homemade lower valance scoop.....leave it with sanded finish or paint it silver?

[67resto-coupe]

so a week ago or so, i cut out the recessed license plate area out my lower valance. i'm going for the R-Model valance look, but without having to shell out $185+ for a fiberglass piece. tonight, i finished the initial lower scoop piece fabrication. i picked up a piece of galvanized aluminum flashing from home depot and started bending it with my hands, a 1x5 piece of shelving, a long hard plastic level and a bench vice. i think it came out pretty sweet. i'll rivet on some side walls tomorrow to complete it, but can't decide on what type of finish to put on it. i used some sandpaper to get rid of some of the galvanized finish, but wondered if i should just paint it to give it a nice uniform silver or aluminum look. what do you think? quick disclaimer, yes, my front bumper is hideous....don't worry, i have new bumpers in boxes and they'll be put on next week. here's 2 pics, one to show the finish and one to show it tentatively installed:

 

[DAVER]

Nice fabrication. It looks pretty darn good.
As for me, I would be inclined to paint it in final body color.

I am also one who prefers this style lower valence with the bumper installed.

Again --- nice work!

 

[Sacbill]

Nice fabrication. It looks pretty darn good.
As for me, I would be inclined to paint it in final body color.

I am also one who prefers this style lower valence with the bumper installed.

Again --- nice work!

+1 on both of Daver's comments. :vic

 

[67resto-coupe]

Re: homemade lower valance scoop.....leave it with sanded finish or paint it sil

well, for now, i'll leave it in it's natural sanded state. i'm heading to the mustangs plus show in october and entering in the projects in progress class, so hopefully, this may garner some attention. it's definitely not store bought and i'll enjoy describing it to those who ask about it. i'm a little bummed about a errant slip with the dremel wheel on the drivers side vertical panel, but hopefully it's so "up in there" that most peeps won't get on their knees to look in. here's the final install. and as a reminder, i do have a new chromed front bumper. i just ran out of time tonight, so i'll install it in a few weeks.

 

[stangg]

Since you've got it rivited on, I think it looks right just the way you have it natural. It almost looks like aluminum. You might want to add a few more rivits to the corners just to balance out the look. I like it...

 

[fordrule]

looks good...maybe a pic of it straight on it appears to be angled up towards the radiator. is that the intent? like the shelby/e-cars

 

[67resto-coupe]

Re: homemade lower valance scoop.....leave it with sanded finish or paint it sil

yes, it is angled upwards towards the radiator. i was going to go straight in, but then i decided to hide the reinforcement and angle it up to help direct the airflow right up to the lower 1/3 of the radiator.

regarding rivets....yes...i would agree, i could use a few more rivets. i was borrowing a friends rivets and gun and i ran out. so that'll be next. i think i'll add 1 more per side, towards the corners. i may also spend some add'l time sanding the "oops" line on the vertical wall on the right. doh! my hand slipped with the dremel and the cut off wheel, scoring a nice line on the side.

it also looks better with the license plate off the car. even with it moved to the pass side, i think it's a distraction to what's going on in the middle. i'll remove the plate before i enter the show. darn those CA front plate laws!

 

[stangg]

I hang my plate from the bottom of the bumper to get my annual inspection sticker, then move it to the trunk. My plan is to make an electronically controlled retractable plate hinge like some of the street rodders have.

 

[guruatbol]

I haven't had a front plate on any car I drove since 1985. I lived in CA until 2006.

That looks nice. I want to do something similar on the 65.

Mel