36 radiator shell apron placement

[sr6900]

I have a 1936 Ford Convertible trunkback sedan. It is the black one pictured in front of the Smithfield, VA Post Office with Al Casteen on his website. Al is one of the the most wonderful people you could ever have the honor of knowing. Anyone who is fortunate enough to own a 36 cponvertible sedan owes him an emormous debt of gratitude for his enthusam, hard work, and devotion to the old car hobby; particularly 36 Convertible sedans. On top of that, he is a genuinely warm man who invites a complete stranger into his home, takes him to breakfast, and boots his 40 Ford pick up out of the garage so a visiting 36 Ford can stay inside overnight.

My car has a stamped one piece chome grill that did NOT come from the factory with the car. It was a painted standard grill rescued by my father from a Charlottesville, VA junkyard in 1957. The radiator shell apron did come with the car. The car underwent a frame up restoration; completed in 1988 by White Post. Several years ago, I had to remove the radiator for repairs and cleaning. When I put the car back together, I assembled it back the way White Post had; fender apron, flexible beading, Radiator shell apron, and grill. In otherwords, the apron ended up between the fender aprons and the grill.

The car still overheats, so I have installed a 6 volt electric fan. At the Ford Nationals, I thought I saw examples of cars with the apron mounted INSIDE the grill; resting on the inner edge using the relief cut in the apron to accomodate the cross brace that support the louvers.

The 1935-36 Ford book says, "The 1936 splash pan was mounted between the bottom of the radiator and the grill assembly." It does not indicate if it goes inside the grill or between the grill and the fender aprons.

I would really like to put it back in the correct location.

Thanks for your support.

[Gary Tosel]

The front splash apron has "D" nuts located on the inside. The grille has two holes for the special bolts that go into these D nuts. Because of that arrangement the apron must be inside the grille. These screws are the same as those between the top of the grille and the radiator.

Hope this helps.

[sr6900]

Thanks so much for your reply.

When White Post put the grill on, they seemingly used regular nuts and bolts with standard threads. However, in the early 1950's my father had an additional 36 Ford 2 door standard slantback, and four 35s: a sedan delivery ice cream truck eatin alive by salt from preserving the ice cream, a convertible sedan, which gave up its right doors for my car, a two door trunk back, and a foor door trunk back, which was his first car. I was forced to sell it after his death in 1994 to help support my mother. The 36 2 door was junked and used for parts for my car, as was the 35 convertible sedan. The 35 sedan delivery, and the 35 2 door trunkback, were junked to fix the 35 four door trunk back sedan. Any chance any of these cars would have had the D nuts and bolts you describe. I have jars and cans full of nuts and bolts from these cars. What do they look like?

Thanks so much- I appreciate all the help I can get.

Chuck

[Hamtown Al]

The spash pan goes inside the grille as I understand it; just as explained above.

What puzzles me is what does Chuck want from me? It must be something for him to offer such high praise unprovoked. I do love the 36 Fords and convertible sedans in particular but Chuck's enthusiasm matched or exceeded mine when we got the two cars together and went tooling around our small town. It really was memorable and I thank HIM for making it happen.

Here's the pic from May 20, 2006. Double click on the pic if you want to really see us.

I wonder what Chuck needs... I don't think I owe him money...

He's a good guy for sure. Al

[Mike in AZ]

hmmm, you missing any parts from your garage?? gotta watch those sneaky '36s when they're parked in your garage....lol....Mike

[sr6900]

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Thanks guys for all your help. Mike was right. This morning, I learned that the radiator shield, 68-16554 is missing from the car. Obviously, that could have a lot to do with the heating problem. The car does have the 8240 spash pan with the hole in it for the crank to pass through. That was the part I was trying to figure out placement on: inside the back of the grill, or outside between the grill and the fender aprons.

I realize I need to find a radiator shield. I have a picture of one in the book, and I think it is made aftermarket? What do the special "D" nuts and bolts look like, and are they reproduced as well. Do both the radiator splash pan and the radiator sheild use these bolts?

I got the splash pan (Radiator shell apron) fitted into the inside of the back of the grill this morning.

The fan is already fitted to the radiator with brackets I made, and the harness is run to a hidden toggle switch under the dash. I figure having gone this far, I might as well leave the fan on even though the heating trouble might be related to the missing shield. Al's blue Mrs. Smithfield convertible sedan had a wonderful shroud and fan system that kept it cool in parades, so extra cooling can't hurt.

Al is a great guy, and I just wanted it stated for the record; although everyone knows it already. All I need, Al, is some freindly advice and knowledge from those who know far more than me.

Many Thanks again.

[Gary Tosel]

The "D" nuts should be included in the splash apron both original and reproduction. They are available, but need a "D" shape hole punch and then peen over the edges provided by the replacement nut. Short answer is you should not need to find any "D" nuts. I thought you had the splash apron and needed to locate it to the grille.

Thanks.

[sr6900]

Thanks for the response. I was just going out the door to work on the car. I ordered the radiator shield from Dennis Capenter. It does NOT come with hardware (I asked). Sacrameto Ford did not have the shield nor the radiator splash pan shell apron; even though they listed both online. They do have "D" nuts of various sizes listed in the Model A book. I have the correct demensions in my V8 Club book, so I should be able to get the hardware from them.

I can see now clearly, thanks to you guys, that the sheild goes inside the grill, under the car between the frame rails. I am still confused about the splash pan (radiator shell apron). On your car, is it physically inside back of the grill? You also mentioned that the "D" nuts were the same ones that held the grill to the radiator. Mine has just regular nuts and bolts, which must be wrong. Are the "D" nuts also used to fasten the grill to the fender aprons? Neither the Sacramento nor the Carpenter guys knew the answers to any of these questions. I looked back at old pictures of my car, and my dad appearntly drove it through the 50s and 60s without the benifit of either the sheild nor the splash pan being on the car. When the rusty old grill came off in 1982, neither the sheild nor the splash pan was present.

Thanks again for all your help. It is wonderful to get answers from people who know.

[Gary Tosel]

The end of the splash apron is inside the grille in the front. What I said was the bolts are special for the apron, just like the bolts for the grille. No D nuts for the grille to the radiator. No D nuts for the the grille to the fender panel.

See photos 004 grille to radiator, 006 splash apron to bottom of grille.

I hope this will help

[sr6900]

Ok, Thanks for all the help. I will let you know more later after I get all the parts. Thanks again.

[millerliteliker]

I know this is an old thread, but we are at the final stages of assembly on our 1936 Ford, and we can't figure out how to attach this part - radiator splash apron.

We bought a reproduction splash apron, as our car did not have one on it my dad bought it back in 1976.

The leading edge (with the two "D" captive nuts) is easy to figure out - attaches to the bottom lip of the grill. The part we can't figure out is where to attach the back half to the car. Specifically - what do the "ears" attach to on the car?

I have circled the attachment point on the splash apron that we can't figure out.

Any help / advice would be appreciated!

[V8ER]

The ears attach to holes in the frame with hex head bolts, flat washers, lock washers and hex nuts. Hold the pan in rough alignment with the front holes lined up with the holes in the grille, and you will see which holes in the frame to use. It is a difficult job to get a wrench on the head of the bolt on the top side so that you can tighten the hex nut on the bottom side. The pan attaches to the grille with pan head bolts and lock washers. Since you are installing a reproduction pan, you will likely have to do much bending. I just installed this pan on my '36 cabriolet.

[millerliteliker]

Thanks....I think I know what you are talking about.

If you get a chance though, could you email me a picture of how it attaches to the frame?

I will send you a private message with my email.

thanks.