rad suppourt questions
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 112
Likes: 0
From: Toronto Ontario
rad suppourt questions
Im restoring a 73 454.I have finished the engine,tranny,complete front suspension and last night I started to look into my rad support.
I noticed on the bottom of the support facing the front on the opposite side of where the rad sits there are two shouldered bolts with rubber grommets.Can someone tell me what that is for.I was thinking they were mounts for the condensor?
The car has factory a/c but the compressor/condensor were missing when i bought it.
I originally tried ordering new from ecklers and asked for a big block rad support-eckelrs, after checking with their tech dept and confirmed they are all the same between small and big block.This didnt sound right so i called a local corvette shop where i bought the car and was told they are different on a big block and he didnt have one.
I figured I would fix the one I had.
After sandblasting the rad support...I found the small holes I thought were minor were no longer small(about 1"x2" open).
Basically I made templates out of cardboard,and in 18 guage i refabricated the whole bottom half.Tonight I was going to weld it up.
bieng real picky ive contemplated the repair and decided i would rather have the look of a brand new part on the car.
Can someone settle this for me so if i order it i dont have to send it back.
would i need a big block with a/c specific support?or are they all the same?
I noticed on the bottom of the support facing the front on the opposite side of where the rad sits there are two shouldered bolts with rubber grommets.Can someone tell me what that is for.I was thinking they were mounts for the condensor?
The car has factory a/c but the compressor/condensor were missing when i bought it.
I originally tried ordering new from ecklers and asked for a big block rad support-eckelrs, after checking with their tech dept and confirmed they are all the same between small and big block.This didnt sound right so i called a local corvette shop where i bought the car and was told they are different on a big block and he didnt have one.
I figured I would fix the one I had.
After sandblasting the rad support...I found the small holes I thought were minor were no longer small(about 1"x2" open).
Basically I made templates out of cardboard,and in 18 guage i refabricated the whole bottom half.Tonight I was going to weld it up.
bieng real picky ive contemplated the repair and decided i would rather have the look of a brand new part on the car.
Can someone settle this for me so if i order it i dont have to send it back.
would i need a big block with a/c specific support?or are they all the same?
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 112
Likes: 0
From: Toronto Ontario
thanks.
i finished welding up the old one and it actually looks pretty good,problem is the welds will be visible in the front of the support
ill get a new one on order tomrrow.i dont want anything looking half assed.
i finished welding up the old one and it actually looks pretty good,problem is the welds will be visible in the front of the support
ill get a new one on order tomrrow.i dont want anything looking half assed.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 2,084
Likes: 14
From: Airdrie Alberta
What's the going price for a good quality rad support now. Last time I checked it was close to the $300.00 range.
Since they rust from the inside out I decided to go for the new one.
