Refurbishing BJ8 Front Grille and Surround

[pkmh]

Hi Everybody,


I'm in the process of putting everything back together relating to the grille and surround. The grille looks terrific to me, way much better than it was before. Again, photos will follow (sorry about that). I swapped out two slats towards the center with ones at the extreme ends to successfully hide less then desirable blemishes which, luckily, were towards the tops of the slats rather than at their centers. As for the eyebrow piece, I was not able to fit the eyebrow under the surround due to the way the nut fasteners with welded to the eyebrow (the surround has holes only, no welded nut fasteners). I assume that if the nut fasteners were welded to the surround instead, then I could of went with the change of placing under the surround. At this time, I did not want to modify the weld or connections. Instead, I left the eyebrow over the surround as it was before. I did read an older post stating that eyebrows were made differently for the BT7,then changed for the BJ8. True? If so, then I have a setup for a BT7 which leads me to ask why the change on my vehicle (no evidence of any accidents so I'm now puzzled).



My biggest worry though, at the moment anyway is, as the surround, grille and eyebrow are going back on the car, some of the mounts are proving a bit of a challenge getting everything to fit with “ease.” Right now, everything is secured and in place including my deflector shields and splash guards. I also attempted to loosen all connections, then tighten all the connections firmly but decided later to make snug but not overly tighten. Good idea? I worry about stress on the aluminum cowl. One or two connections needed a good pressing into position before tightening. I would rather have everything fit with ease. I do not want to see fracturing or stress cracks develop. Need I worry?


Thanks for any input on this.


Paul
67BJ8


Ok, finally, some progress photos of grille and surround back in place, less further cleaning/polishing/detailing needed to follow...



I've decided to more secure the upper mounting points and just keep the lower mounting points snug until a test drive is made. Now that my radiator is back in place, it will be difficult to tighten more the upper bolts. Hopefully, driving should allow things to flex or bend and get everything settled. Again, not sure if this is all for nothing but better safe than sorry.

Thanks.

 

[pkmh]

Just a small update and progress entry in my journal, with some notable details. For those interested. Too bad I added two too many slats in the sketch, but that's the way it goes sometimes.

Otherwise, the results of my labor in refurbishing the grille has paid off for me. I have to be pleased.