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Frenching [by: Halloweenking]
Hotrodders Bulletin Board: Knowledge Base: Body-Exterior: Articles



The secret to frenching is having a willing and beautiful partner. Frenching goes well with a nice, curvaceous, and smooth body.

Inserting anything into the body will enhance its appeal. Virtually any part can be inserted or recessed, instead of its factory bulbous appearance. Antennae, license plates, headlights, and brake lights are at the top of the list.

Antennae, license plates, and brake lights are all pretty straightforward. Just create a recessed place for these items to sit out of sheet metal. License plates are the easiest, due to their rectangular shape. The sheet metal can be cut and a new recessed piece made by simply bending and tack welding a rectangular pan together, then welding and smoothing to the body itself.

Antennae are pretty simple as well. You can use a simple drill bit or a cutting wheel bit to drill out a hole, then roll a cylinder from sheet metal to the same diameter as the hole and weld a backing plate to the bottom with a hole for the exiting wiring. Weld that into the body itself, finish, and attach your antennae. Tubing can also be used for ease depending on the diameter and wall thickness. You can also angle them and about anything else you can think of with a little more shaping. Brake lights are just as simple, just create and form a recessed area to the shape of the light and finish.

Headlights, however, are a little more complicated. Along with removing the old headlight and bucket, you need to fabricate a new recessed bucket. A recessed bucket is simply a deeper version of the original, and is tack welded to the fender. To make this recessed bucket, all you need to do is roll a cylinder 1/2"-3/4" larger in diameter than the headlight, and at least 5-7" deep. Then, cut a backing plate out with the same diameter as the cylinder, and cut a 2-3" hole for the exiting wiring.

After you roll and weld the seam and the backing plate together you can make and weld a 4-screw adjustment setup to the bucket. This is simply made by buying an aftermarket piece and welding 4 tabs to the bucket. Or, fabricate one with a bead roller. Along with a fabricated bucket, you must decide on how you are going to adjust the headlights, and what kind of trim ring you're going to use for smoothing. After you decide on what kind of trim ring system you're going with, headlight adjustment is pretty simple. Just fabricate a 4-screw adjustment setup to your custom recessed bucket like the originals. The trim rings themselves are the most difficult part. Due to varying ideas and models I cannot effectively include them in a how-to. The previous metal forming how-to's should help you somewhat.