holes as well?

I made the mistake of getting everything aligned without the grill. I went to put this same reproduction grill in and the grill opening is off by a mile (2 inches too small). I'm dealing with new fenders, new hinges, radiator support is from a 1.5 ton truck, and I'm pretty sure the hood is from a different truck. Lining things up has certainly been a challenge. I'm glad I did this before starting any painting. It will still be a pain after painting but I think it will go a bit smoother since I've had some practice now. I got pretty frustrated after so much time spent aligning, to have the grill that far off, I had to just stop and walk away (luckily it was beer time and time to go trick or treating yesterday anyways). I'm going to loosen everything back up and drill the holes out like you said and remove the top chrome bar and then will give it another shot.

The manual only has a picture of a 54 grill. Is there a pic of any earlier grill installation somewhere?

Thank you,

If you put 1.5 ton fenders and radiator support on, that’s likely the problem. They’re different than 3100 fenders. The only repop grilles are for 3100-3600 trucks.

The fenders are 1/2 ton (brand new). Radiator support is from 1.5 ton but all my measurements indicated the 1.5 ton and 1/2 ton radiator supports are identical. I did have to swap the brackets on the bottom since the 1.5 ton only had a single mount.

I don't believe that I drilled the fender holes oversize. If I remember correctly, those holes were bigger than what is in the inner fenders. You can drill the fender holes oversize if you need to.

That's what I was thinking. Good to know.

Did you take measurements of the old grill and the re-pop side by side?

What are the differences and where are they?