After some inspiration from NealinCA I decided to attempt fixing an old 32 insert I ended up with in a trade. The insert had no grill bars so I started with just the outer frame. First sheared some .500 strips of 20 gage. Then I broke them in half and smashed them almost closed enough they slide into the out frame. I have to make the two supports that hold the bars parallel and I have a crank hole coming. Will post some progress pix when I gain some head way on it.
very cool i work in the hvac trade and had thought of doing the same thing myself using our pexto barfolder to bend them in half , is that how you did it , great idea looks like i'll be making some up at work. if you come up with a good idea for the spreader bars please post it , i'm in the same boat as i have just the outer surround !
You did know that those replacement bars are available from several sources in mild steel, as original, and polished or non-polished stainless steel, didn't you? Your help is great but for those without the equipment like that there is an alternative. 43 bars is the number. You can get the crankhole piece as a reproduction as well if you like 'em and it is missing. Appreciate the illustrations.
I was going to order the repo bars but I thought I would give making my own a shot. I did order a repo crank hole, hasn't shown up yet.
I was wondering about that. But I had a piece of 20 that was the right length so I went with it. Thanks for the info though. I should have asked before I started this project.
The Jalopy Journal
