Straightening a racked grille. IH 240

mkirsch

Well-known Member
My IH 240's grille (white bar section) is racked diagonally, so it's diamond-shaped instead of square.

Looks like something hit the tractor from the side and pushed everything over. Broke the radiator, mangled the upper grille.

Everything else straightened out easily, but I don't know how to approach this grille yet. Can't figure out how to hold it and put enough pressure on it to bring it straight, without crushing it.
 
Here's what I mean by racked:

c51258_lrg.jpg


The green lines show how my grille is bent compared to this straight one.

I did have some success last night using a wooden frame, some blocking, and several bar clamps. It's nearly there, and maybe good enough at this stage.
 

Those bar clamps can be pretty handy for such things. Usually, I find that when straightening something like that grill, I have to bend it slightly beyond what is straight, and then allow it to "spring" back.
 

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