1932 Ford Grille Shell - Slicing And Dicing, Part 2

Since I'm happy with the fit and the proportions, It's time to tack-weld the parts together. I'm using my new Miller Diversion 180 TIG welder, but MIG or oxy-acetylene would work, too.

After de-burring the edges, the two parts of the grille shell are clamped together to check the alignment, and to make sure the proportions are exactly what I want. If any changes are going to be made, this is the time!

Now I'll deal with the peak at the top of the opening for the radiator. I've cut a strip of metal from the piece I removed, and I'm holding it temporarily in place with tape. I like the peak on this part, but unfortunately, the contours next to the peak don't match the rest of the radiator opening very well. I've made a pattern from paper that shows how the filler piece needs to be re-contoured to fit properly.

I'm using a metal stretching machine to gently re-contour the filler piece. If a stretching machine is not available, the same thing could be done by hammering on-dolly on the top edge of the piece.

Now you can see that the filler piece is almost perfectly shaped! It's time to scribe around the edges of the filler piece, trim away the waste material, and tack-weld the filler into place.

Using the paper template as a guide, I can see that the piece has almost the right shape. One or two more taps on the handle of the stretcher should do the trick.

With the filler piece tacked into place, the joint is worked with a hammer and dolly to level it and the joint is finish-welded. Here I'm sanding the weld bead flat.

With the top of the shell completed, the bottom seam is welded, and the weld bead is sanded flush. I'm taking great care to preserve the crisp line around the inner edge of the opening.

I'm hammering on-dolly here to raise a few low spots that I noticed after the weld was sanded.