[bergy]

As one who worked on the assembly line around this time period (St. Louis not Norwood), it always frustrates me to somewhat cavalierly assume that anomalies like this were simply "worker error". I was the "replacement employee" and did every job on the line as part of my education. I can assure you that I would never have gotten away with selecting a wrong part that was as easy to spot as a grille. The guys around me were smart & cared about the product that was rolling down the line. They were like hawks, waiting for the "new guy" to make a mistake & teasing the crap out of him! New employees weren't just thrown into production without someone keeping an eye on them (early in the shift - relief men were available). Maybe hard to believe in this day of robots, but we really did look over each other's shoulder. The line workers were acquaintances and/or friends of the inspectors and repairmen down the line - it wasn't like they were 50 miles away in another town! Mistakes created work for them & they were NOT happy about it.
There are other, IMO more likely, explanations - like damage in transit, changed out later because someone thought it looked cool, etc. Also curious that the hood has been replaced - could the grille have been damaged/stolen at the same time? No disrespect to the production superintendent (I was one too). If you ask - is something "possible", you get a different answer than if you ask what the more "likely" explanation is.
OK - sorry for the rant - had to defend my fellow employees!