Thread: I am building a 32 grill----Wanna Watch????

Tweet

I like it personaly & I really like how you've done as much as possible , your self .
nothing against people with less time or patience, but it's been nice following along.


T L

One thing I have to tell you about----if you look at the center vertical bar, it is a bit crooked----here's why. When you first weld it in, its as straight as an arrow. Each time you weld in an additional rod, the metal shrinks microscopically at the weld as the weld at each end of the rod cools. By the time you have welded all the other rods in, this shrinkage factor gets multiplied by the total number of rods. The total shrinkage becomes so great that it causes the center rod to buckle. How do I fix that?---well, after all the welding is done, I take my small cut-off wheel and cut the center bar off close to the top where it attaches to the perimeter frame. As soon as a peice the width of my 1/16" cut-off saw wheel is removed, the rod straightens out, then I reweld it.

Dang . . . I thought this thread was going to be about barbeque

Brian

Now if anybody hasnt noticed this is really what hot rodding is all about,Brian it does appear that yuo are a Master at what you do.

Do you live anywhere close to White Rock,BC as I sure would like to have you stop by my shop and help out with my project.

Kepp up the great work and posts on your progress of your project.

Joe

That is some awesome work, and I agree with jnex...this is whats it's all about. I myself am willing to sacrafice a little looks to be able to do it myself, but that grill is looking like something you'd buy from a catalog- and those things arent cheap. When thats done and you can sit back and look at it, that has got to feel good!

Very nice, and I will be following this thread to see your progress. Thanks for sharing.

Greg

Interesting. You and I are apparently of the similar mind when it comes to fabricating things. I'm not rich and I don't buy anything I can make or do myself. I built my own '32 style grille insert very much the same way you did. Check out the pics in my gallery. I also used 1/4 inch round stock for the perimiter and center bar, but then I switched to 1/8 inch rod for the remaining bars and spaced them 3/8 inch apart. After trimming the ends, I added two cross bars behind the verticles to add strength and more closely mimic a real '32 grille. It is held in place with four 1/4-20 studs welded to the back. After painting it, I finished off the look by adding a chrome trim ring around the perimeter. It's made of stick-on chrome moulding (plastic) available at the local parts store. I spliced the ends of the chrome at the top where it's least visible.

I shaped my perimiter piece directly to the shell and it was a difficult wrestling match. I really like your idea of using the plywood form to help shape that piece. Next time I will use your method. Thanks.

Sorry Jnex----- I live in Barrie, Ontario, about 100 km. north of Toronto. I'm going to finish that grill today, I think. I have to go down town and buy one more 10 foot length of 1/4" rod, and I'll check my mild steel gas welding rod supply before I go. ---Will post more later today.

We're Finished. The insert has had all the bars added, then I turned it over and gas welded the front side, using a 1/16 " diameter mild steel filler rod. This is where it would be nice to have a tig, but then if I had a tig, the insert would be made from stainless.---There is a lot of movement and heat distortion from using an oxy-acetylene torch, but I don't let it bother me too much---after everything is well cooled down, a few well placed whacks with one of my hammers and it is quickly returned to the proper shape. I decided not to weld the studs onto the back of the insert right now, as I am going to blow the car all apart for final paintwork, and it will be easier to do with the grill shell on the bench while I have it apart. TOTAL COST---$20 (I had to go down town this morning and pay $2 for one more 10 foot length of rod.) Now, don't get me wrong here---nobody is ever going to look at that grill insert and mistake it for one of Dan Fink's. On the other hand, nobody is going to see my car coming down the road and mistake it for an ornamental fireplace screen. Thanks for watching---Brian

Brian
Great job it looks like it has been there all its life, you sure will have a great ride once complete.

What color are you going to paint the old girl???

Joe

Same colour of yellow as the engine----2004GM Slingshot Yellow

Brain,

Fantastic work and even better spirit!!

I always pick up great tips from reading your posts

Thanks,

Bobby

Beautiful job, I wish I could weld, I am building a Fibreglass rod, front end looks like a '33, I have a glass insert I've painted black for now but like the looks of your rolled steel. Where in Barrie did you get it from, I'm up there once a month for work and I have a couple of buddies that can weld. Maybe I can talk them into giving me a hand.
Thanks from a fellow Canuk.

Nice work Brian. Project is lookin' gooooood.

nice work Brian. Ironically I'm doing the same thing with a grill for my 41 Willys. I have 1/4 in aluminum tubing and more or less have run into the same thing you did. I think the alum stretches a bit easier so it didn't buckel. The spacing is very critical as each error is multiplied as you go. Using the same spacers and clamping the same way goes a long way to keeping the error down. It is surprising what you can see if you step back 20 feet so it needs to be pretty good.
I made small mold that shaped each tube/bar then trimmed them to fit. I made little drill jig that cuts a fish mouth in the tube so the tube fit each other perfectly. A bit more work but in the end better.
I'm thinking of anodizing the grill some color but not sure what yet.

Wow,
Some/ most of the real builders sure make it look easy.
Thanks for taking the mystery out of roddin'.
Very informative.
fourty1