The Stovebolt Forums Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts MOD TO FRONT CLIP 1948 6400

Hi Folks , I wish everyone here a a happy , healthy and prosperous New Year .
Well when you get a little older and a bit chubby it's hard to climb up and into the engine bay on a big bolt . So I decided to make the front fenders and grill flip forward . After a bit of cutting and welding . It works . You will have to take a look to see if this would work on a pickup also .
Some points
Where I cut the fenders is good but it needs a 1" sheet metal lip welded onto the under side of the back portion of the fender , the full length of the cut instead of the 2 steel tabs you see in the pic .
Not in pics I cut the radiator support just below the 2 bolts on each side that go to the grill support .
Where the headlight wires come out on each side have to be moved up so when you raise and lower the clip they won't get snagged on the radiator support .
The wiring clips have to be removed also .
I had to trim the lower lip off the bottom of the inner fender . And the rear part of the inner fender that has the 3 holes that mount to firewall has been cut from inner fender and will be mounted separate from the rest of the inner fender . I also had to to trim a bit more ( about an 1' ) of the inner fender up where it meets the fender and firewall , it was catching and wouldn't let the clip flip forward .
I'm just going to use a trailer plug to disconnect the lighting wiring harness , when I flip it forward .

That's some Good Work and excellent example of thinking out of the box (bottle?

RonR

That approach is probably much better than welding the hood to the fenders and making the whole front clip pivot. I'm wondering about long term stability- - - - -will the sheet metal get sloppy when it gets a few miles on it because the cowl to radiator support braces won't have as much rigidity as there once was?
Jerry

That's an awesome idea. I'll have to look into doing it to my 1955 first series 6400

Hi , Hotrod Lincoln
I agree with you but your post made think about the fact in 1948 most roads were in far worse shape than now . So all the extra bracing now really isn't necessary . Also it's possible without to much trouble to run a brace from the engine side on the radiator support to the frame if needed . For now the the rubber pad under the radiator support has been removed and it's bolted solid to the frame . Where as the the front clip now rest on the hinges . With the hood bolted to the fire wall is nice if I have to take the front clip all the way off , I can just pull the hood if it rains .