The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop V radiator to firewall brace-1946 3/4 ton

My "v" brace from the firewall to the radiator is bent in several places. No luck finding a replacement. Any ideas how to find dimensions of straight one some I can pound mine back in shape? Maybe a cardboard cut out?

The passenger side is straight, the drivers side has a bend in it to provide room for the air cleaner.

I've been curious about this too. I've seen the curved ones on some trucks and straight ones on others. The one that came with my '46 did not have the curve, but had several bends in places consistent with damage. That was "repaired". When I assembled the front sheet metal to check for fit, prior to more body work, everything fit fine, including hood latching. I have wondered if there were different air cleaners used. Sparky is a 1/2 ton and came with an oil bath air cleaner. I''ve seen both straight and curved listed for sale and wondered about the differences.

My '37 also has a straight v-Rod and same air cleaner type.

On my 46 --- 1/2 ton the vrod was straight and had the small pancake air cleaner. My 1 1/2 ton had the rounded bend for a tall oil bath air cleaner-- it appears so that it could be lifted up for removal.

Maybe 3/4 up had the bend.

Are the braces otherwise interchangeable? I have a chevy 350 in my truck, so the oil filter is not an issue.

I don't know. I finally remembered to check the Master Parts Catalogs and unless I missed finding it otherwise, there is only one part number shown for the '41-'46 models. It shows "All Commercial and Utility (except cab over expresses) units "Radiator Brace Rod" (Group Number 1.309)" were the same. So, my guess is the factory curved one that allows for the air cleaner access is correct. Oddly, this part is not listed for the 1939 and 1940 model years and for 1937 and 1938 the part number is different and if my '37 half ton is correct in that part it is straight, no curve, other than a few inches away from where it bolts to the cowl.

Further clouding understanding of this, there were potentially 5 different air cleaner options available. At least one of these would stand tall enough to require the curved Rod and at least two would not.

If anyone has the straight skinny on this, please chime in.

I used the 41 1 1/2 ton vrod on the 46 1/2 ton. I believe from my experience they are interchangeable. I think I may have a loose spare straight vrod to compare.

Thanks. Please let me know what your comparison reveals.

same length

Thanks.