Car Part Wall Art: Ford Model A Grille Shell Shelf
I’ve been excited about this project. It’s something I’ve wanted to do forever. I’ve surrounded myself with my love of cars and art and have filled my home with all types of car part wall décor and car part art.
I originally found these two grille shells on Craigslist near Gretna in 2019. My then seven-year-old nephew went with me to inspect them and ultimately buy them. I taught him how to count out the money, looking forward to taking him to swap meets with me someday. They are a bit rough, so they were perfect for a shelf project I’d been thinking about for a few years. Car parts, especially antique car parts, make the best wall art and décor.
The first thing we did was take a few measurements of the grille shells. They were very different from each other, being in various states of wear. We first tried to straighten one out to see if it could be square again but eventually decided the shells were just wonky, and we could spend more time fighting them or just come up with a new plan.
Eventually, we decided to make a square box to set inside each frame. The wood my father-in-law had on hand was a reclaimed hickory baseboard from an old house. He planned the hickory boards and then cut them down to size. We eventually decided that the boxes needed to be 3.5” deep, 22.5” wide, and 9.5” tall. We cut some of the boards a bit longer than necessary for reasons you’ll see in the next step.
Because the grill shells have a curved inside edge, we used a contour gauge to duplicate the edge profiles. The tool could lock in place, helping us duplicate and transfer the shape accurately to the panels of wood.
Alan included a strip of wood glue in between each joint before stapling the boards in place.
We knew we were going to need to attach the boxes to the grille shell frames somehow. I removed a few of the old fasteners revealing original holes. The holes needed to be a tad bigger, so Alan drilled them out a bit.
He sanded down the boxes then George stained them a dark walnut color.
Alan had tiny screws on-hand that matched the patina of the shells. He screwed them through the metal shell into the wood box to secure them in place.
And then we were done with the most time-consuming part of the project! I was super pumped with how they turned out. And also thankful that my talented father-in-law was willing to give us his time and woodworking expertise.
Now we needed to attach a hanger wire to the shell. And the perfect way to make a beautiful and robust wire is with safety wire pliers. Back when I worked in the museum during summers, we would hang heavy picture frames and long canvas displays using a wire that had been neatly twisted with safety pliers. Racers already know this trick, and thinking back now, our co-workers were long-time sprint car racers. They would use the safety wire pliers to lock parts into place on their race cars. You’ll see the twisted wire in aircraft and Indy cars too. It’s impressive to see a succession of bolts locked together through intricate safety wires.
It looks like magic, and once you get the hang of it, it’s super simple and fun. Our project is the simplest version. We’re only making a single safety wire to hang the grille shell on the wall.
We cut a section of wire and folded it in half. The folded half got clamped into a bench vise, and the open ends were clamped into the plier jaws. These safety pliers are a Longacre brand. Once the wire ends are clamped, you squeeze the handles and push the center down to lock the pliers shut.
Then you pull the center knob towards you, and the pliers and wire spin as you pull. You can re-spin the pliers as much as you wish. The wire spins itself into a neat and concise line. You can spin as long of wire as you need. I usually overestimate what I’ll need and then clip it down to the correct length. Then I attached the spun wire to the back of the grille shell wall shelf and hung it proudly in the house.
I’m so thrilled with how the grille shell turned out. It underlined to me that car parts make the best wall art.