Removing the cow catcher and relocating the fog lights

[warren55]

My 73 should be on a trailer tomorrow morning and be in my possession by next weekend!

Probably the first thing I will do (after a little test drive and inspection....) is remove the cow catcher bumper. I think this will be pretty straightforward from what I've read, but I'm curious about moving the fog lights (or driving lights) to that location. I have yet to see a picture of the mounting points for the cow catcher, so I'm not sure what or how I'm going to mount them there.

It might be quite obvious once I get in there, but I thought I'd see if somebody can give me tips on the procedure! I understand that these mounts protrude through the lower grille from the main frame somehow, and I may look into removing them completely at some point, but if I can live with them there it would be easy for someone in the future to make it "stock" again. (Hey, you never know....)

[kramerdad1]

hi, I tried to do the same thing with my '80. I got as far as removing the chrome bar with the rubber bumpers only to have a butt ugly rectangular mounting brackets left sticking out from the bottom of the car. I took a look at the bracket and it appears to be a part of the frame and not removable (unless I missed something) without cutting it off, so I removed the rubber bumpers and remounted the chrome bar, to my delight it actually looks pretty good and not at all as awfull as it is with the rubber bumpers on it.

[Avanti83]

The cow catcher mounts also act as the radiator supports so I marked just in front of the radiator mounts and cut them at an angle after I removed them. The bumper bolts hold them on. No reason you couldn't make them long enough to mount the fog lights. I them reinstalled them and they are hard to notice when painted frame color particularly in the position they are in.

I'm not a fan of the fog lights so I left mine off. I bought some 1/8" stainless steel rod that will fill the spaces in the grill when I weld them in.

It's a pretty straight forward job.

Bob

Edited December 31, 2012 by Avanti83

[warren55]

The more I hear about this, the more I think I have to see it in person. It sounds like cutting them off is the way to go, really. I was hoping it wasn't going to come to that!

Bob, if I understand you correctly I can support the radiator temporarily, remove them, cut them and then reattach them?

I just had visions of laying on my back with a cutoff wheel hacking on the frame....

[Avanti83]

Warren

I don't think you'll be under there with a cutting wheel as there's very little room. I can't be sure about removing the radiator or not as I took everything out before I removed the cow catcher. You'll need to take a look but I think it would be easier and safer with the radiator out. It's not that hard to get the radiator out. Before you do that though, see if a sawzall would work.

I didn't take the cow catcher apart before I removed it. That worked out fine as I needed to whack it a few times to get it loose. It fits tightly on the frame.

I wish I could be more specific but the 74 is setting in the polebarn so I could get a couple of pictures if you wish. It will be gone for a while in mid-january for painting though.

[Jim78]

When I bought my '78, the P.O. had removed the cow catcher, and installed fog lamps on the frame extensions. Apparantly there was a kit marketed at some point that included brackets to mount the lights. While better than the cow catcher, I really didn't like the looks of the fog lamps. I owned a '63 for 29 years, and I guess that I'm partial to the original look. So, I cut off the frame extensions and replaced the grille with an early one.

Since the frame extensions include the mounting point for the body (core support) they cannot simply be discarded. I supported one side of the core support with a jack and removed the frame extension. I used a band saw to cut the extension, at an angle, just in front of the body mount. Then I reinstalled and repeated for the other side.

This leaves the issue of the grille. I bought a reproduction sold by a large Studebaker parts vendor in South Bend for $200. It was absolutely junk. It was made without the correct perimeter trim, was welded together backwards, and didn't come close to fitting. Need I say more? Avoid these. NOS grilles are very rare and expensive. As mentioned above, alternatives include filling the gaps in your existing grille by welding in pieces of stainless wire. I preferred to go back to the original look. I was able to find a used grille at the York swap meet for $100. It had a broken wire and was a little bent. After a bit of TIG welding, straightening and polishing, it looks like new.