Fender brace replacement---The Thrash Begins

[brianrupnow]

Well kiddies---that went very well. The original Henry fender brace bolted right up to the frame with no trouble, and the holes for the headlight bar lined up pretty well perfect with the holes in my glass fenders. The hole at the very end which lines up with the fender lip hole was about 5/8" too high. I didn't want to remove it, so I was able to bolt a peice of duct hanger strap to the eye in the fender brace with a 1/4" bolt (yes it was darn tight) and make up a stirrup in the duct hanger to get my big old size 11 shoe in. Once I applied my 270 pounds to the duct hanger strap by standing in the loop I had formed, it came down to where it was supposed to.---Man that stuff is strong!!!! I had to really "bounce" it to bend it just that little bit!!! I have to do some serious bolt trimming on the inside of the fender now where the bolts which hold the headlight bar come through, and apply a bit of paint, but all seems to be well. And---as an added bonus, now that I have everything lined up, tightened down, and levelled, the headlight bar seems to fit the fenders much better at the ends. I may still have to make some shims, but they will be smaller than I had thought at first. Don---My fromt tires are 165R15.