Ragged89 - That looks GOOD!

I like!

RwP

 

Damn that looks good! how did you form the aluminum? And thank you all for your ideas.

 

What he said was that he cut some wood for a form and formed it over the wood.

Typically, back in the day, that would be with a dead blow hammer (to avoid marking the expanded metal) and time.

There, the secret would be carefully trimming the wood to fit.

Get smart, and you can burn the forms in the fireplace afterwards - zero waste *grins*

RwP

 

Thank you!

 

All four openings in the grille are the same size, so you only need to cut out one block of wood to fit, leaving about 1/8" gap all the way around. Shape the face of the wood block to the shape you want, then lay the expanded metal over it. I used aluminum, so it was easy to form it over the wood block. You can use a roller, or another block of wood to press the expanded aluminum down around the block. Bare hands work too, for the tight spots. Once formed, trim the excess away and screw the metal in place in the grille. Plasti-dip, or even fiberglass resin, could be used to add a little stiffness to the metal before painting.

Here's the grille sitting in place, but no finish on it yet:

 

THAT IS SICK!!! I love how that looks. I think im going to try that the next time i have time. thank you very much.

 

Ragged, where did you get your mesh? And how much did you need for this job?

 

Aluminum mesh I found at the hardware store, where they keep sheet metal, threaded rods, etc. You'll need about a 4' by 1' piece to do the four sections. Trim with tin snips or side-cutters.

Its one of those jobs that takes a little patience but it's kinda fun too.

 

Thanks Man! Im loving the truck btw, super clean... unlike mine...