I am currently installing and aligning my new front fenders and valance. Seems like I've been here before but anyway. My radiator support (AKA big steel horseshoe) is not very stable at all. I have a couple bolts running fore and aft through the crossmember. There is probably a rubber cushion between the mount and crossmember but I don't remember for sure. To be honest I don't know exactly how it mounts up stock and it's a little late to worry about that now. The thing does not sit still and really makes it tough to line the clip up during the assembly process. It would be much easier to line things up if it sat still. Especially since I have to mark and drill the holes in my new glass valance. Does the horseshoe sit still when correctly attached in a stock configuration? I am seriously contemplating running some bolts through the bottom of the crossmember, about 6 inches from center on each side, tapping them and installing a couple 3/8 bolts which will put tension on the radiator support. That make any sense to anyone?

The tilt hood is next so I want to start with the front clip as straight as possible. I doubt it will last but maybe I could get some PICs real quick before I hit my first bump.

 

'fenders,
My '59 had rubbers on each side of the radiator support, stock. If you're concerned with stability, why not weld them down? The 3/8 bolt idea should work also, but with the tilt hood you may feel better about having that front area welded down (and not have to worry if the bolts are coming loose, etc).

Just my $.02
Daryl

 

Daryl

Welding is too non-adjustable. No way I can determine where it needs to be exactly until this sculpture is assembled. No two Effies are quite identical. I'm convinced of that.

It sounds like you have bolts that are not in the center of the support. That may be my problem. Or maybe they figured out the '53 idea wasn't the ticket by '59. Somebody here will know for sure.

 

The whole thing is pretty wobbly until the fenders are tightened to the body and the strut rods are in place.

 

Fenders,
You should have two center studs on the horse shoe bracket. Also there should be two 5/16 or 3/8 bolts half way between the center studs and the outside edge. At these points there are rubber grommets/spacers approx.3/4" of an inch thick. I parted out a 53 f100 a couple weeks ago but I'm not sure it had this set up either. I know for fact the 56 is this way-may have been an improvement?
I will check the support on the 53 parts and let you know.

Kevin Bigwin

 

Fenders, I have a 55 truck. There are 2 bolts through the center of the horseshoe, down through a rubber pad & then down through a slotted hole in the front frame crossmember ( the slotted hole is probably oversize by now). The 2 outer corners of the horseshoe have rubber feet/bumpers that rest against the frame crossmember. The whole front end flexs even when the sheet metal is on. Probably lets the front sheet metal flex with the cab & not with the frame & suspension.

If you make that connection rigid you will have to allow the cab & radiator to move at some other point on the truck.

 

Fenders

The 56 has the two studs parallel to the frame and then one hole on each side about 8 inches from center. The one that I have in the basement has about a half inch hole per side. I think the rubber spacer is about 1/2 to 3/4 thick.

Good luck with the hood. I have been working on mine for about a month.

Chuck

 

fenders, when I pulled my 54 apart it only had the two bolts in the center of the rad support with a piece of smashed rubber underneath to act as a cushion. So, when I put it back together I bought new bolts and the new rubber. It was a wobbly a first, but when I attached the air deflectors and the inner fenders it firmed right up. I think it is supposed to be able to flex a little as needed. If you bolt it down, this may cause big propblems down the road, so to speak. As far as putting new holes in the valance, I would not be concerned with things being square with the truck, only square with the fenders. I would attach with C-clamps or oversized vise grips. Once it sitting correctly and flush to the leading edge of the fender, then I would scribe the hole position through the predrilled holes in the fender. Good luck, John

 

Thanks for the wealth of info guys. It sounds like Ford added the outboard bolts later. In any event, it won't hurt to add them for the purposes of assembly. I will thread them through from the bottom. I can pull them later if I want, or add some cushion. I probably over engineered mine with too thick of a pad in the center. It seems it would be advantageous if this substantial piece offered some support for the clip in the vertical plane.

 

Guys,

Just thought I would report the results back. Just this once I had a good idea. I used a bolt with a couple nuts on each side. There were already a couple holes in the crossmember about 4-6 inches from center. I put a nut on each side of the bolt hole. I put tension between the crossmember and the radiator support. I didn;t drill the support at all. This allowed simple fine tune adjusting of the radiator support. I can pull them and discard when I'm done if I choose.

This was definitely worth the five minutes. I can think of no earthly reason why you would want your front clip to flop at least a half inch while you are trying to adjust panel gaps within a 1/16th inch consistency. Once you get the panels about where you want them, you can cinch down these two bolts I added, then tighten up your sheetmetal bolts without half the aggravation of things moving on you. Like I said, discard the bolts when you're done if you want.

 

As you may already know, I don't pay compliments very much,but you're smarter than you look!
Good idea.Mind if I copy?