The 56 Olds I'm working on has a round support brace on both sides which attaches at the firewall in the back and the fender at the front. The drivers side brace is straight, but the passenger side brace dips down at the front. My question is: should the passenger side support brace be straight like the drivers side brace? Or is it supposed to be curved down?

 

64 Falcon,
I can't see the brace your talking about on my 55. I may be looking in the wrong place or there is a difference from 55 to 56. A picture would help a lot.There are a bunch of 56 era guys that hang out at the vintage Olds forum near the bottom of the forum list,I bet they could help you out .....Tedd

 

64 falcon, I after looking again I now see what you are talking about .The two support rods( aprox 37 inches) are both straight and look as though they would interchange. I was trying to make this to hard as I was looking at the bottom (rear frame supports) frame area....Tedd

 

My '55 is missing the supports, but it has the holes where they used to attach. Any idea if it is a problem not having them, or where I might find them? I have found it almost impossible to find any 1955 body parts except the few items sold in the Olds catalogs we all know about.

 

Martley, they would be easy to fabricate out of 9/16 rod flattened on both ends. But I'm sure some one on the vintage forum who has a parts car would sell you a couple. As far as needing or not needing them. They put them on for a reason from the factory. I don't think your fenders are going to flap in the wind or anything but I could see some unneeded vibration and squeaks developing from their abscence....Tedd

 

On a '57, the left brace has a slight curve downwards on it to provide a little more clearance over the battery...