ok, starting to work on the panel again. it's a '54 with a '55 grille, park lights and emblem holder. my question is what's different between '54 and '55 (besides the grille and park lights). i know the hood, fenders, air deflectors and head light buckets are the same. What about the lower panel (gravel pan?), the bolt holes for the grille to the air deflectors, the park light holes on the gravel pan. i'm trying to get everything to line up and the grille has a good sized gap between the head light part and the park lights (plus i have 4 or 5 holes for the grille to bolt to the air deflectors on each side). in the future i'm going to replace the air deflectors since mine have too many extra holes, are wavy and someone used a hammer to mimic the '56 recessed ones.... but that's later.

 

I think it's different including the grille - 51/54 parking light are the same and 55/56 are the same. The 54 lower valance has cut outs for the sharks teeth like our 51 52s

My 55 had some gaps around the parking light lenses too - about 1/8 inch!

Here's the scans of the 54 and 55 front sheet metal:

 

the '53/'54 park lights are pointed, they have a peak in the middle of the lens. i have some aftermarket '55 park lamp asys but the mounting holes to the gravel pan are off and the butchered holes in the air deflectors are off (but inside the housing so you can't see them with everything on). i wanted to make sure before i started beating and welding it into submission.....

Thanks

 

Your 53/54 parking lights are the same as those on the 51/52!

It sounds like the PO got crazy with the drill to try and make stuff fit!

 

Thank you again Julie, now I know what I have and what needs to be done.