Technical 39 Chevy coupe help

Don't you love putting shit together that you didn't take apart?? The front fenders on a 39 Chevy, do they bolt directly to the radiator support? Am I missing something? Signed, fuck this shit in Kentucky

 

It has been a long time since I worked on a friend's '39, but I believe they do. I hope my vagueness helps!

 

Clearly they bolt to whatever has the holes for the fender bolts. Duh…

 

Where are the inner fender panels?

 

Still in the storage building. Gotta be modified.

 

It sure looks like that bolts right to the rad support and the grille wraps around.
On my 46 Pickup there's another piece between the fender and rad support, but you can definitely tell something is missing. That said, on mine there are about 8000 pieces that make up all the parts around the rad support to the fenders, so I wouldn't be surprised if there were some kind of bracket or something that goes in there.

Not helpful, I know.

 

My neighbor kid Danny has one in his backyard, He said he would take pictures when he gets home.

 

I agree with the above I believe the grille and possibly inner fender skirt helps fill the gap.

 

It's an old gasser if you want another one Lloyd

 

The inner fenders and grille tie the whole clip together but this piece is what actually bolts fender to support.
Bet you wondered what the other holes under headlight were for...

 

Well I'll be a son of a bitch! There's what I needed to see! Thank you my kind sir

 

I'll let Danny know you got it sorted

 

Thanks man. Now I've gotta dig through boxes and coffee cans looking for those damn brackets

 

faster to make a couple

 

That's very true!

 

Yeah, maybe for you guys! I’m a mechanic, not a fabricator!

 

Got a vice and a hammer?? You're in

 

I had to make mine, and used some 2" square thinwall box tubing. Just split it down the middle lengthwise, and then cut a V at the bend point on each side, and bent them 90 degrees. Then welded up the joint at the 90. Be sure to drill the larger hole that goes to the radiator support before bending too! Then the two holes that attach to headlamp housing bolts can be marked and drilled once it's all aligned.
And these aren't a straight 90 degree bend! There's a slight angle to make them align to the headlamp bolts.

 

Thanks man. I'm gonna look in my boxes of parts first, because the owner still has the grille, so I don't know the spacing i need.

 

I'm glad I read this as I'm also missing these brackets. Thanks Guys

 

If I only lived closer , I spend most of my days buildin stuff for Buddies in need . Today it was a barrel tuner for bench rest .22 rifle

 

Easy bracket to make, but not knowing the space needed for the grille to fit makes it impossible. The chin piece under the grille is fucked up, so I need the spacing to be correct so I can use it to straighten the chin piece. Aggravating man lol

 

Looks like your in the wrong racket........er...I meant bracket....lol....Hamb to the rescue once again....Lumpy63 that 39 Chevy is driving me nuts....

 

My buddy Gerald took this picture of his, and lumpy sent me a couple of his neighbors.

 

The grille wont do much to help figure out spacing. Those grilles have enough flex to them width wise that they are designed to fit a little variance in the opening. So you need to setup the core support, fenders, and check the hood to see how everything aligns first. Then you can add those two braces once it's all aligned. Those braces have a slot in them for a reason, so they can also fit varying fitment. So they wont really set dimensions for anything
When I put my frontend together I had zero parts, so I fit my fenders to the body just snug. Then I bolted the little piece that goes under the grille in to get the front of the fenders together. I then put a pad on my floor jack and set it to support the fenders under the nose piece. Set the hood on and loosened the fender to body bolts to allow me to raise/lower the front fenders. I sat hood on and began adjusting the floor jack to raise the assembly until the hood aligned perfectly. I removed the hood and finally bolted the grille into the opening. I have a one piece hood, so I don't have hood sides.
After that I tightened the fender to body bolts, and then the fender to radiator support bolts, and the various brackets.
It sometimes takes loosening bolts again to get minor adjustments, but it was very close doing it the way I did it

 

BB427 has what I think is the best way to go about this. For what it's worth, a couple more pics of the brace that mounts under the headlight pad.

I bought my car complete 14 years ago, and when going thru spare parts a couple years ago, I had these braces in there, all pretty and painted. Asked on a 1939 forum what they were, and finally installed them! Had driven the 39 about 20,000 miles by then, with no slumping or problems, but glad I now have them where they should go.