1949 Chevy Progress

I put some hours into the '49 Chevy convertible. The front sheetmetal had to be removed and trimmed to clear the independent front suspension, and then permanently attached. Then I got to take a good look at the radiator mess. Check it out!

I started by remooving the entire front clip, but first I marked on the inner aprons where it was hitting the front suspension.

I wanted the cuts to look factory with a nice radius on the corners. I started by using the hole saw to make these holes that connect the vertical and horizontal cut lines with a 2" radius.

Next I connected the outside edge of the holes with straight lines. I used a cutoff wheel to make the straight cuts.

Here's the other inner apron, looks factory!

Now the whole front clip is back in place for good and bolted everywhere it should be. The panel fit is much better, but it took 7 hours to get this far.

The GMC 292 straight six is mounted a little too far forward so we've got this clearance issue. Time for a custom radiator.