1948 Plymouth Special Deluxe (p15)

Sunday  August 12, 2007

Over the last month I have been able to make a little more progress.  I installed the front fenders an ensured their proper alignment.  Then I removed the radiator grill because I needed to fabricate the bottom piece of the radiator shroud and the front fender cross member.   As you can see from the picture both the parts on my car and the parts car were beyond repair.

I fabricated the cross member with 1/8" flat steel bent into the same size and shape of the original then attached 1/8" angle iron to provide beam strength to the assembly.  Welded flat steel to the end pieces to strengthen the bend.
 

• I have a sheet metal brake so fabricating the bottom shroud wasn't to hard.

• I created a cardboard template with the proper size and bends.

• I only had a 24"/24" piece of sheet metal so I decided to make two pieces and attach them together with steel pop rivets.

• I copied the petcock hole and peened over the steel edges for safety purposes.

• Added a 3/16" edge bend to the radiator side for strength.

• I clamped section one in then measured for section two.
• Once both sections were completed I clamped them into position and marked them for joining.

• PS... The orange showing through in the pictures is primer not rust.

• I drilled and taped the angle iron for 8/32 screws.  I used stainless steel screws to attach the shroud.

• I think it was important to fix this area because while driving the shroud funnels air to the radiator.   The key word here is driving.

• I painted it top and bottom with undercoat.

• Not Show Car perfect but I definitely think it's a good functional repair.