The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop straightening the front grill

Anyone got advice on getting small dings out of the front horisontal bars on a crome 1950 GMC grill?

Carefully, slowly, patiently using a body hammer and dolly. You may wind up having to re-chrome.

Use a tap tap tap not a bang bang bang.

You may want to practice on something less valuable first.

Try making your self some dies out of hard wood like oak. THen try squeezing them together with a large c clamp. This is what I am going to try when I get ready to clean up my Grill. However it will need to be rechromed so I am not too worried about that aspect. Good luck

I would be cautious trying to squeeze the dents out using blocks and a c-clamp. I tried it and it was marginally sucessful. I realized I could have gotten to the same place or better using hammer and dolly. It does make some logical sense but the metal does have a mind of its own it seems.

When using a hammer and dolly work from the edge of the dent in. dont hammer directly in the middle of the dent

I've got a quarter sized dent in the bottom grill bar on my 52. I'm going to use a bumper bolt with its' rounded head to massage the dent out, using tap tap , slow and easy. Maybe I'll mess up, but I hope not!

I have the same problem with a 53 grille. How can you take them apart? They have rivets in them..just drill them out? and put new ones in later?

Drill em out. They are strong, real steel rivets. I had to take the bottom 2 bars off of my 52 GMC grill to straighten and plan to reassemble with properly sized nuts and bolts with lock washers, and loctite. Smitty

Okay thanks, I also have to straighten the two bottom bars.

By the way, you could use rivets to put them back on, but it seems to me that a few of them would be very hard to reach . I could be wrong!

When I took my grill apart I drilled out the rivits. Then used nuts,bolts, and washers to put it back together. They really don't show unless you get up underneath. Cecil.......

I have #4 grill bar on my 53 Chevy that's twisted from running into something. How to untwist this thing, it's not cooperating! Or, does some supplier out there sell individual grill bars???

Thanks for the great responses.
Houston 54, have tried the hammer and dolly with some success. Brian Moore is thinking similarly to how I felt, suggesting a form or wooden guide and a hammer. A combination of all may get the results I am looking for.