Adding Louvers to a 2000 Chevy S10 - Certified Cheese Grater

4. To expose the sheetmetal on the underside, the bracing needed to be cut on all six points. Then, Jerry carefully hammered a putty knife between the bracing and the sheetmetal to separate the two.

5. With the bracing out of the way, the underside of the hood was sanded down to bare metal.

Part Two: Punch It!
1. Sir Michaels owner Mike Burley took over to lay down the guidelines for six columns of 4-inch louvers. next, Mike used a special prenotched ruler to mark off each row of them. Then, he penciled in the lines that would be the guide for each punch (inset).

2a. Here is a sampling of the many different shapes, sizes, and designs of louvers that can be punched.

2b. Right next to these is the cabinet that holds all of the specialty dies used to make the various louvers

3. The die for the 4-inch louver was attached to Mike's large press, and the punches were made. The hood was held in place by a set of specialty stands, and each louver was made one by one. As the hood was moved around, Mike adjusted the stands to support it correctly for every punch.