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Art & Inspiration I've thunk on it for 4 years! Time to do it.

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Stu D Baker, Sep 5, 2020.

  1. Beanscoot
    Joined: May 14, 2008
    Posts: 3,053

    Beanscoot
    Member

    The Studiford is beautiful! What's wrong with you guys?

    [​IMG]
     
  2. Bill Rinaldi
    Joined: Mar 23, 2006
    Posts: 1,877

    Bill Rinaldi
    Member

    Well, In MY opinion, any one who can take a 37 slant back, chop it perfectly, lengthen the doors 5", shorten the quarters 5", give it a perfect stance, and paint it perfectly, and make it a GREAT driver besides, well, he's got the talent to pull this little cyclops trick off. So there!!
     
  3. Stu D Baker
    Joined: Mar 4, 2005
    Posts: 2,755

    Stu D Baker
    Member
    from Illinois

    Thanks Bill. Just to set the record straight, I stretched the doors 6" and setback the quarter 6" . That was over 30 years ago, but who's counting?
     
  4. Stu D Baker
    Joined: Mar 4, 2005
    Posts: 2,755

    Stu D Baker
    Member
    from Illinois

    Okay. Just a little update on the project. Naturally, any idiot (me) who decides to cut a hole in the center of a 37 Ford grille, has to understand that the grille gets a bunch of support from the center verticle portion. Kind of like a backbone of the part. My goal, as I mentioned in the start, was to INSET the fog light into the grille structure. Need a hole.
    Used my sheetmetal template to locate the position, but left the grill bars a tad long. I'm going to want to trim and fit each bar as I move along.
    The fog lamp bezel is 4 3/4" diameter, so I need to fabricate a structural piece that will do a couple of things. First, needs to be strong enough to give the grille some strength. Second, it should create a trim ring that the lamp will set into. Already had some various 1/8" strap pieces in my scrap pile, so this piece of 3/4" wide might do the trick.
    Next chore is creating a perfect circle 5 1/2" in diameter. Looking at my hole saw set, which goes to 6", I tried the 5 1/2" and began rolling the strap around the outside while clamping the strap tightly. With a bit of trimming, I have a super nice gap, ready for welding and prepping to install on the grille structure.
    Well, that's all for today guys and gals. Keep in mind that there are a number of ways to make this modification happen. There are probably many who could do it better, but I'm out behind my house in the crowded garage, just doing what I can, with what I have. Thanks for taking a peek.
     
    Tim, AndersF, Surfcityrocker and 14 others like this.
  5. Stu, when I saw this photo the first thing I thought was that piece would make a great clock for your garage, a simple battery mechanism and you would have a unique one off piece. HRP

    [​IMG]
     
  6. goldmountain
    Joined: Jun 12, 2016
    Posts: 4,442

    goldmountain

    There is no stopping to the man who knows he's right and keeps on coming.
     
  7. killbilly
    Joined: Mar 29, 2009
    Posts: 283

    killbilly
    Member

    If Val had just not wrecked his coupe.....
     
    silent rick and Stu D Baker like this.
  8. Stu D Baker
    Joined: Mar 4, 2005
    Posts: 2,755

    Stu D Baker
    Member
    from Illinois

    Val thought he lost the fog lamp in his garage. Lucky for me (??????) he found it.
     
    VANDENPLAS likes this.
  9. papajohn
    Joined: Nov 2, 2006
    Posts: 896

    papajohn
    Member

    Interesting concept. I think the hardest part will be getting it to turn with the wheels.
     
  10. Stu D Baker
    Joined: Mar 4, 2005
    Posts: 2,755

    Stu D Baker
    Member
    from Illinois

    That's somebody elses idea. All I want to do is recess the fog lamp into the existing grille. I see no real advantage to having a fog lamp turn with the wheels. If it was a regular headlamp, maybe.
     
  11. Budget36
    Joined: Nov 29, 2014
    Posts: 13,174

    Budget36
    Member


    That thing is butt ugly. I'm hoping Stu D makes his better.
     
    Stu D Baker and kidcampbell71 like this.
  12. Budget36
    Joined: Nov 29, 2014
    Posts: 13,174

    Budget36
    Member

    Actually there is no mention by you in you first post here, to inset the light. It came up later. I think all the negativity was the "cut a hole and stick it in there" you mentioned at the start.

    Once Lippy mentioned about Frenching it in, I got real warm to the idea.

    The issue with many here, is they don't read all the posts before replying.
     
  13. Stu D Baker
    Joined: Mar 4, 2005
    Posts: 2,755

    Stu D Baker
    Member
    from Illinois

    Read my original post. I specifically said RECESS the fog lamp into the grille.
    Sent from my SM-J737V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
  14. Budget36
    Joined: Nov 29, 2014
    Posts: 13,174

    Budget36
    Member


    I see, I guess I fell into my stated category of folks, it was in your original post from 4 years ago.

    So I missed one link...;)
     
    Stu D Baker likes this.
  15. Stu D Baker
    Joined: Mar 4, 2005
    Posts: 2,755

    Stu D Baker
    Member
    from Illinois

  16. stanlow69
    Joined: Feb 21, 2010
    Posts: 7,348

    stanlow69
    Member Emeritus

    It won`t be a cyclops people. 2019-10-14_223611.jpg
     
    VANDENPLAS likes this.
  17. Stu D Baker
    Joined: Mar 4, 2005
    Posts: 2,755

    Stu D Baker
    Member
    from Illinois

    I left off after bending a 5 1/2" ring to weld into the grille shell and form a structural support for the grille. Had to dust a bit of heat on it and beat it into submission. When I did a trial fit of the fog lamp bezel to the fabricated ring, I wasn't happy with the gap. Way larger than I envisioned in my mind. I cut it apart (I find myself doing this a lot) and reforming the strap around a 5" hole saw. That made a happy fit. Back to the grille. The cut bars need to be cleaned up for the welding process. Eventually, I got all the grille bars cleaned up. Not going to trim them yet. I want the ring mounted properly first. A bit of trimming the center grille verticle bar, and I had the ring sliding in very nice. Note that the grille bars are pushed in behind the ring. This will get corrected later on when I trim each individual bar and fit them to the ring. For right now, I want to set the grill back on the car to get a feel for what I've done. Pretty much looks how I envisioned it. I set the fog lamp in place to get a better feel.
    DISCLAIMER:
    The grille isn't fastened to the car. Just hanging in place. The fog lamp isn't mounted, but simply setting in the hole. The grill bars have not been trimmed and fit yet. I'm happy with the result to this point, and feel confident the finished look will meet my expectations. If you don't like fog lights, or if you don't care for 1 fog light, no problem. Don't try this on your car. I think this will give the single fog lamp on my 37 a more tailored appearance. More to come as I continue when I have time. Thanks.
     
  18. millersgarage
    Joined: Jun 23, 2009
    Posts: 2,294

    millersgarage
    Member

    looking good. If you do it well, which it looks like you are, it can pass as factory.
     
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  19. i.rant
    Joined: Nov 23, 2009
    Posts: 4,301

    i.rant
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    1. 1940 Ford

    Outside the box and I like it. Wondering if the light beam will get broken by the top of the bumper. The 37 bumper can be flipped if need be and as a bonus it makes your car appear lower.:D
    May forever be known as the Bill B***** fog light modification upon completion.:cool:
     
  20. Stu D Baker
    Joined: Mar 4, 2005
    Posts: 2,755

    Stu D Baker
    Member
    from Illinois

    That's a good point. I went out to the shop and looked at the bumper height tonight. Looks as though it will be fine. The light is about 3/4" above the top line of the bumper. The bumpers are pulled in to the body with hand fabricated brackets. The center of the front bumper is pretty close to the center of the grille. I'm anxious to see the horizontal bars in place and center chrome installed.
     
    VANDENPLAS and Hnstray like this.
  21. Budget36
    Joined: Nov 29, 2014
    Posts: 13,174

    Budget36
    Member

    I'm feeling the old Life cereal commercial coming on...yes, my name is Mike.
     
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  22. davidvillajr
    Joined: Apr 4, 2005
    Posts: 1,165

    davidvillajr
    Member

    Looks REALLY good, my friend.

    Visionary.
     
    47 ford and VANDENPLAS like this.
  23. Stu D Baker
    Joined: Mar 4, 2005
    Posts: 2,755

    Stu D Baker
    Member
    from Illinois

     
  24. papajohn
    Joined: Nov 2, 2006
    Posts: 896

    papajohn
    Member

    Was just joking! Looks like you do nice work
     
    Stu D Baker likes this.
  25. Looks good !!
    Can’t wait to see the finished product
     
    kidcampbell71 and Stu D Baker like this.
  26. Stu D Baker
    Joined: Mar 4, 2005
    Posts: 2,755

    Stu D Baker
    Member
    from Illinois

    Thankyou, I'm anxious to see the results too.
     
    kidcampbell71 likes this.
  27. Gearhead Graphics
    Joined: Oct 4, 2008
    Posts: 3,890

    Gearhead Graphics
    Member
    from Denver Co

    Dig it man, doing things out of the box. Ive always kinda had a hankering for a fog light on the front, they dont seem very useful, but I just kinda like the look. I like where yours is going.
     
    Hnstray and Stu D Baker like this.
  28. Squablow
    Joined: Apr 26, 2005
    Posts: 17,390

    Squablow
    Member

    You're pretty committed to the diameter at this point, but I wanted to mention that I have a pair of "Cat's Eye" branded fog lights that have a glass lens that is Vee'd in the front instead of flat or semi-round, a lens like that in your fog light would probably mimic the shape of the grille well. Not sure if they made different diameters of that lens though, mine are a fair bit bigger than your single. (Not that I want to sell them either, just a thought).
     
  29. Stu D Baker
    Joined: Mar 4, 2005
    Posts: 2,755

    Stu D Baker
    Member
    from Illinois

    That's interesting. You're correct, I'm a bit committed at this point. But still a great idea. Christmas is just around the corner, if you would like to gift them to me. :)
     
    VANDENPLAS and kidcampbell71 like this.
  30. I think it's pretty cool!
     

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