Cracked radiator support
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 4,166
Likes: 14
From: Orlando Fl
Cracked radiator support
was pulling out of a local mall and the dip in the road was greater than it appeared. I hit my radiator support hard and now its cracked. How big a job is it to replace or fix?
Team Owner
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 46,295
Likes: 2,596
From: Northern, VA
St. Jude Donor '15
"In honor of jpee"
some people on here have welded it themselves, or gotten it welded. the parts are supposedly not expensive. the bigger question is, is your radiator ok?
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 4,166
Likes: 14
From: Orlando Fl
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 21,502
Likes: 462
From: Southern Utah
$300+ for the new part and a few hours to replace it. If you can do without the car for a couple of days, I would just take the part to a place that can weld aluminum and have it fixed...much less expensive and stronger after it is done.
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 4,166
Likes: 14
From: Orlando Fl
Makes good sense! Does the nose of the car have to come off?
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 21,502
Likes: 462
From: Southern Utah
I do not believe so, but I haven't done it myself...just seen many threads where people talk about having done it. Someone who has been there will chime in.
If the crack is in an accessible place, it might even be repairable while still on the car.
If the crack is in an accessible place, it might even be repairable while still on the car.
Advanced
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 59
Likes: 1
From: Tulsa Ok
No front bumper removal.
Get it up on jack stands or a lift. Take off the front tires. Remove the plastic push pins from the front wheel well and take off the front lower wheel well. Take off the air dam. Take out the screws from the underside of the front bumper. There will be several electrical harnesses to remove as the wires are routed through the radiator support. Unscrew the horn. I believe that you should now be ready to take out the radiator support. There are 4 bolts I believe. Its pretty simple.
I have never worked on cars and I did it. Good luck. If you get stuck or have a question PM me and I'll give you my phone number and I'll try to help you through it.
Get it up on jack stands or a lift. Take off the front tires. Remove the plastic push pins from the front wheel well and take off the front lower wheel well. Take off the air dam. Take out the screws from the underside of the front bumper. There will be several electrical harnesses to remove as the wires are routed through the radiator support. Unscrew the horn. I believe that you should now be ready to take out the radiator support. There are 4 bolts I believe. Its pretty simple.
I have never worked on cars and I did it. Good luck. If you get stuck or have a question PM me and I'll give you my phone number and I'll try to help you through it.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 2,246
Likes: 5
From: West Coast
I cringe when people on this forum tell others to lower their cars MORE than stock. OEM ride height is already really low, going lower is asking for trouble.
I've lost count on how many C6 owners scraped and damaged their cars on STOCK/OEM ride heights.
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 4,194
Likes: 7
From: Euless Texas
No front bumper removal.
Get it up on jack stands or a lift. Take off the front tires. Remove the plastic push pins from the front wheel well and take off the front lower wheel well. Take off the air dam. Take out the screws from the underside of the front bumper. There will be several electrical harnesses to remove as the wires are routed through the radiator support. Unscrew the horn. I believe that you should now be ready to take out the radiator support. There are 4 bolts I believe. Its pretty simple.
I have never worked on cars and I did it. Good luck. If you get stuck or have a question PM me and I'll give you my phone number and I'll try to help you through it.
Get it up on jack stands or a lift. Take off the front tires. Remove the plastic push pins from the front wheel well and take off the front lower wheel well. Take off the air dam. Take out the screws from the underside of the front bumper. There will be several electrical harnesses to remove as the wires are routed through the radiator support. Unscrew the horn. I believe that you should now be ready to take out the radiator support. There are 4 bolts I believe. Its pretty simple.
I have never worked on cars and I did it. Good luck. If you get stuck or have a question PM me and I'll give you my phone number and I'll try to help you through it.
. I helped a guy at a local shop do mine last week. The only thing I'd add is that if you have yours repaired, you won't have to improvise a few of the attachment points like I did. W/ the new support, it didn't come w/ some of the threaded fittings that you use for re-assembly, and we had to tap a screw to attach the horn assembly. Nothing the shop guy couldn't handle, but if I'd have been by myself, I'd have had to scratch my head a while figuring out what was missing. All of the pushpins can be reused if you take them out carefully.
