VS Luggage Rack on CMC?

Greg, I would be inclined to set the vintage rack onto the grill, see which grill bars interfered with the four posts, and then either drill, or grind down the bars that obstruct the posts from dropping on downto fiberglass......or you may be able to fabricate an attachment system that bolt to the grill itself ( J/bolts and wing nuts perhaps)


Gclarke

Well I learned something new here today, I didn't know they are a bit different.......... ALan

Alan:

Think back to Carlisle.....Jerome had a cast grill on his blue Streetbeast (the same as the earlier CMC originals, I guess) while a number of other cars (VS and IM's) had a grill more reminicent of the original 356. There were several cast grills on cars there, but they're a pretty clever reproduction so you have to look specifically to notice them.

CMC never shipped the grill with my kit, so I ended up getting one from VS, and it's not cast.

BTW: I think the earlier CMC cars had the "normal" looking grills, and that they switched over to the cast one later in their production. That reference to it looking like a chromed Hibachi grill is pretty close.

Gordon: Did the VS grille fit your CMC lid without mods?

BD

I finally decided to order a chrome luggage rack from VS for my CMC speedster ('88 delivery). Fellow at VS said he

There was a Speedster at Carlisle that had a couple of the slats in the grille notched out so they could install a luggage rack. Don't remember who it was though.

I know I wasn't back east any time recently but as was said earlier you can "grind out a path" for the rack to fit through a cast grill, I did it on my car a long time ago. Now the rack goes on and off at a whim.

Think back to Carlisle ? I have trouble with what I did and where I was yesterday...a trait that comes with 50 plus! I have both the CMC/FiberFab grill and the VS and compared them side by side, just never noticed that there is a difference.

Alan and Bill D:

I believe that the earlier CMC's shipped with grills that were the same as what VS sells, while later ones (and Street Beasts too, apparently) had the cast grills.

I can't vouch for the differences, because the VS grill is the ONLY one I had, and I made the opening in the engine lid for that grill. I also fitted the grill gasket from a 356 from Tweeks around it to finish it off.

I would think, though, that Kurt found the solution - carefully remove a piece of the slats where the rack mounts and you're done.

From another "over 50 member", it may have been Kurt's car that I saw and not one at Carlisle. Now I'm going to have to remember what I saw in Carlisle versus what I saw in California a couple of weeks ago! Geesh!

Bought a spool of aluminum welding wire for my MIG welder. May try to fill in area between grill slats, grind down smooth and then drill thru the built up area to let the rack mouthing bolts through. Anyone ever MIG welded aluminum? Assume same as mild steel -- but isn't aluminum's melting point much lower. Have an old aluminum wheel that I may practice on. I like the CMC grill because with elbow grease (wet sandpaper and polishing rouge) you can really get a good shine on it.

Mig won't work ( will burn through ) Tig welding is what is needed...

Alan

I've welded aluminum with my MIG welder (OK so the welds didn't look terrific, but I'm a lousy welder to START with). I filled in a crack on an aluminum bell housing just to play with it and see what it was like (it was just a welding practice piece).

You need the aluminum welding wire (which you already have) and then change your gas mix to either straight Argon (for thin metals up to 1/4" thick) or 25% Argon and 75% Helium for thicker stuff. You also have to change to DC reverse polarity of your welder (there may be a simple switch for this on your welder). I also found that I had to play with the current (run way down) and speed settings until I found a good match on a piece of scrap metal until I was happy with the results (just like you would do with a MIG anyway).

While I agree that TIG welding aluminum is absolutely the way to go, you CAN make decent welds in aluminum with a properly set up MIG.

Now, are you SURE that the cast engine cover grill is aluminum and not simply "pot metal"? When I touched one at Carlisle I didn't get the feeling that it was aluminum, but then I'm no metallurgist.

THXs - thought the MIG booklet said you could do Aluminum. I use Argon so probably good to go there. My cheap MIG doesn't have a DC setting though (just hi/low heat and speed). Not sure I can fill a 1/4 gap though. It definately is aluminium -- have spent hours polishing it --- looks like chrome when done and rag is black. Mother's Metal polish leave a nice wax on it and protects it for awhile. I also use it on some polished alloy wheels with good results.

I need to detail my reply...you must have a welder with a good variation to the amps not just a High / Low setting. I am curious to see if this works, please post a pix or two when done .I am open to new ideas and would like to try this ..... after you do:~) Alan

Yeah - often the inexpensive MIG welders with a HI/LO switch only go from 90 amps to 60 amps and that's about it. As Alan typed, you need a variable heat control and then crank it down about 1/2 to 1/3 of what you might use for mild steel - maybe even less if the material is thin.

BTW, I have (or rather, Chris has right now) one of those small "Century" MIG's (which is still going strong, even after completing my pan and his car hauler trailer). For the money (about $300 about 8 years ago) it had all the important features and a great quality nozzle-hose and pistol - Same as Miller, as a matter of fact.

Can someone with a VS grill and their rack mounted take a close up picture and post it here of where the rack mounts? I did find one in the forum labelled "nice rack" and it appeared the rack mounts in the very corners of the grill.

Gregory,on Vintage Speedsters the luggage rack does mount and is centered in the very corners of the grille between the grille frame and the first grille bar. It is thru bolted to the fiberglass beneath. Mine has a bolt on the top side and a washer and a bolt under the hood. No grinding of the grille or grille bars is necessary. Sorry, I don't have a digital camera but am willing to take and mail a photo if you want to e-mail your address to me.