Tom454

I'm in the process of removing the radiator support from my 1970 and ran into some issues...

Found this brace between the underside of the fender and the wheel well...



There is no such brace on the drivers side.

Obviously I cannot remove the radiator support without cutting a hole in the brace to get to the radiator support bolts.

Found this sticker on the front passenger wheel well just above the mud flap cutout, under the underbody coating: (rotated 180)


Questions... Is the sticker "GM" and why would there be a brace covering up those radiator support bolts? Possible car accident? Hit in the front?

mysixtynine

Not sure but that almost looks like the cover that goes over the aftermarket installation of an Air Conditioning system like Vintage air.

It covers the lines running out to the condenser through the wheel well location.

stpman

I have the same brace on my 73

zwede

The cover was factory an AC equipped cars. It's to protect the hoses.

Sticker is factory. Rockwell was the supplier of fiberglass panels. Bottom is the manufacturing date, probably means week 19, 1970.

You should be able to get to the bolt by pushing down on the top part of the cover. I can get my rad support out that way without removing the cover.

69FASTFUN

That is not aftermarket that is for protection of an A/C line. My 72 has one

Easy Mike

Yes and No. Obviously it's not GM, but Rockwell was a Corvette fiberglass provider.

I cannot account for the brace. Never seen one before you posted your pic.

Alan 71

Hi Tom,
The shield in your picture was bonded in place on car with the a/c option. The dehydrator tube assembly ran through it. AIM UPC C60, Sheet B2, Item #1.
I believe you'll need to pry it off to get at the core support bolt. And then bond it back in place.
The NA Rockwell lable is typical of production line fiberglass parts. The date looks nice for a 70 model year car.
Regards,
Alan

Tom454

Thanks for making me stupid. (LOL) Never occurred to me to look on the inside.. and yup.. the Factory GM A/C hoses do in fact pass through beneath the cover. Unfortunately, I was unable to "bend" the cover down to access the radiator support bolt... I tried using a tire iron... gently... but it didn't budge. The cover is actually resting directly on the radiator support bolt. So I'll still have to cut the cover a little. I'll clearance it for the bolt head and if that's not enough I'll get more aggressive. Thanks for the replies.... and education. I knew I could count on y'all.

WHITE 1974

Excellent piece of information my 74 is a factory a/c car I am replacing the rad cradle and rad in the spring and this would have been a frustrating encounter....goes to show insomnia isnt all bad lol

0Willcox Corvette

This is the real deal.. I know people that would pay good money to have that on their car.... LOL...

What I learned is that the laminate is dated and I never knew that. I'll be stealing your picture for our data base use only..


Willcox.

Tom454

PM me if you want the VIN as well.

mark6669

Very carefully chisel it off at both ends at the bond joint (a thin puddy knife and small hammer works best) after your repair bond it back into place. If you just do one end and try to bend it back it probably break, and you will be looking for one too.
Mark

Tom454

I think I'm just going to notch it to access the one radiator support bolt that it interferes with. That seems the easiest and least intrusive.

edk136

Tom, I guess I'll give you my 2 cents about this. If Ernie is stating people would pay good money for that piece, I believe I would do what Mark suggested to save this piece. If you wanted to replace it later, I'm thinking it's going to be hard to find another one and it definitely wouldn't be original to your car. I know it would be easier to just notch it out but I guess I'm thinking long term.

Eric

69FASTFUN

Use a heat gun and putty knive and you will be able to take it off in one piece.

1974ta

This would be the correct method

May want to heat up the putty knife too.

My 70 has the same stickers. There is another sticker just like it on your spare tire tub that is usually under the metal strap. Good stuff!

Bill

Tom454

I figured I owed it to y'all to at least try the heat gun trick... and it worked great. I only had to remove the forward edge. It was attached using bondo... not fiberglass... so I was able to separate it. I can pull it out and access the radiator support bolt. Thanks for that suggestion... I would never have thought to do it that way.