Good morning. Hoping to get some more Cougar savvy eyes on this. I believe amount many hacks the prior owner fitted an incorrect year grill to my 1971 base convertible. Am I seeing that correctly?
Thanks!
Accident
Good morning Don.
The grill is cracked for sure, but does that explain the gaps between the grill and the grill opening?
Yes, 100% does. Your center grille should have the same contour as your bumper and it has been made almost flat which causes it to push to the sides. If it were a 73 grille it would be much shorter.
https://secure.cougarpartscatalog.com/71centergrille.html?attribs=81
OK - got it. Thanks for the education Don.
Just for a comparison, this is my 71 XR-7’s grill. The only difference between a base 71 Cougar and a 71 XR-7 center grill is the bolt on ornament.
It is not real easy to find a good grill for a better deal then Don has. But you can use Craigslist or Ebay and maybe find one for less. But Don usually has them is stock and will ship quickly.
Thanks Neal.
Anyone know what the metal is that the grill is made of by chance?
Thanks and happy Wednesday.
It’s called Pot Metal. It melts at a fairly low temperature making it good for casting things like Grills and trim. I don’t know of a way to weld it, but people have silver soldered it before.
Good luck with the repairs.
Thanks Neal - my MIG won’t be of much use then but I think I can save this one still. Appreciate the response.
Eastwood sells a pot metal welding kit.
My chromer can weld them on simple breaks but when they are as bent as yours it is not worth trying.
Give repairing it a shot! Can’t make it any worse and you may just come out ahead. I’ve fixed plenty of stuff that others said was not fixable. Take your time and think outside the box a little and you might just come out ahead and not need to buy a new one
Good morning. Pretty much what I was thinking as well, as long as I don’t grill anything I’m on my way to make it worse. Worth a try, I’ve got a growing list of things to order from Don anyway in case I mess it up.
I bet money someone here would give you a free one that was in better shape. Practice on yours and then if it does not pan out, find one with a minor crack or two that you can fix and maybe replate. Once they are bent that far out of shape it is impossible to get them to line up 100% correctly.
Here ya go, check it out!
Jump on that fast!
Hold your horses, Neal - that better be a figure of speech. You don’t want this ( eBay ) grille to end up looking like the one Tdskip wants to replace ! ha ha Just kidding ! Couldn’t resist when I saw the image of the grille for sale, and the mans feet and legs showing just below it !
Oh crud - too slow, someone beat me to it.
Thank you for posting it however!
To bad, that one was a good deal. I see another one that is not very nice that the seller thinks is worth $349.00. It is not worth that much…
Keep looking, another one will show up for a reasonable price.