Front Grill Fasteners

[bartenderfloyd]

Does anyone have a suggestion as to what to do about these fasteners?  I have 4 broken on each side of the grill and one at the top.  How have you guys gone about fixing this?

[Young Ed]

On my P15 I was able to weld some short carriage bolts in the grill bars. On some of the tighter spots I had to slice the bracket to get the bolt in. 

[bartenderfloyd]

That's kind of what I first thought of.  I figured I'd clean them up, drill them, and tack weld a bolt.

[Dan Hiebert]

That's what I did with similar grill mount bolts on our D24.  Easy enough to accomplish, good results.  The ones that I could get to the back of, I didn't tack.  I usually keep in mind that factory fasteners are designed for ease of use on the production line, sometimes shade-tree solutions can work just as well, if not better, if one is not too worried about originality.

[JerseyHarold]

On my '52 I drilled out the remnants of the stud then put a machine screw through the hole from the back and tightened with a nut and washer.  It worked well.

[Sniper]

8 minutes ago, JerseyHarold said:

On my '52 I drilled out the remnants of the stud then put a machine screw through the hole from the back and tightened with a nut and washer.  It worked well.

 

I wonder if you could use some retaining washers to hold those screws in place? 

 

https://www.grainger.com/category/fasteners/washers/retaining-washers

 

 

[JerseyHarold]

Those retaining washers look like they should work.   I just had a brainstorm.... why not use a J-nut from the side after the stud is completely removed? 

[Los_Control]

weld a bolt in is what I did. I replaced 4 or 5 on the complete set.

 

 

[Andydodge]

Grinding whats left of the rusty bolt then either welding a bolt in or a nut will work or another solution would be to grind whats left flat then drill a hole and use a "nutsert" installed in the hole...........when done properly they will hold remarkably well..........andyd

[James_Douglas]

I would grind them off flat, then drill a hole. Then buy some weld nuts. Weld them in. Treat the metal bracket so it does not rust. Then you can get at McMaster-Carr brass studs. Screw in the brass stud to the welded nut then install the part with a stainless nut on the stud. By doing this the trim part nor the stainless nut will ever rust in place again.

 

I did this on all my Desoto's and it works great. Be happy your grill is not diecast. The Chrome bill for a 40's grill is in the thousands of dollars.

 

James