Finally getting around to replacing my core support. I ordered the parts and went out today to come up with a game plan. Replacement should be easy enough, I have electric fans, electric Headlight actuators... Basically nothing in the way.

10yrs ago when I went to do my motor for the first time I tried to remove the core support to paint the engine bay. The lower bolt on one side snapped, and the weld nut on the lower bolt on the other side broke free of the support and just spins. So, instead of taking it out I just loosened the support enough to push it forward while I worked... Losing the shims I was unaware of in the process. When I went to put everything back together the radiator and support sat lower to the point that I couldn't get the sway bar back in the car, so I just left it out for the past 10yrs.

Fast forward to now and I want to fix it right. So, I ordered the core support, new bolts and brackets etc. But, while I was out in the garage today checking it over to make sure I ordered everything I would need, I loosened up the old support and jacked it up to kind of mock it up in the right position and make sure I'd be able to get the new one installed right with enough clearance from the radiator neck. When I jacked it up to the right spot the mounting holes in the body (3 bolts on each side) were way off from lining up with the support. I realized part of the issue appears to be the front clip is sagging. It looks like instead of it being the core support sitting too low in the body and hitting the chassis, it's the whole body sitting lower causing the core support to be lower. The passengers side is definitely worse, which is the side where the radiator neck was hitting. Further evidence of the nose sagging is increased forward door gap, wider at the top/narrower at the bottom, suggesting the nose is diving. With the support jacked up in the right spot (clear of where the sway bar would be) I lifted on the fender a little and got tiny movement out of it. It would have to come up some more to get everything joined up right, but I have no idea a out how to go about aliging the nose, if you even can. Also, the car definitely had a front impact during its life which probably isn't helping matters. I don't think it was terrible, but while putting a new front bumper on and painting the car 10yrs ago we found signs of old repairs.

So, I'm left with two options. I'm still waiting for the parts, but when they get here I can tackle it myself like I planne... But I'm not sure I'm going to be able to get it in and have it line up any better than the old one if it's the body that's out of whack. My other option is bring the parts and car to my body guy and let him try to align everything. He said he can do it, but I'd really like to beat this thing myself!!

So, does anybody know how to go about adjusting/lifting the nose without damaging the fiberglass? Or, should I just bring it to him?

Also, I've noticed in older threads mention of 2 bolts on the bottom of the support that "attach the support to the frame", in addition to the 3 bolts on each side in the wheel wells. I looked at my AIM and don't really see anything, but I do have two empty (and very rusty) bolt holes on the bottom of my support which makes me wonder if I'm missing some additional support. I ordered everything from Willcox, and they actually listed these 2 bottom bolts, so I bought them just in case I can figure it out. Anybody know?



I appreciate any advice! The goal is to get the front end properly supported, and the radiator sitting right so I can get a sway bar back in and then coilovers/spreader bar and 18s to get this car handling right 🤟🏼

 

The bottom two rusted out holes are in fact part of the core support so you will need them for sure. As far aligning the front nose it is not an easy task to be done at home. There are some videos on YouTube that show the removal process. If your trying to get it perfectly aligned its probably better off to leave it to a professional as it is not an easy task.

 

Yeah I know those two holes are part of it, the problem is I don't see anything that it's supposed to attach to. According to what I read (and the description of the 2 replacement bolts I bought from Willcox) it's supposed to connect the bottom of the support to the frame.... I don't know how... Maybe I'm missing some sort of brackets?

 

this is a 79 ..brackets?
suggest Willcox PDF file AIM for your car...easy to get and very reasonable

 

I don't show those brackets in my AIM, but I know some things were changed from 79-80.

I did just come across this picture after doing some google searches though. This shows a crossmember between both frame rails that the core support bolts to using those to nuts. The car in the picture is a 1971. I definitely don't have that, but I wonder if it was a pre-80 thing that got deleted when they changed to the extended front bumper in 1980-82.

 

Bump

I did a little more research digging through old forum threads, and it does look like I may be able to make some adjustments in the front clip by loosening the 4 bolts in each front frame extension and slowly jacking under the front bumper support. Does anybody have any experience doing this? The old threads had some good info, but they're 10-15yrs old. My new core support will be here tomorrow and I think I'm going to give it a shot. Worst case, if I can't get enough adjustment out of the front clip, I'll just install the new support in the same sagged position as the old, and then bring the car to the body shop to see if they can get it better aligned. But, I only think I need a 1/2-1" or so of lift under the bumper support.... I think it may be doable in my garage.

 

Watching this thread closely, as I have the same droopy nose on my car that I've been meaning to fix for several years

 

There's gotta be guys on here that have tackled this before! I'm going to give it a shot either way though, I just hope I don't drop my front clip to the floor in the process! I'll make sure to post some updates so you can at least learn from my mistakes haha. My core support is being delivered to day. The car is already in the air on jack stands. The plan is to put the jack under the front bumper support to hold it in place, remove the old core support, MARK and then loosen the frame extension bolts, and then very gingerly jack the bumper support in small increments while checking the door gap to see if it closes at all. Then lock down the frame extension bolts and install the new core support My goal is to get it to point where I'll hopefully have enough room to get a sway bar back in the car.... while not cracking my front clip in two

 

I am pretty sure those two bolt holes are for the lower valance on a 1980-82 car. Here is a picture from the 1980 AIM.

You will see that there are two bolts through the core support where your two holes are.
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I should be getting my new lower valance in today, so I will see if that all lines up.

 

My valance was attached to these holes marked in blue




That's weird, my AIM shows the same the valance being installed just like it was

 

Your door gaps shouldn't change , there's supposed to be 3 vertical lines of glued panel before it gets to the door edge ,sounds like you have extra damage there now . What area you have to be careful when jacking the bumper support is the top middle of the wheel arch area , that's your weak area. Do you have 2 jacks or just using one with some blocks to capture both sides at the same time ? I can understand why you have to do this , but your trying to undue 10 years of sag in one day so take it easy.

As your using the jack , keep an eye on the rubber strip on the front of the inner wheel arches (guards ) , they should not change shape or position relative to the hood surround , im thinking the supports will only go up or down (not try to change angle ) as your lifting a solid piece , you wont get much movement ,unless someone has already opened those holes up. Hood gap and levelness at its front edge is another indicator of things changing as well.

 

That's crazy... Anytime someone asks a question on here, everyone always says "look at the AIM for your model year." Welp, are the AIMs different? I got mine from NCRS, and his is from MAM.

Anyways, from your diagram it looks like those holes you outlined in blue should actually be to rivet the lower valance onto the core support... And the bolts holes are empty...

I am confused... What page is that diagram on? Maybe I need to look at a different one...

 

That's fine if the door gaps don't move, they're not terrible, just a little wider at the top. My main concern is lifting the mounting point on the body for the core support back to where it belongs.

This issue may go back even more than 10yrs. I've had the car 16yrs and it had stress cracks in the tops of both front fenders by the hood hinges before I had it painted. One of the cracks is starting to reappear, so I'd assume those are the weak points you're referring to, and they must be an issue due to lack of proper support.

So am I on the right track for at least lifting the front of the clip where the core support will mount? I do have 2 jacks, and will either use both or use one with a board to distribute the load across the whole bumper support.

 

There are 5 small bolts that bolt the air dam to the radiator core support just like you have in the picture. The two larger bolts holes are not used. I have a NOS GM air dam for my 81 and can post a picture if you need to see the 5 holes.

 

I would say no to lifting by the frame horns or extensions , have a look at this video ,

a guy taking an original 80 core support out . Its a long video , he hasn't edited out all the crap ,but you can see just how its supported in there .

 

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Thanks, I actually came across that video last week, it's pretty good.

So you don't think lifting under the bumper support is a good idea? If the frame extensions are loosened, won't that allow the front of the nose to pivot up a little? I'm not sure how else to get the core support back into the position it should be in. My only other thought was still 3 new holes in each wheel well, each a little higher than the original ones, and then just install the core support a little higher. But then I may run into good clearance issues... Plus that just seems like a hack bandaid, but really addressing the problem.

​Awesome thanks. That's kind of the conclusion I came to, that those two nuts aren't used, but I just wanted to make sure. My guess is the core supports were carried over from the earlier cars that did use them, and they just left those nuts there. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing some crucial support. I like the crossmember the earlier C3s had that the core support mounted to. Seems like a much more secure design
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EDIT: Just opened up my new support from Willcox and just added a whole 'nother level of confusion.




It has the two holes for the large nuts, but does NOT have the 5 holes for the valance. So, it would seem the other AIM image showing the valance bolting to the 2 large nuts may be right?? Looking at new replacement valances from different vendors, none of them show any holes drilled... so maybe you can mount it either way depending on your support?

Here's my AIM, it's page 553




Realistically, do I really need the valance anyways? I know it is crucial for the stock cooling system...when I first got the car the valance was missing and the stock engine with stock fan/shroud/radiator would overheat on the highway due to lack of airflow. Replacing the valance fixed that. But... I now have a large Dewitts aluminum radiator, SPAL dual electric fans, Edelbrock hi-flow water pump, and the car never runs over 180*, in fact most of the time I have trouble getting it hot enough... in slightly cooler weather (60's) it will only run around 160*. So really I could probably get by without the valance.....right?

 

I haven't seen an 80 up close , so there are details that I'm not sure about , but now I'm thinking if its possible to install the new core support by the top 4 holes/bolts , then try and jack that up slowly , that's getting right at the trouble spot , and maybe if necessary , loosen those other supports .

 

I just received my new lower valance this afternoon and have spent the evening fitting it, drilling mounting holes, shaving off material here and there to make it fit better, etc... I will prime it tomorrow and paint it.

The picture I was looking at in my AIM is a few pages after the one you posted. My new valance actually has indented sections where those two large bolt holes go so you can service them, but as we have decided, they are not used in a 1980-82 application.

I would advise you to use the lower valance. It completes the look of the front. I never really noticed it's absence until I was fitting my new one, and it really does finish the front end when you add the lower air dam pieces. Also, without the lower valance I noticed that the fender flares that connect to the lower valance were sagging a good 1" below where they should be because there wasn't anything solid holding them in place. With the valance and air dams mounted, it gently pulls them tighter to the body and they no longer are "flappy."

Reproduction lower valance panels aren't drilled for mounting screws yet, so you can mount your using the holes that are already drilled in the core support. As I was fitting my valance I think it is super important to make sure that it is firmly mounted to the core support, so I do think you should drill a couple more holes. I guess you could just use self tapping screws.

The "hook" that comes down in the front to keep the valance from sagging while driving at speed is broken off on my car. I am planning on using a spring, and connecting it to the valance to prevent that rather than have a new hook welded on. At least with the spring, if I do hit anything there isn't a metal bracket hanging down to break...

It is going to storm down here in Georgia all tomorrow, but if you want me to get in, around, and under my '80 to get any pictures for you I can do that.

 

So the only thing actually holding the core support in on an 80 is the 6 side bolts (3 in each wheel well). The bolts go through 3 holes in the body in each wheel well and into the support. The problem is (I think) the body has sagged a little and those holes are now lower than they should be. I came to this conclusion after taking the bolts out of the current support and jacking it up to where it needs to be. When it's in that position the bolt holes in the body don't line up with the core support. So I don't think installing the support and then jacking it up will help because there's no way to secure it in that position when the jack is removed.

 

So the bottom 2 bolts don't lock into any steel frame pieces at all ? That just doesn't make sense as the core support was always the main support in all the previous years .