Grill repair
When we put the car together, one thing that was never right was the way the front grill section met the upper hood chrome. The two pieces didn't match up correctly on one corner. We thought it was probably because the process of replating the front (vertical) section warped or otherwise altered the piece somehow, which apparently often happens. I thought we'd just have to leave it that way, but it has bothered me ever since. Here's a picture of the problem:
It was pouring rain today, so I thought it was time to see if it could be made right. I feared I would have to remove the whole front clip and then the radiator to get at the grill shell, but fortunately I was able to reach up between radiator and grill and get to the sheet metal screws that hold the grill to the radiator shell. I did remove the hood so I could check and recheck the fit of the top piece, but that is easy enough.
Before removing the grill, I noticed that it didn't fit properly along one of the corners, but getting it to fit didn't make any difference. Then I noticed a small metal post, probably an alignment post, sticking up from the grill shell. Thinking it might be inteferring, I cut it off, but still no difference. Finally, I realized no amount of fitting was going to work and maybe the RH corner of the top section was just too low, rather than the other piece being too high. So I shimmed it with a small piece of wood and that did the trick. The two sections meet fairly well now.
The tradeoff was that the RH side section no longer fits so well, but that seems like a better, less visible trade off. Maybe Ken can figure a way to get it right later this summer.
Here's a picture of Jason helping me get the grill screws back in place. At 6 ft 7 in, his arms are longer than mine!
It did change the fit of the hood side panels to the body, but again, I think we can take care of that when it goes back to Ken's for a "tune up" later this summer.
While we were at it, we also removed the heater (again!) because it was making a noise. I thought the fan was probably misaligned and rubbing, but it turned out that the motor is noisy. There is no obvious place to lube it, but if I adusted the tension of the cap properly, I could get it to go away. It will have to stay that way until I find a new motor I guess.
And with the hood off, it was a good opportunity to remove the dust and gunk left from when the paint was rubbed out. Now if I could just get the running boards! Still no word on them, but my Alberta friend will be going up next week to check on them. Stay tuned.
It was pouring rain today, so I thought it was time to see if it could be made right. I feared I would have to remove the whole front clip and then the radiator to get at the grill shell, but fortunately I was able to reach up between radiator and grill and get to the sheet metal screws that hold the grill to the radiator shell. I did remove the hood so I could check and recheck the fit of the top piece, but that is easy enough.
Before removing the grill, I noticed that it didn't fit properly along one of the corners, but getting it to fit didn't make any difference. Then I noticed a small metal post, probably an alignment post, sticking up from the grill shell. Thinking it might be inteferring, I cut it off, but still no difference. Finally, I realized no amount of fitting was going to work and maybe the RH corner of the top section was just too low, rather than the other piece being too high. So I shimmed it with a small piece of wood and that did the trick. The two sections meet fairly well now.
The tradeoff was that the RH side section no longer fits so well, but that seems like a better, less visible trade off. Maybe Ken can figure a way to get it right later this summer.
Here's a picture of Jason helping me get the grill screws back in place. At 6 ft 7 in, his arms are longer than mine!
It did change the fit of the hood side panels to the body, but again, I think we can take care of that when it goes back to Ken's for a "tune up" later this summer.
While we were at it, we also removed the heater (again!) because it was making a noise. I thought the fan was probably misaligned and rubbing, but it turned out that the motor is noisy. There is no obvious place to lube it, but if I adusted the tension of the cap properly, I could get it to go away. It will have to stay that way until I find a new motor I guess.
And with the hood off, it was a good opportunity to remove the dust and gunk left from when the paint was rubbed out. Now if I could just get the running boards! Still no word on them, but my Alberta friend will be going up next week to check on them. Stay tuned.
posted by Bob Shafto at 12:34 PM
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