Theres a lot going on at Hollywood Hot Rods (HHR), and thats not only out in the shop but inside the heads of Troy Ladd and his crew as well. Theyve thought up a number of creative design elements to incorporate in the 2019 ARP/ STREET RODDER Road Tour car and then had to figure out how to implement them. Of course it comes as no surprise that the execution of those elements was as inspired as the ideas themselves. One of the most dramatic changes to the front of our 1955 Ford is the custom grille. Fabricated from two pieces of flat stock welded together the floating, full-width single bar has unique bullet-shaped ends makes the front of the car look lower and wider. Below the handmade grille the front bumper has been pulled in closer to the body. The gravel pan has been shortened to fit with a new lip formed across the front edge that fits tightly against the bumper. Of course no mild custom is complete without frenched headlights, something that is often done by simply welding the headlight rings to the fenders. However, in this case, the stock pieces were made of pot metal, which meant welding wasnt an option. But thats really a moot point because that approach wouldnt have been nearly stylish enough. To french the headlights HHR style the original headlight buckets were first installed from the inside of the opening in the fender. This allows for replacement of the lamps and access to the adjustment screws for aiming the lights from the backside (inside the fenderwell). The next step was to fashion new hooded and peaked fender extensions from sheetmetal and blend them into the fenders. By the time you read this our 2019 Road Tour Ford, sponsored by Ford Performance, will be on the road. So how about your Road Tour car? Is it ready to join one or more of the tours we have planned? Check out this summers schedule at 2019 ARP/STREET RODDER Road Tour Presented by Ford Performance and get busy and join us along the way. While modifications are still underway, its obvious the new grille and headlight treatment will be striking. Peyton Timm used two lengths of 1/8-inch steel band stock to create the custom floating grille bar. One edge of each steel strip was curved. Then, the two were welded together creating a rounded leading edge. After the weld along front edge was ground smooth, partial cuts were made in the top and bottom surfaces. The cuts were ground into Vs to allow bending the bar to follow the shape of the hoods leading edge. A meeting of the minds, Timm, Troy Ladd, and Kyle Connole check the contour of the grille bar. So far, so good. This will keep some people guessing. To create the unique ends on the grille bar the top sections of the original bumper guards were grafted on. To blend the bumper guard into the grille bar sheetmetal extensions were added. After grinding the seam between the bumper guard and the grille bar is undetectable. Next its off to Sherms Custom Chrome Plating. To mount the new grille plates with nuts on the backside were welded to the bar. The grille will bolt to brackets attached to the core support. A test-fit of the sleek new grille makes the Ford look lower and wider. Another subtle modification, the front bumper was moved closer to the body and the gravel shield was modified to fit. The original pot metal headlight trim rings were discarded. The headlight buckets would be removed and installed in the fenders from the back side. As foundations for new fender extensions Connole cut a pair of round discs from sheetmetal and then rolled the edges. The rolled edges helped position the round stock that would establish the shape of the fender extension. Here the round stock has been formed to create what will be the peak of the fender. A pattern was made for the inner filler strip of the fender extension. The 18-gauge steel filler strip was tack-welded in place. A little hammer work perfected the fit to the sheetmetal disc. Once the filler strip was in place the center of the disc was cut away leaving the rolled edge to fill the gap between metal and the headlight. Notice how the filler strip is positioned on the inner diameter of the round rod form. Here the headlight buckets have been mounted from the rear of the opening and the fender extension has been positioned with a small steel strap. To form the outer skin of the extension another sheetmetal strip was cut from 18-gauge steel, the edge that would weld to the fender was formed in a shrinker. After shrinking a planishing hammer was used to smooth the wrinkles left in the edges of the extension. A contour gauge was used to establish the shape of the subtle peaks in the fenders. The gauge was then used to determine where to place matching peaks in the fender extensions. Look closely and youll see a peak in the extension that matches the fender. Here the outer skin has been tack-welded to the fender and the steel ring that forms the leading edge of the opening. The bottom section of the fender extension was formed by with another strip of 18-gauge steel. Here the fit between the upper and lower sections was perfected before welding by trimming the ends to match. With all the pieces tack-welded together the slope at the top of the extension can be seen. After some preliminary grinding the leading edge of the extension formed by the round rod is evident, as is the smooth transition to the fender. The post A Face Lift Street Rodder Style: Our 55 Ford Gets A Nose Job appeared first on Hot Rod Network .