Repairing radiator support?
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 265
Likes: 0
From: Bowie MD
Repairing radiator support?
Now that the my engine and transmission are out, I am spending a lot of time looking at my engine compartment, scratching my head, and thinking "what is that? how do I fix it?". So, here is the first in my engine compartment series of "how do I..."
The bottom of my radiator support is pretty rusted out. How do I go about repairing this? The two brackets for the radiator are pretty rusted. Can I remove the radiator support itself, sandblast and then seal it? If so, with what?
Also, the bottom piece that bolts to the frame (I'm not sure what this is called?) is pretty rusted up on the left, as seen in the first picture. The bolts and nuts also look pretty rusted up as well where it connects to the frame. Same question applies, can I pop this out, sandblast, and then seal?
I've noticed a common theme of the car missing a lot of bolts... or having bolts ripped out of fiberglass.
Ignore that suspension...
That's another day of head scratching and thinking "how do I..."
Thanks
The bottom of my radiator support is pretty rusted out. How do I go about repairing this? The two brackets for the radiator are pretty rusted. Can I remove the radiator support itself, sandblast and then seal it? If so, with what?
Also, the bottom piece that bolts to the frame (I'm not sure what this is called?) is pretty rusted up on the left, as seen in the first picture. The bolts and nuts also look pretty rusted up as well where it connects to the frame. Same question applies, can I pop this out, sandblast, and then seal?
I've noticed a common theme of the car missing a lot of bolts... or having bolts ripped out of fiberglass.
Ignore that suspension...
That's another day of head scratching and thinking "how do I..."
Thanks
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 128
Likes: 0
From: daytona beach florida
well i got a couple peaces of thick medal at work and drilld hols in the frame and covered them with my old upper radiator hose. works grate and i dont have a dime in them, but they arnt factory and my radiator suport is really bad, my next project when i get 350.oo to go to ECKLERS and spend. funny how when the moter is out you see all that stuff. but it all can be replaced if you have the funds.
good luck, yours definately isnt as bad as mine it, and i drive it every day to work.
good luck, yours definately isnt as bad as mine it, and i drive it every day to work.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 1,143
Likes: 0
From: Leander Texas
Your core support appears to just need to be sand blasted, resealed, then painted. I am more concerned that it appears that Bubba has been there. Was your car wrecked? The bumper brace can be removed, and redone, buy removing the front bumper cover, but I suggest that you support the hood surround so it doesn't droop causing the bonds to seperate around the windshield. The bolts that I can see are the wrong size. Most likely is that the origional bolt holes have the threads stripped out so Bubba used smaller/weaker bolts through the orrigional nuts instead of repairng it properly.
Last edited by DR.Jay; Jul 25, 2006 at 08:56 AM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 2,033
Likes: 1
From: Prescott Arizona
Yours doesn't look bad at all. Just a little blasting and painting and you're good to go. When I recently did my engine swap, I noticed mine was rusty also. I just got some steel stock and mig welded some pieces in place, ground it down, primed and painted it. It's stronger now than it was from the factory.
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 4,883
Likes: 11
From: North Easton Mass
If that lower left corner is rusted through I can guarantee that you will find many more rusted areas hiding under the paint. Start poking the whold support with a small screwdriver. If you hear a nice metallic sound the metal is probably OK. A dull thud means that the screwdriver can either penetrate the metal or the area is barely holding together.
I thought the support on my 72 had a couple of repairable holes and some pinholes. After sanding and poking around with a screwdriver most of the pinholes were connected in 6"-long rustouts.
You can buy repair pieces for the support and weld them in, or there are several sources for repro supports. Everyone gets ~$300.00 for a new support. Doc Rebuild, Dewitt's and Corvette Central are a few sources that come to mind.
Rick B.
I thought the support on my 72 had a couple of repairable holes and some pinholes. After sanding and poking around with a screwdriver most of the pinholes were connected in 6"-long rustouts.
You can buy repair pieces for the support and weld them in, or there are several sources for repro supports. Everyone gets ~$300.00 for a new support. Doc Rebuild, Dewitt's and Corvette Central are a few sources that come to mind.
Rick B.
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,654
Likes: 0
From: Chandler Arizona
St. Jude Donor '08
The frame extension also looks mis-aligned. Looks like the front end has been apart for some reason in the past. I replaced my radiator support, but it depends how rusted it is. If it's not rusted too bad it's probably salvagable. You'll have to pull it and have it bead blasted. Good luck
Racer
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 281
Likes: 0
From: Brookfield IL
The bottom of mine was totally rusted out-- so I replaced my support.
Chevy69-- what specifically are you looking at that appears to be a misaligned frame extension? The reason I ask is that after I replaced my radiator support-- I wondered if I was supposed to do some kind of alignment checks? Now my hood sticks up a little in the front, so I'm wondering if I need to tweak something.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1453748
Chevy69-- what specifically are you looking at that appears to be a misaligned frame extension? The reason I ask is that after I replaced my radiator support-- I wondered if I was supposed to do some kind of alignment checks? Now my hood sticks up a little in the front, so I'm wondering if I need to tweak something.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1453748
Last edited by Driftwood; Jul 25, 2006 at 12:25 PM.
