No major update at the moment, though I do now have over half of the sheet metal cut. Whats really starting to confuse me is how i'm going to attack the grill:
The bottom of the pattern has changed from that photo in ways i explained earlier, but that's not the issue. I'm confused about the slats. I plan on probably adding on pieces for the headlights and indicators, so the slats are really the only part that must be shaped in that sheet. For the center slats i'm thinking of drilling a hole top and bottom smaller than the opening, cutting a slot between the two holes, and folding the edge in to give it the curved inwards look of the original. It would probably look similar to this:
That's a corvair van i saw at a carshow, but i don't have a detail shot of CJ2 jeep grill slats, so it'll have to do.
The outer two slats, however, must conform around the headlight. Is this another case where a hammer form would work? I'm planning on doing this without cutting any holes for the headlights, so there would be sheet metal supporting the edge that i'm bending over. It doesn't look like something i could do with the bead roller i don't have, but if i cut out the shape in wood i might be able to carefully hammer it over the shape while avoiding hitting the narrow metal strip separating it from the inner slats...
Thoughts?