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I wanted to share a quick update on the truck project.

I received my new chrome grille and it looks awesome! I did a dry fit in the opening and found it was really tight, but after loosening the fender-to-radiator splash panel, I was able to pull things out just enough to get the grille into place.

Unfortunately, the new grille didn't magically hide the ill-fitting fender-to-hood gap, so it was back to aligning the front clip. I sent a PM to 52Carl, our Stovebolt expert, asking about the fender-to-cowl support rod measurements. The manual calls for setting the driver's side at 27-1/4” and the passenger's side at 27”. With those exact settings, however, I couldn’t get the fenders back far enough to align them properly with the hood.

My question to Carl was whether I could shorten them to get the fenders to move toward the rear of the truck. He let me know that those measurements were just a starting point, and if I needed to shorten them to get proper alignment, to go ahead and do it.

Armed with that info, I finally found success! I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Next up is the final wet sanding on the fenders and hood in preparation for paint. However, I need to rethink painting the hood while it's still on the truck. Once I started wet sanding the fenders, I realized that it would be really difficult block sanding the middle near the cowl, not to mention being able to reach it to paint it successfully. I’ve decided I'll remove it and reinstall it using my engine lift instead.