[DeTomaso] De Tomaso grille material

[Doug Braun]

Mike,

	Glad to hear you found a source.  In case you didn't run across these guys
while you were looking, did you try www.mcnichols.com

They have a good description of terms here:

http://www.mcnichols.com/products/wiremesh/squaremesh/squareweave/productDet
ails.html#weavestyles

Doug Braun
blue 73L #5505

-----Original Message-----
From: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com
[mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com]On Behalf Of MikeLDrew at aol.com
Sent: Tuesday, December 09, 2008 7:45 PM
To: detomaso at realbig.com
Subject: [DeTomaso] De Tomaso grille material


Hi guys,

I've recently been parts-chasing for a Pantera owner in New Zealand.   His
front valance is all smashed and rusted, so he did the smart thing and
ordered a
replacement from Johnny Woods (he's actually an airline pilot, so he flew
from New Zealand to London, then travelled three or four hours down to Devon
to
visit Johnny's workshop and pick it up in person--saved a pile of money on
shipping charges, but he sure had to work for it!)

His mesh grille in his valance was also thrashed.   Although you can buy
replacements for the radiator grille (Wilkinson's website lists them for
$331 in
either the early (with studs) or late (screw-in) style, nowhere can you find
just the material to fill the opening in the valance.

Some time ago, Mangusta owner Tom Galli found a source for that stuff (since
this same material is used on front and rear grilles on a Mangusta), and I
reached out to him for help.   Turns out there's a company in Hayward, CA
(east
bay, a few miles from San Jose) called the Howard Wire Cloth Company that
specializes in just this sort of thing.

Tom wrote to me:

What I found was a 1/2" sq. mesh inter crimp with .080 wire. Available in
steel, stainless, brass, galvanized and electro polished stainless. Comes in
4
foot wide rolls with a $50 minimum order from Howard Wire Cloth in Hayward,
Ca.
1-800-969-3559 (contact was Tim) There is also a 5/8" sq mesh that has a
.542"
opening that may be just as appropriate.


I ordered a sample yesterday, and it arrived today in the mail--gotta love
fast service!

It came with a surprise.

I didn't know that early (1971-72) cars and late (Aug-72-on) cars used
different materials for the grille!

I have adapted a later-style L-model grille (which screws to the car from
the
outside) to my car, which originally had an early (July '72 Pre-L) grille
(which had small studs affixed to it, which passed through holes in the
body, and
were secured with nylock nuts on the back side).   I still have the early
one
as well.

So, it turns out that my early grille has a perfectly square pattern, and
the
later grille's material is squashed ever so slightly, resulting in a very
mild diamond pattern.

Interestingly, the material in the front grilles is turned at a 45-degree
angle to the ground; the same material is used on the rear grille (for the
A/C)
but is oriented parallel to the ground--I wonder why the difference?

The spacing on the early grille is also slightly greater.   The wires on the
early grille are exactly 0.51" apart (inside-to-inside, not
center-to-center,
on both my front valance and grille, and rear A/C grille), whereas the
later,
diamond-pattern front grille is a bit closer, at 0.47".   The sample that I
got from Howard Wire Cloth is 0.42".   I've posted a photo of this material
atop
my early .51" grille to show the difference:

http://www.poca.com/index.php/gallery/?g2_itemId=2028

Now, the reality is that nobody is ever going to tell the difference of
5/100ths or 9/100ths of an inch in your grille spacing.   But if you're
going to
buy new material, you might as well be happy with it.   The stuff pictured
is
called 1/2" mesh; they also make a 5/8" mesh which has a 0.545" distance
between
the wires.    In fact, they make a whole lot of different options:

http://www.howardwire.com/square_mesh.html

The sample that I got is called "2 Mesh, .080 wire", and the website claims
that the opening is .420 inches, which my digital micrometer indicates is
true.

If you have a mangled valance, usually the mesh itself is in decent shape.
It could probably be cut out, gently hammered flat, sandblasted,
powdercoated,
then attached to the inside of the new valance, and you'd be good to go.
But if yours is really demolished (or missing entirely), then this is
probably
the best solution.

Supposedly their minimum order is $50.   The stuff is sold from a
four-foot-wide roll; a two-foot length gives enough material to do both the
lower
valance, and the front grille, and costs exactly $50, conveniently enough.
(Well,
actually, I told him I needed a two-foot length and he quoted me $50; I
didn't
think to ask if three feet would have cost any more?   It's possible that
this
stuff is substantially cheaper than $25 a foot, and I just was quoted the
minimum order price).

Ordering info etc. can be found here:   www.howardwire.com

Mike