1936 Ford Pickup Fender/Grille Fitment

[Timstruck]

I am mocking up the parts on my pickup to check fitment.

I am looking for help with a problem that I have assembling the front end of my project. I purchased used steel fenders and the pickup front fender front braces. When I installed the braces and the fenders, the grille would not fit between them. It was about 3 inches too narrow. I measured my frame thinking that maybe someone had altered it, but it matched the Wescott diagram that is floating around the internet.

The only thing I could think of to make it wider in the front was to unbolt the front fender braces from the frame. This seemed to relieve pressure on both sides and the fenders naturally expanded out to the distance allowing me to install the grille. The problem I now have is there is about and inch and a half space between both left and right braces and the frame. See picture.

Do I have the wrong front braces? Anyone have a measurement? These are hard to measure anyway because of their curvature but perhaps a picture underneath someones truck would help.

By the way, the front braces that I have fit the fenders perfectly. The outer lip bolts in place and the headlights and headlight stands bolt right up nicely. Is there something that bolts in between the brace and the frame to take up that gap?

Really puzzled here. These are not big truck fenders and if I'm not mistaken, big truck braces are larger and wouldn't fit my fenders...thanks.

Tim

[Don Rogers]

Is it possible that your grille shell is splayed(flattened and widened)? You might try fitting the inner grille pan to see how it fits inside the grille shell.

[Heard]

Tim,
Not sure how different they may be, but here are a couple of pics from my '35 pickup as I was tearing it down.

Heard

[Timstruck]

Originally Posted by Don Rogers

Is it possible that your grille shell is splayed(flattened and widened)? You might try fitting the inner grille pan to see how it fits inside the grille shell.

Thought about that but the inner pan does fit the grille. I'm talking a whole 3 inches too narrow anyway...that would be quite distorted I think...

[Timstruck]

Originally Posted by Heard

Tim,
Not sure how different they may be, but here are a couple of pics from my '35 pickup as I was tearing it down.

Heard

Thanks Heard. Looks exactly like mine. Still a mystery.

[Talkwrench]

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Might be angle of the dangle but the guard look wider..? I could try find a pic of mine at a similar angle? But then the running board wouldn't line up.. Maybe just the wrong bracket..?

[Timstruck]

Originally Posted by Talkwrench

Might be angle of the dangle but the guard look wider..? I could try find a pic of mine at a similar angle? But then the running board wouldn't line up.. Maybe just the wrong bracket..?

So tonight I installed my running boards and rear fenders. Everything lines up reasonably well.

I thought about the possibility that the front braces are wrong, but I am not aware of any other braces that even look remotely like these do. And these fit my fenders perfectly.

I was hoping someone would post a picture from the front up under their fenders so I could compare their brace to mine. As it is now, both braces are approximately one and a half inches away from the frame on both sides. Really odd.

Thanks everyone who responded.

[Timstruck]

Since the grille and fenders on the big trucks are essentially the same, does anyone know if the half ton truck uses the larger front fender front brace? I'm assuming that the big trucks had wider frames which meant that they used the smaller brace and the half ton trucks needed a longer brace to reach the frame

Not sure if this is correct. Just searching for answers.

[wamnram]

If you have your bumper mounts, check to see if the slots in the fenders for the bumper brackets line up with the frame rails by bolting your bumper brackets to the frame rails. Or have someone measure the distance between the two slots in the fenders so you can check yours.

[Timstruck]

Originally Posted by wamnram

If you have your bumper mounts, check to see if the slots in the fenders for the bumper brackets line up with the frame rails by bolting your bumper brackets to the frame rails. Or have someone measure the distance between the two slots in the fenders so you can check yours.

Wayne, thanks for your input. I should have mentioned this before. The bumper mounts are lined up on both sides nearly perfectly.

[Heard]

I think you may have the wrong brackets. See if this pic tells you anything.

Heard

[Timstruck]

Originally Posted by Heard

I think you may have the wrong brackets. See if this pic tells you anything.

Heard

Mine measure 1 inch shorter...

[37 truck]

I have mine on my truck without the fenders now. The fenders fit up fine. yours could have been affected by a hit from the side that bent them in.

[Floyd]

I don't think I have ever seen a front fender brace that had not been hit sometime in its life. That is why most people (at least 32) think the front braces are different from side to side as no two at the swap meet are the same. ( there really are the same part, left and right, you just have to rework them
my opinion

[36and63]

Here are some pic's I took this morning of mine, the measurement from inside the mounted area to the outside is 18". It looks like your brackets are bent.