4x4 Chevy HHR Panel

7 minute(s) of a 51 minute read

My wife and I made the 2.5 hour trek to Memphis and picked up a 1986 Ford Bronco II swing out spare tire holder.  It was the best I could find within reasonable driving distance.  The guy met us at the mall where my wife wanted to look around, so it was good for all.

When I held the spare holder up to the HHR it was evident nothing about it fit the Chevy.  So I cut it up, using as much Ford engineering as possible since it was proven and mine was not!

I cut the long side of the mount fittings off and drilled another hole under the swing arm and bolted it to the Chevy with 3/16 inch steel on the inside.  I was a real pain drilling the holes - I think I killed a drill bit or two in the process.  Once bolted on I welded all the way around the mount fitting (to the body) and then ground the weld and smoothed it with body filler.  I looks like the Chevy body was shaped for the mount - only it will never come off again!

Since the tire carrier did not come with a latch I fabricated one out of two pieces of angle iron.  It took a bit to get the unique shape just right - but it seems to work just fine!

 Since the Jeep wheel I am using is much deeper than the Bronco II wheels I ordered a Jeep spare mount extender which gave the needed 2 inches - plus had the correct bolt pattern for the spare. It looks huge on there!

The tubes are thick - braces in just the right places.  It swings open with no squeak, rattle, wobble - you can tell it is there to stay!

You can see the Blazer floor panel I welded in where the HHR spare used to be - the Blazer cross-frame is in that area underneath.  If the spare was inside it would hog all the cargo room.  I don't know if other swing out spare carriers would have worked better - the Bronco II unit was $60 (plus 5 hour driving) and about 12 hours labor.  It seems plenty strong to do the task and looks like it has always been there.  Now back to the paint - winter is coming!

Next up is the 48-53 dashboard fabrication.  I ending up ordering a repro - sadly the original was too far gone to weld - but it makes a nice wall hanger!  First thing to do with a new repro $350 dash - cut it up!  The width was good - the depth and shape against the windshield - not so much.  If you recall the 48-53 Chevy trucks have a split windshield.  So I made cardboard templates and welded on a couple of peices to fill the gap.

The sides only needed a little filler. Same technique as the top, but smaller, easier.

Pretty much the same on driver side.  You can see some of my struggles on the top of the dash!  The little hump is the VIN location - I did not mess with that.

The straightedge doesn't lie - more work is needed!

I used to build boats as a hobby.  To level decks in high sunshine areas you make your own filler by mixing talc, phenolic microballoons, and epoxy - I had some in the cabinet!  Don't breath this powder!

It took three thin layers to get it level.

Looks good enough to me!

Four coats of olive drab paint - and I am calling it a keeper.  Talking about paint - time for the final coats on the outside - before winter blows in!

I used to build temporary paint booths - now I just tape and shoot as there is hardly any difference if you don't have a proper downdraft paint booth.

About four hours later it is as good as I can do under the carport!  No runs - a little bit rough - but that is OK with olive drab!

She needs a custom grill to go with that 50's dash.  So I cut the two center sections out of a stock grill to remove the Chevy bow-tie and welded in two plain sections from donor grills. That is stainless screen melted into the plastic on the backside.

A couple coats of "stainless steel" paint and the grill reminds you of the 50's but is not a copy.

The project HHR is becoming its own person - side-by-side with stock it is apparently quiet a bit different.  I call the blue one a car - the green one a truck! Looking forward to next phase - the interior, wiring, and actually making things work!