82 series grill repair

[Jlaws]

I've got two 82 series grills that PO's hacked a section out of because they were to sorry to buy the proper replacement muffler . Both were cut because the PO's used a cyclops muffler that has the outlet in a slightly different location .

These aren't cheap to replace and I figured I'd try my hand at repairing them since other than the section that was cut out they're in good condition .
I made the patch forms out of thin plastic , duct tape , and a drinking straw , yeah really hi-tech ....

Tool required were small clamps , and a few pieces of thin metal strips to hold the forms straight .

My patch material is nothing more than JB weld .
I've used it in the past to repair my F cubs age cracked steering wheel with good results .

The other grill has a slightly larger section cut out so I'm probably going to use window screen for reinforcement . Kind of like of like rebar in concrete .

I still have to sand and paint the patched area , but it shows promise .
What color silver/grey paint does cub use ?

[l palma]

wow Jesse that came out real nice!!

[ksanders]

Looks good. I've done the same thing with small metal channel you can buy at any home improvement store. Took a little time but looks great on the 982 and you'd never know it wasn't original. I repainted mine silver and brushed in the black.

[stevet]

Jess, that looks great!! I've got a couple of grills I can send you for repair!!

[Farmallgray]

Jess,
Nice job!
Just a suggestion;
I would probably mold in a piece of thin sheetmetal into the back side that spans a bit beyond the missing section. That way
you have some structure for the JB to hang onto.

Any good aluminum paint will look like what the factory used.

[red82s]

That's what I use is the aluminum colored paint. Some from walmart.

[BigMike]

Jess,that's a very cool repair!
One thing I wonder is how well does the JB weld stick to the aluminum.I have been attempting to fix something that should have been pitched with JB weld and even with the casting being clean,dull(roughed up) and dry the JB doesn't stick like I thought it would.
The other thing you made me think about is how would a grill shell weld?I would find out but I would have to break one first....better to not know.

[Jlaws]

Mike , it seems to be sticking pretty well , but then again its sticking to a area that was roughed up from being ground off .
I painted it today with an aluminum color paint and will repaint the black areas after it dries.
When its done I'll post more pictures .
I also started to repair the second grill , hopefully it'll turn out as nice as the first one.

[mgonitzke]

I think the nosepieces would TIG weld ok...I have seen pictures of it done. We fixed one of those inserts with those aluminum welding rods that are supposed to weld just about any two nonferrous metals together, and they worked ok, but what Jess is doing probably looks a lot better. I may have to try this sometime, I think I only have one intact grille.

[BigMike]

Matt,I think they would weld good too.......the bad thing is aluminum(or die cast)can be very deceiving and the castings I have looked at have signs of being die cast.
If anyone has a grill they want to send me I will try it and see.

[Jlaws]

Grill #1 is painted and will look good on the 582 worker I have . I'm not to proud of the black paint on the bars , I could have done a better job , but it'll look good from 15 ft. .
I originally painted them gloss black , but didn't like the look , so I repainted them flat black .
I've got paint on Grill #2 and will paint the black bars tomorrow .
I'm thinking of using a thin metal strip across the back inside of the bars with epoxy to reinforce the area's of the first two chopped grills .

I also have Grill #3 thats been run into something during its life and had been repaired with some form of plumbers putty by the previous owner .
It wasn't a very good job so I removed the putty and I'm going to try 2 part Permatex epoxy on the inside of the channel to repair the broken off bottom right corner and JB weld on the face of the grill to fill the crack and repair the 2 broken black bars .


More pictures tomorrow .