Now that it's all welded up time for some dough. I smeared a coat of USC brand"Icing" which is a polyester filler on the metal first. It has killer adhesion. Then followed up with regular bondo. Cheese grated the filler then sanded with 40# then 80# sandpaper using a sanding block of course. Because of the very curvey area I used a tube of chalking (the plastic ones) for a sanding block. They work great in curved areas. Let the mud dry overnight, then shot on a couple coats of high-build urethane primer. Next I rebolted the grille in place to check the fit. I will check the fit several times.
In these photos you can see the metal lip I had to weld around the grille to hold the heavy bugger in place. I only had to cut a little metal away from the original grille opening to get the grille to sit correctly. Once I got the grille positioned I made a lip all the way around with 1/8th inch rod and a piece of 3/4 inch wide flat stock. In this lip I drilled the mounting holes. Next you see the sheet metal being welded to the body of the car and the "lip" that I welded in. I had to do the sheet metal in pieces but they all got welded solid.
I restored a 48 Chevrolet Sedan Delivery a few years ago and now the owner wants a 47 Oldsmobile grille put on the car.His wife is against the change but we don't care what she says....so here she goes!
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