Now that the majority of the body was "dialed in" I moved on to creating and updating the styling of the grille opening. I wanted to retain some of the original character, but knew the original setup was too "bulky" looking for this project. I also wanted to incorporate the "iconic" Dodge vertical & horizontal grille bars.
An example of a grille / parking lamp
A modern example of the to me "iconic" Dodge grille.
My clean slate to start with (I had already fabricated and shaped all the interior grille metal work to form around the radiator / A/C condensor.
A foam mock up that I carved to visualize the look I wanted. The center vertical does still play a bit off of the original cast center pieces.
From left to right:
~An original horizontal grille bar
~The foam mock up bar
~My sheetmetal blank cut and ready to shape.
~A new grille bar
Horizontal grille bars attached. I've created a hidden framework to mount the grille with all hidden fasteners, as I wanted to have a "floating grille" look when finished.
Here you can see one of the brackets that goes back and bolts to the radiator support. Notice also how the grille bar ends "float" away from the grille surrond. This end was later capped off with sheetmetal, but still retained the gap.
Holding the original cast center section and upper grille bar in place for comparison.
Wanted to incorporate a modern emblem into the center grille piece, so I created this quick and simple stamping die to press a bead into a flat sheet.
A stamped piece with the emblem inside. Good enough fit for now.
From left to right:
~Foam mock up
~Paper template taken from mock up
~Sheet metal blank cut out and ready to form.
Started forming some of the bends. I also have now grafted in the pressing for the emblem. The center behind the emblem was later "flattened" a bit to as well as the emblem back angle sanded to allow the emblem to fit on the slight peak.
Center grille piece all finish formed, welded and also vertical beads added to tie into the look of the original cast piece.
Complete grille installed. If you look at the upper left grille opening you will see I test formed a black perforated sheet that will be the grille screen design.
Close up view shows the perforated sheet a bit better.
Close up of just the perforated sheet with the rolled edges for a softer / fabricated look when installed.
