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.

It smoothed out just like I hoped!

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!