The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop 54 Chevy radiator support top brace

Can anyone tell me is there a brace that goes across the top of the radiator support on a 54 Chevy 3100? I thought I read there wasn't one but after piecing trhe front end together last night there has to be something for the latch panel to bolt into. Maybe I am seeing it wrong but I don't see any other possibility. Can any one tell me where to get the brace or share a pic of what it looks like? I have never seen any reproductions offered. I am still irritated I had to pay for front fender supports that I didn't need when I bought the new radiator support. If I buy this brace I will probably have to buy it with a hood or something else I dont need. It looks like it would be easy enough to make from a piece of angle iron but would still be nice to see an original. Thanks

No brace across the top of the radiator on my truck.

I assume "latch panel" is the grille upper baffle shown in sect 11 sheet 2.04 of the assembly manual. It bolts to the upper bar, fender and skirt as shown on 2.05

What happened to your original radiator support?

Like you, I've only seen the U shaped radiator supports on the market. I'm thinking it may be specific to the 54 & 55 first trucks.

Does side angled part of your hood latch panel bolt up to the rad support you have? Maybe bolt it up on the sides, then figure out where you can add a piece of angle iron for the 4 bolts across the top.

Here's one on Ebay if you want to take a look at it. https://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-CHEVY-...2-53-54-47-54-CHEVY-Pickup-/192414658897

If you drop me a PM, I can take a couple pics of mine if you like.

"NOS CHEVY PICKUP Radiator Support 1947 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 47-54 CHEVY Pickup"

Brand: NOS GM
Surface Finish: Orginal
Manufacturer Part Number: 47-50
Warranty: No Warranty

There is at least one slight difference between the 54/55st truck radiator support compared to the earlier radiator support.
One difference is the mountings for the standard single horn and the optional/accessory dual horns are on the radiator support in 54/5st.

Here's a couple links, I think this is what he's looking for.

[img]http://www.billstruckshop.com/47-55used/2013-09-26%20011%20001.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.billstruckshop.com/47-55used/2013-09-25%20018.jpg[/img]

If those are an original combination of parts, that would be a 1947-1951 "front clip" with radiator housing.

That part on eBay is NOT for a 3100. There are two mounting pads on the radiator support for the 3100.

The 3100 had cross bracing rods as shown in the second picture that Whitedog posted. I used "had" since a PO cut them off in my truck. I see that the part in the picture is missing one of the mounts.

Again, check the assembly manual. You can see these things.

That same part was missing on my basket case but one of the easier parts to make your self.
Heavy gauge sheet metal made like angle iron 1" x 1" with some nuts welded on for mounting.

Thanks for posting this. Yes it is the cross brace in the pic of the full front clip that I need. To me that radiator support looks like a 54 support but its in a 53 or older front end so that don't look quite right. I just came from the junkyard and they had a few 53 or older 1 ton trucks. None of those used the triangle brackets. The cross brace bent downwards and tied into the front fenders. The front end on these trucks has to be the the worst designed and most inconsistent part of the whole truck. Its no surprise there are no good used supports around, they are support a lot of weight with some thin gauge steel.

I seen that ebay radiator support before I bought my new reproduction support and it didn't look quite right because it only had one mounting bolt. My support was missing when I bought the truck. I bought the only 54 support I could find at my junkyard but it was broken completely in half by the time they pulled it. It had been poorly welded several times in the past and I decided I didnt have time to try to fix it I so just bought a reproduction. I have never seen this upper cross brace available anywhere as a reproduction. Do anyone know if anyone makes them or where to get one? I will more than likely just make one out of 1x1x.125 angle iron this weekend and call it good.

That top brace comes up missing very often. They were cut off so that the engine could be removed without removing the radiator support, grill, and fenders.

Yes, I think that's why it's missing on my truck (along with the x-bracing rods). The upper baffle ties the whole thing together, so unless you are going off-road, you can probably do just fine without the top brace.

Something else I was wondering about is the radiator support said it was painted in weld through primer. Are the top triangle brackets suppose to be welded on? My beat up original support appears to be spot welded to the main support and that looks to be original but who knows. And from the sounds of it the original top cross brace was welded to the support? When I started I had the main support bolted to the frame backwards because of the angle the bottom is cut at it made it stand more vertically. After hours I realized it was backwards and turned it around but it fit better backwards in some ways.