The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Doing Without the Fender to Firewall Braces - 52 Chevy Pickup

Fellow Stovebolters; I see lots of 47 - 53 Chevy pickups that have eliminated the 2 fender to firewall braces that are stock on these trucks. I am wondering about the pros and cons of doing so. Can I live without them? What are the possible consequences? Are there well known considerations for eliminating these support structures? Thank you in advance for sharing your experience around this issue.

Those rods provide a tremendous amount of structural support of the entire front clip. They are used to adjust the front to rear positioning of each of the front fenders.
Without them, you will subject the sheet metal to a lot of undue stress, and make it very difficult to line up the front clip.

Sometime during the first 35 years of it's life, someone removed the braces from our truck. Accident repair or engine replacement? Whatever. Nowadays, the truck is always driven on paved roads, so I'm not concerned that they are gone.

Depends, are you going to use the stock radiator support or the aftermarket radiator support that bolts to the frame rails?

If using the stock setup, then I agree with 52Carl.

If you have decided to use the aftermarket setup, the radiator support is bolted to the frame rails and is much sturdier, eliminating the need for the rods IMHO. Went with aftermarket setup on my 51, 3100 and had no problem aligning the front sheet metal with the guidance gained from this site.

Thank you all for sharing your knowledge and experience in this matter of the braces. I am building on an Art Morrison frame that is specifically built for the 47 - 53 3100s. I HOPED to use the stock radiator support frame mainly because the AME frame is boxed and the front cross member is welded, not riveted as is the case for the stock frame, so adapting to the after market radiator support structure is not as easy as it is on a stock frame. .. I know it is just metal and anything is possible ( I drilled through the boxed frame to mount the rear fuel tank) BUT... hoping to use the stock radiator support. Soooo, if I have to use the firewall braces, I will... now I am wondering if an LS3 motor will fit nicely underneath the stock braces. Time will tell. I would be even more bewildered if it were not for the excellent knowledge sharing on this forum. Thanks again.

Gib70,

Take a look at Barnfind49 post #326. He has a picture of his 5.3 installed in his 49 with the firewall to fender braces in place.

My guess your LS3 will sit pretty low in your chassis setup. Shouldn’t be a problem.

Like you said, lots of 47-53 Chevy pickups have eliminated those braces, apparently without consequences.

It's possible to reconfigure them with S-bends around components. Alternatively, you could relocate the mounting points on the fender so as to dodge interference.

Or it could be argued that the engine compartment looks cleaner without them and ditch them entirely. With that AME frame any body flex should be greatly reduced.