Tech: Make your own ’34 grill….with tin snips

It was getting near paint time for the Hupp so I had to start thinking about what to do for a grill. The original seen here is badly broken, made of pot metal and missing a few pieces. A replacement was in order. I thought about trying to mold and cast one from aluminum but decided tooling up for doing that was as expensive as having one made. I could get a nice one for about $1200. Not like original but very nice. And way out of my $4k total project budget. I decided to see what I could do another way….

 

First using the old grill frame as a pattern I traced one half of the top onto a piece of card stock. Next I traced one half the bottom. onto another. I now had the general curves involved on paper. I guessed that adding one half inch to each side of the true shape would give me enough to turn under or use as a spoke divider so that was added.

Next I cut out the patterns. Then I folded it along the true pattern lines and cutting slots and notches when necessary to make the curved “corners” along the outside. The inside I divided into 10 sections about 1 inch each using a ¾” tab followed by a ¼” slot, again folded along the true pattern line. When done I have a paper upper and lower ¼ grill. Now trace and cut out a duplicate of each and tape together in the middle. Now tape these patterns to sheet metal and using tin snips, cut them out again.

 

I found it helpful to trace the pattern lines onto the metal. This gave me a guide to use for plier and vise placement. The sheet metal I used was some grocery store shelving and fairly heavy. I earned that blister from the snips.
The shelves had a nice factory bent edge I decided to take advantage of. I cut a couple of 3 ft sections 1/2” from the edge so I ended up with the side sections you see here.

 

The four sides were then fitted to the shell and drilled where needed. Next tack the sections together. Then weld but take care not to get the metal too hot. I dollied the welds while hot as best I could. Since I didn’t have a ½” dolly I clamped a 12” crescent wrench upside down in the vice. I could then slide the welded sections over the end of the handle and hammer them.

 

The center section needed to be tapered and peeked in order to keep up the original appearance I wanted. I decided not to make a crank hole so that simplified things a bit. I wanted to turn back at least ¼” at the edges. I knew I wanted the column to be ¾” wide on each side of the middle fold at the top and ½” on each side at the bottom. I then cut a piece of shelving 2” wide at the top, 36” long and 1 ½” wide at the bottom. Next I drew a line down the middle and bent the strip slightly along that line using the vise. Following that I drew a line down each side ¼” from the edge and bent along those lines at 90 degrees using pliers a little at a time. Using the longest of the remaining original spokes as a template and by loosely clamping heating and bending the center section is shaped to fit and then welded in.

 

My car’s original grill had a chrome plated frame and silver painted spokes. A better welder could easily make this grill chromable. I intend to paint the frame as my seams require a little glazing. For spokes I decided to use ¼” aluminum rods for 3 reasons; they are easy to find, cheap and polish easily.
I polished them on the wheel and again using the original spokes as templates, bent and cut each to fit.

 

Here is a final mockup of the semi-finished product. The spokes are held in with masking tape. I’ve filled the center column and both sides with resin for added rigidity and mass. The plan is to (1)paint the grill frame (2) re-assemble the grill (3)fill the upper and lower sections with resin to secure the spokes (4) clear coat the entire grill. Total time involved so far… about 6 novice hours. Total money….$42.32

 

Another side view

 

Looks killer.....! How often do you have to change the masking tape?

 

Paint goes on this weekend so I hope I never have to change it again

 

...........VERY cool!

 

Very nice!

 

Ummmm...that blows me away!!!Real nice....where do I send the 43.00???
I'd do that but I think my patience would run out in the first 15 minutes...
Geez...I guess I need to try it.. 32 Chrysler grills are about a grand too...
I'm on it man! Thanks..

 

Really good job!!!!!.........OLDBEET

 

kick****

 

Great Work! the rods can be made of stainless

 

pretty damn cool.

 

What kind of resin will you use to hold the bars onto the frame?

 

[ QUOTE ]
I dollied the welds while hot as best I could. Since I didn’t have a ½” dolly I clamped a 12” crescent wrench upside down in the vice. I could then slide the welded sections over the end of the handle and hammer them.


[/ QUOTE ]


That little trick is a tech tip all it's own....

You have more patience than a monk - nice work so far.


BTW, why couldn't you just run another tube across the top and the bottom of the insert to hold the grill together. Just tack weld on each grill tube. Then you could put some tabs on the corners to make your grill removable - and paintable.

 

I'm using some boat resin I have on hand. Nothing special. Just mix it and pour it into the voids from behind. I think I'll drill a small hole through each rod at each end so I can insert a pin to prevent them from rotating. The pinned ends will be hidden inside the frame and secured in the resin.

Broman,
I like that idea but I've found out the hard way that my cheesy welder won't let me weld aluminum. Maybe I should've used stainless rods. Maybe I will next time.

 

Great tech Hup! Wow, what work. I would think you picked the hardest grille to make. It's amazing what alittle patience and ingenuity can accomplish. Thanks for sharing.

 

That's about the coolest thing I've seen someone fabricate here on the HAMB. The finished product speaks volumes...

Could you thread the ends of your rods, and snug 'em up with a nut on each end and some lok-tite?

JOE

 

Hup, 6 hours to do all that? You are definitely the man. A very skilled man at that. While you claim that you are an amateur, your work is far batter than many alleged fabricators that I have seen. And, what a first project to start with. Man-oh-man, what a beautiful job. And, as an aside- I'll have to look through my archives as there was a guy here in Rochester many years ago that had a '34 Hupp which was street rodded with a SBC. I loved the rakish front end on that critter. Also, a member of my club is presently building a '38 Hupp which has been converted into a Carson-topped convert. Pretty wild.

 

A touch mind-boggling to say the least.

Well done and easy to follow article.

One of the more interesting projects I've seen for a while - anywhere.

I'd guess this one will be right up there with the front runners as far as HAMB tech goes.

 

Very impressive! Right up there with NealinCA's 53 chevy "duece" grill.

 

Cool!

 

I am impressed. Nice job.

 

WOW!!!! Super cool!

 

Your to hummble, very nice work.
I'd buy ya a beer, if I was closer

 

Wow that is awesome! Great Tech... and simpler than I had imagined! I am going to use your technique when I do my grill. Thank you for sharing.