In the past I have straightened and polished stainless trim but never made new trim pieces. Rather than spend the money rechroming or buying a new grille and since I was only using the hood from the front sheet metal I decided to build my own. I formed 16ga stainless for the top and bottom and bent 1/2" and 3/8" stainless tube for the uprights. I used stainless wire in my mig and welded it together. Then the exposed welds were ground and polished. I polished the center trim on the hood but then the hood peak trim looked out of place. Since it incorporates the hood release I was reluctant in trying to make it out of stainless but after aquiring a length of 1x3/4 stainless bar, why not. I ground a V in the underside from end to end, then formed it to the curve of the hood and then drilled and tapped the mounting holes. Then the release mechanism was removed from the old piece and mounted into the stainless. After grinding to shape I blocked it in stages and buffed it out. It turned out so well I went and made a quick mascot as well and mounted it. Sure would be easier with a mill and a tig welder but a bigger shop has to come fisrt. I am going to check with a friend of mine to see if he can make small enogh bends to form side trim next.
Looks awesome, what grade stainless did you use? I need to make myself 8 pieces to follow the louvers on my hood. But I need to weld studs on the back side for mounting, and I was wondering about the discoloration and how it polishes out.
I am not sure of the grade of the flat bar I used, it was in the steel rack for years. The tubing was stainless hydraulic tube and the sheet stainless was 18ga XL Buff. As far as welding discoloration, it buffs out with no marks. If by chance you burn through just grind it off, block it out finishing with 800 and then buff it with green rouge. Here is a picture of a weld on the grille. I was in a hurry to see what it looked like so it still needs finish sanding and buffing.
