Grill Shell Fasteners 62 GT

[Kato]

I have the grill shell off of my GT to refinish the grill and possibly the shell and to correct the chafing that took place on the hood. I found 3 of the 10 fasteners missing which might explain why the chafing took place. Can anyone confirm that the original mounting was done with 8x 1/4 x 20 x 1 studs along the top and sides and 2X 1/4 x 20 x 1 5/8 bolts on the bottom two mount points? Parts manual doesn't clearly show what goes where. Any problem using lock nuts on the studs rather than the original nuts? Thanks!

[63 R2 Hawk]

Mine had eight "speed nuts" holding it in place on the sides & top, but who knows if that was original. I cut 1/4" thick some rubber spacers out of some fuel line when I replaced mine. Maybe some Loktite thread locker would help keep them from loosening. Just use VERY judicious torque when tightening things, it doesn't take much to distort the shell housing where the threaded bosses are....

[kurtruk]

X2 on careful tightening or you get dimples! Cute on girls, not so on grille shells!

[Kato]

Mine had eight "speed nuts" holding it in place on the sides & top, but who knows if that was original. I cut 1/4" thick some rubber spacers out of some fuel line when I replaced mine. Maybe some Loktite thread locker would help keep them from loosening. Just use VERY judicious torque when tightening things, it doesn't take much to distort the shell housing where the threaded bosses are....

I believe the speed nuts were the original configuration as they are still available from Studebaker International. Perhaps they were used to reduce the possibility of over tightening! Did you place the rubber spacers between the shell and the hood to reduce chafing or on the inside as more of a lock washer?

[Kato]

Mine had eight "speed nuts" holding it in place on the sides & top, but who knows if that was original. I cut 1/4" thick some rubber spacers out of some fuel line when I replaced mine. Maybe some Loktite thread locker would help keep them from loosening. Just use VERY judicious torque when tightening things, it doesn't take much to distort the shell housing where the threaded bosses are....

X2 on careful tightening or you get dimples! Cute on girls, not so on grille shells!

Definitely will consider myself warned about over tightening! Thanks!

[63 R2 Hawk]

I believe the speed nuts were the original configuration as they are still available from Studebaker International. Perhaps they were used to reduce the possibility of over tightening! Did you place the rubber spacers between the shell and the hood to reduce chafing or on the inside as more of a lock washer?

I placed the rubber between the nuts and the inside of the hood. I also cleaned up the studs with a 1/4-20 threading die as the nuts tended to bind up when tightened. I couldn't figure out any good way to put anything between the shell and the hood contact area because the thin edge of the shell is the only thing that really makes contact. Perhaps a very thin bead of RTV or something on that shell edge might help I think the '64 GT Hawks used a rubber gasket piece to prevent chafing.

[56GH]

My 62 GT has eight ¼"-20 UNC studs and two ¼"-20 UNC bolts. The studs are held with nylon insert nuts so that the nuts won't back off if not tightened. It's not original and I've got "dimpling" in the shell where the studs are located.

Tempting to bid on the e-Bay OEM shell, but it should go sky-high!

[Kato]

I placed the rubber between the nuts and the inside of the hood. I also cleaned up the studs with a 1/4-20 threading die as the nuts tended to bind up when tightened. I couldn't figure out any good way to put anything between the shell and the hood contact area because the thin edge of the shell is the only thing that really makes contact. Perhaps a very thin bead of RTV or something on that shell edge might help I think the '64 GT Hawks used a rubber gasket piece to prevent chafing.

I've wondered about putting 3M tape between the shell and hood but it is a difficult area to make that work and there is always a visible line, especially if wax gets onto that edge. Honestly the chafing wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be once I took the shell off so I've got it touched up and it will be a very minor flaw once the grill shell is back on. I just wanted to install it as close as possible to the original method since there were missing studs. I might try the Loctite and rubber as you did, couldn't hurt! Thanks!

[Kato]

My 62 GT has eight ¼"-20 UNC studs and two ¼"-20 UNC bolts. The studs are held with nylon insert nuts so that the nuts won't back off if not tightened. It's not original and I've got "dimpling" in the shell where the studs are located.

Tempting to bid on the e-Bay OEM shell, but it should go sky-high!

I have a replacement shell from a 63 that has no dimpling and is perfect except for the damage done to the "bird" emblem in the center during re-chroming. I'm thinking about using #20 lock nuts when I re install but I obviously need to be very careful not to over tighten.

The OEM shell on eBay is incredible but $202.50 and reserve not met. I'm in Canada and they won't ship here so that eliminates me. It will be interesting to see if and what it sells for!