Any self-respecting custom cannot be called complete without some form of grille modification or swap, and for over 50 years a custom favorite has always been the '54 Chevy grille. Jack Fields at Starlite Rod & Kustom always has something interesting going under the custom knife, and a couple of the latest projects have been early '50s FoMoCo products receiving the classic '54 Chevy grille.
Jack marked the fender for...
Jack marked the fender for trimming after removing the original Ford grille.He then started trimming away the marked area with a cut-off wheel and finished with a small body saw.
Starlite Rod & Kustom takes great pride in their projects, and a neat trick they came up with for fitting the Chevy grille to the Ford fenders could be duplicated for many different custom projects. The end result, as you will see, has a clean factory appearance and requires no filler, insuring long-lasting results
Over the years the popularity of the '54 Chevy grille has made them increasingly more difficult to find, but thankfully brand-new reproduction units are now available from helpful sources like Bob's Antique Auto Parts.
Starlite has done a few of...
Starlite has done a few of these and has made this buck to make the filler panel that matches the contour and shape of the ends of the '54 Chevy grille. A piece of sheetmetal was sandwiched between the buck and was quickly shaped with an air hammer.
Viewed from the back, you...
Viewed from the back, you can see how the filler piece is shaped.
The new filler piece was marked...
The new filler piece was marked for trimming to fit perfectly in the Ford's fender.
The trimmed, formed filler...
The trimmed, formed filler piece was then carefully tack welded in place. A hammer and dolly lined up the edges of the fender and filler piece as the two were joined together with a welder.
The welds were cleaned up...
The welds were cleaned up with a few passes with a grinder. The finished depression will appear to be factory stamped after a little filler and some primer.
The '54 Chevy grille fit perfectly...
The '54 Chevy grille fit perfectly in the depression on the first try. It's obvious that little to no filler is required using this technique. A small piece will be added to the stock Ford grille surround to fill the small gap above the grille and the stock lower piece will be cut to finish off below the grille.