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MG MGA - Alternative to a chrome grille

Happy Christmas to you all.
Something to ponder over when the Christmassy thing gets a bit too much.
I need to dress my repro grille to get it to fit correctly its miles out at the moment it is chrome on brass though.so as my restoration is a bit off piste I thought of powder coating grille to match wheels. Not sure if this can be done but think it would look really good and different. The attached image is of car as is minus engine and box it's only taken me since 2008 to get this far.
Best wishes to you all during these trying times.
Mark



M Dollimore

IMO yes, but matt black would be better.

Take care, stay safe and get a shift on to finish it and drive it. :)
Nigel Atkins

Just my opinion, but I think it would be like a lot of modern cars with painted grills. They look plastic and cheap, because they are plastic and cheap.
Steve Simmons

Mark, your car looks fantastic and I love the colour.

Is your front valance a glass fibre one or metal?

I ask because my similar valance is a bit battered and I need to sort out a new one.

On the subject of your front grille, I would fit stainless steel mesh, the powder coating will look ok but will need to be redone more often than you think.

I have powder coated alloy wheels on my car and I have had to have them re-coated twice now since I got the car 10years ago.

If you are staying with the grille, I would stick to chrome, it is much more resistant to stone chips than powder coating.

Final question, have you considered fitting an oil cooler beneath the radiator duct? I did this on mine and cut out a rectangular vent in the valance to allow air through to it. It works really well and I think it improves the look of the Sebring style valance.

Cheers
Colyn

I have uploaded a pic of my car which just shows the vent in the valance for the oil cooler.
Colyn Firth

A picture of the front end of my car.


Colyn Firth

Colyn
Looks like you have snow up in Yorkshire - and lovely mountains you have there too!

Mark
The car looks stunning (Colyn: yours is too) - I am very jealous of them both. I fitted a mesh grill on mine. It's a personal thing I know, but I really like the look of it. It gives a different look and I have found it lets more air through than the standard grill. If you fabricate it yourself, its very cheap too!
Graham V

Stainless mesh may be something to consider. Link below is to Barney's site has the info on the modification. Parts are also available from Moss.

https://mgaguru.com/mgtech/body/bd208.htm




Nick Kopernik

That's the thing, good powder coating isn't necessary cheap or looks cheap, whereas poor quality chrome may not be cheap but looks as if it is.

With a modern (looking) paint colour why stick with tradition too much.

But then, I'd have it with an electric engine
-oh, no, did I really put that, I'm sorry, I'll get my coat . . .
Nigel Atkins

You'll wish you never powder coated it Mark
Nothing better than some chrome on a silver car


William Revit

Mark,
Your car looks fantastic. Based on the side lights, I'm assuming it's a 1600 MK II.

My preference is the stock chromed brass grille. Who did you buy your reproduction grille from? What is the problem with the fit? Cecelia Bruce at Scarborough Faire in the US sells reproduction grilles that supposedly fit very well to an original shaped grille opening. If your front end had significant body work without making the body work conform to the grille you are using then that might be the problem and you may have a hard time getting any grille to fit.

Good luck and Happy New Year.

Jim
JL Cheatham

Cheers Graham,
the pic was taken a couple of years ago, back in the days when you could drive your MGA to Europe without the fear of passing on or contracting a nasty virus.

It's at the summit of the Col du Tourmalet in the French Pyrenees (approx 7000 ft altitude), temperature approx 29 degrees C. A fantastic spot for taking in the spectacular views over a glass of wine or beer. It is also the famous Tour de France destination.

I have attached another picture taken approximately 100 yards away from where the first one was taken, but this one was taken much earlier in the year!

We are actually sitting on the same main road which we drove up with the MGA, which becomes the actual ski piste in the winter months!
The temperature is around 40 degrees cooler though than the first pic! at minus 10 degrees C!

And of course, we had to order mulled wine!

My car does polish up well, but the paint is beginning to show its age, so a few months ago, I decided to spend some time touching in the stone chips on the sills.
Once I got down close up to the sills, there were so many stone chips that I realised that it was looking like I would need to use a 2" wide brush to touch them in!

So it looks like I will need to have some respraying work done in the near future.

Cheers
Colyn


Cheers
Colyn



Colyn Firth

Colyn
Have you always not bothered with the front bumper? Quite a nice look too
Graham V

Thanks for responses
Just a little history to take us where I am today.
Bought my first MGA in 1975 Chariot Red 1600 YXP853 restored it and did many concours events including the "proper" autotests at MGCC events. Restored black Twin Cam coupe YDA160 did numerous concours events, with many successes. Then in 84 took to racing with MGCC in 1622cc Ash Green MGA 114EPK scored numerous std class wins, lap records and best prepared MGA. Then took a brief sabbatical from racing until returning in 96 with 750 MC in kit cars until 2006. During this time I was honoured to race the Ex Dick Jacob's Ash Green mga twin cam 1MTW for Roger Daniells.
In 2008 I acquired my current A from a scrapyard in Virginia. Roger D undertook the chassis and body restoration so having done the concours bit for the MGA I felt this time round I would do my own thing, hence what you now see.
The A is actually a 1600 but subtly changed to delete bumpers and convert to Mk 11 rear light arrangement. Colour is Ford Dark Micastone.
Colyn - front valance is f'glass not a good choice as it needed cutting into 3 and reblending to fit.
Given comments I may well stick to chrome, grille will be Mk 11 with every other slat removed.
Happy New year to you all. Let's hope we can get on top of this Covid thing and relieve ourselves of all the stresses it brings.
Mark




M Dollimore

Pic of my latest completed resto with Le Mans type valance and mesh grill. Car for sale in Australia, and can ship to UK.
Gary Lock

Trying to upload pics...will try later.
Gary Lock

Have tried to upload 2 photos, but not working....I seem to remember there is a maximum file size for uploading, so maybe that is causing it to not happen?
Gary Lock

Mark,
I live in Virginia and am just curious if you remember who you bought the car from.

Jim
JL Cheatham

A MKII grille with some slats removed does look quite nice:


Nick Kopernik

Nick
That does look nice. Maybe I will try that. DO you get lots of rubbish on your radiator?
Graham V

Gary
About 450KB (4.5MB)is the biggest that'll go through--just resize to something there or smaller and you'll be set-----this pic is 320KB if that helps

Cheers
willy


William Revit

Finally, got a pic to upload!


Gary Lock

Nick - yes that's the effect I'm looking for, nice one.
Jim - sorry I do not have any details of the cars whereabouts in Virginia.
I'll keep posting as things progress.
Best Wishes all.
Mark
M Dollimore

Looks really nice Gary, if I didn't already have an MGA Roadster, I would want your car for sure!]

Graham, my car was a race car before I got it with no interior or heater, a full roll cage, grp Sebring front valance and a full-race engine that had ridiculous performance but almost impossible to drive on the road.

I have uploaded a picture that I took a few weeks before it was finished, the engine is out, waiting for the 1850cc MGB engine to be fitted and for the new valance to be fitted.

The second picture shows the front valance as it was when I got the car, I have since then cut a vent into it to feed air through into the oil cooler and I think this also improves the look of the Sebring front end.

So, although I do have a full set of chrome bumpers stashed away in my garage, they wont fit on the car now because the chassis dumb-irons have been cut down to fit behind the valance.

I love the look of the car with no bumpers but it does leave the front end a little vulnerable and I have admit to having the valance re-painted quite a few times.

James Horner who paints the car, jokes that I have a permanent slot booked every year which has become a guaranteed source of annual income for him :^)

Cheers
Colyn










Colyn Firth

The first picture here shows how wide the vent for my oil cooler was when I first fitted it.

The second picture shows that I subsequently cut the vent a little bit wider to increase airflow to the cooler.

Cheers
Colyn





Colyn Firth

Graham, unfortunately that car is not mine; my MKII retains the original grill. And quite honestly, the only things that get caught in the grill are leaves during the Fall driving season, but its really not an issue overall.
Nick Kopernik

Slats removed tends to be on race MGAs(?).
Nigel Atkins

I like the look of the chrome mesh grilles, especially the Mk1 but they do need that support panel behind to be dark to make them look right
William Revit

Slats are typically removed to aid in air flow thru the radiator and I've seen the look on both street and race cars. An alternative to removing every other slat is to bend all of the slats to increase the space between them; I did this on my car. I used two adjustable wrenches, on at each end of the slat, and carefully turned them in unison to achieve a larger gap. Tape covered the jaws of the wrenches to avoid scratches to the surfaces.
Nick Kopernik

Found these searching around---





William Revit

I’m a lucky boy, I have one of both! I prefer the smaller aperture and smaller dia wire mesh grille compared to those shown in this thread. Interestingly I don’t have overheating issues with either.
Mike





Mike Ellsmore

You are a lucky boy Mike and yeah that finer mesh looks the part
Happy New Year mate
William Revit

Mike
I assume that the extra holes (with the mesh) in the front shroud, either side of the radiator grille, are new fresh air inlets for the heater and the carbs, to allow more air through the rad?

Are the other smaller holes in the new spoiler/valance for brake cooling or an oil cooler?

Also, can I ask you how the car drives at very high speed with your spoiler?
My car with its Sebring style valance starts to feel quite light at the front end once the speed gets up to maximum (ie. 3 figures)

Cheers
Colyn
Colyn Firth

Colin, the shroud holes adjacent to the grille provide air to carbies (xflow head) and exhaust cooling (pipes come out of engine horizontally and head into front mudguard and run down the back of the splash plate). Not many heaters in Oz!
The small holes in the valance are for brake cooling (more for show than effect!) oil cooler is underslung - remove number plate to let air in, aluminium duct behind valance.
Dont notice front end being light, to busy hanging on, comes down quick when hit the brakes ready for first corner.
Cheers
Mike
Mike Ellsmore

Many thanks to everyone who responded on this thread, turned up some interesting comments which has provided enjoyable reading. Cheers Mark.
M Dollimore

This thread was discussed between 24/12/2020 and 11/01/2021

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