Customs 1946 vs 1948 Chevey front sheetmetal.

Looking for a little Heavy Chevy help, please. Trying to my ride back on the road after tangling with a Big Rig. It's a '48 and I've located a 1946 front clip (finally). Will it work? Any ares of concern?

Thanks.

 

yep

 

Make it even better looking with a 46 grill.

 

You will have to drill some holes to put the 46 grille in, but yes, it will improve the looks. I put it ne in my 48.

 

It will bolt on as a complete unit. The grill is obviously a bit different but as the guys said above many prefer the 46 grill over the 48 grill that had that big nose piece stuck on it. I've seen a lot of 48's with that piece removed and the holes for the bolts and the marks where it touched the grill bars still showing as most guys liked the cleaner look a few years ago.
Top to bottom 1946, 1947 & 1948 Front ends have been swapped around so much on these over the years that a lot of people really don't know what they are looking at anyhow and if you prefer one over a few holes drilled or a few holes filled will fix it.

 

• http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/fisher/1946_47/index.htm
• http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/shop/1942/index.htm

These may also assist

 

I love em all 42-48 but, I'm partial to the 47.

 

The 47-48s had side chrome that stopped at the door while 42 and 46 had side trim that continued up on the hood sides for a better look IMHO. Also, that cheesy '48 grille addition makes a pretty [47] grille look cheap. I still have the little winged ornament that bolted on a 48 grille center piece.

 

Thanks for the input. I'm thinking it's going to be the '46 Grill.

 

Thanks!

 

When you first posted the question I did a search for the years and found that maybe 20% of the cars shown had the wrong grill for the year shown for the car.

 

The entire front caps will interchange EXCEPT the 46 has the chrome stipe down each side of the hood and the 47 / 48 doesn't have these strips. You can remove the 46 hood strips , but there will be about 8 rectangular 1 by 2 holes on each side of the hood. These strips don't match the stainless on either the 47 or 48. I guess you could add the 46 door and quarter panel strips to your car if you had them. The 47/48 hoods and 46 hoods will fit either grill. Also besides the hood and grille the 46 lower valence is different and will only work with a 46 grille, not 47 /48 grille . Also the parking lamp bodies and bezels are different size ( smaller ) on the 46 and won't interchange with the 47/48's. Later Bill

 

I am partial to the 47 grill myself...