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Replacing Rusted Out Lower Rad Support

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Blurred Talon

15+ Year Contributor
2,307
43
Jan 2, 2004
Paradise, NL_Canada
I bought a new lower rad support. It was cut off the other car.

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I'm curious what is the best way to go about replacing this?
I talked to a family friend who's a retired welder, he said to cut the one on the car a little lower then this one and then make some cuts on the one on the car so the new one will slide over, thus giving you more area to weld to.
 
Subscribed, I about to replace mine also on my 1998 rs. My radiator is held up by my crossmember. The top is in good condition, just the bottom is messed up.

When I brought my car for 1200 it wasnt that bad. Until, my younger asked me to share rent on a house with a garage, after his father passed away.

My 2g is been down due to expired tags, etc. will be renewed this month or july.

Well, after I agreed and moved my 2g to it new home. I've been noticing small cuts from a zawsaw, around where my support is rotted. It suddenly been bigger and bigger. Now, there's a huge hole from one side to the other.
The radiator has actually dropped on to the crossmember. :cry:

If anyone is wondering how much weight these crossmember bolts/bushings can hold.

Just wait, I'll post up my pictures of horror.
 
I bought a new lower rad support. It was cut off the other car.

I'm curious what is the best way to go about replacing this?
I talked to a family friend who's a retired welder, he said to cut the one on the car a little lower then this one and then make some cuts on the one on the car so the new one will slide over, thus giving you more area to weld to.

I think if it were me I would take and jack the car up a bit (one on each side) then put some blocks under the rad support and lower the car until the rad support was just about to touch but not actually touching. Then put the new rad support up to the old one and mark where you need to cut, then have at it cutting a little low first. Once you have the old one out of the way put the new one in place and check for fit and trim as necessary using the blocks as a rough guide to make sure the rad support is straight and at the right height (don't don't worry if there is a little bit of a gap). Once all the cutting is done I would drill a couple of holes in what is left of the old rad support and take a piece of scrap metal and cut it down so that it fit up inside the old rad support and weld it in place through the holes you drilled, this way you have something that will slide into the new rad support that you can weld to. I would do this on at least three of the sides of the rad support. Then drill some holes to weld through on the new rad support and slide it over the tabs that you welded to the inside of the old rad support. Once you have it welded through the holes I would go around and finish welding the seams together and fill all the gaps as best you can to keep as much water out as possible.
 
That's pretty much what I did actually.
I also put some 1/8 plate over top to give it a bit of extra strength.

Here's the post from my blog.

My rusty lower rad support.
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Chopped out and on the ground, you can see why I had to replace it.
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Then I started to fit in the new piece.
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Then I welded it in. I added some 1/8" flat bar on top of the other welds to add some support and give a bit more strength to the repair.
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don't mean to be a hater. but cutting it and welding it like that is ilegal. The right way is to spot weld it..
 
By law it has to be fixed by a certified auto body shop. If you fixed the front radiator support like the pics shown above, in case of a future car accident, the insurrance company will deny the claim. A vehicle thats not correctly and by law repaired in terms of panel welding, can be seize plus been fined. Its not the same as not using a cat converter, there are safety issues and serious fines and laws when panel replacement are done. Plus it ain't expensive at all to take it to a auto body shop to correctly weld the radiator support.
 
I would think, given our cars are getting up there in age, that if he were to get into a wreck bad enough that the front support is destroyed that insurance companies would likely total the car. Yes? I've seen less damage and cars being totaled because of it. Air bags deploy, game over =/


At any rate, great job repairing the radiator support. I suppose I'm fortunate in not having salt on our roads thus minimal chassis rust.
 
don't mean to be a hater. but cutting it and welding it like that is ilegal. The right way is to spot weld it..

where do you get that idea.. i've been in automoive here in the US most of my life and that passes well beyopnd what's required to be a "safe repair' that can be sold to the public by a real dealer. a private individual can do anything he wants and as long as he sells the car "as is" there's nothing can be said about it
 
Im an ASE certified tech and my brothers works at an auto body shop.. I know what I'm talking about, if you don't believe me, just call your insurance company and ask them, you'll see...

yes an individual can do anything to his car and sell it as is, but in terms of panel welding, you can't touch the welds unless you are a certified chassis welder.. I know what I'm talking about..

to give you an example.. at the mercedes benz dealer I used to work as a tech at west palm beach, florida a few years ago, I received an early 90s mb that came to our dealer for a suspension noise, as soon as I got the vehicle on the lift and took a glance at the underside of the car to verify the car and realize the ilegal repaired welds, my shop foreman had to call the customer to let him know by law we can't work on his car cause of safety laws.
 
I worked in insurance repair parts sales for many years. It may not be "insurance quality" or passable, but it's comepletely fine at least in the united states to do something like he's doing. it's a lot stronger than crappy old spot welds, but see insurance compainites have all kinds of rules and standards they have to abide by to not beheld responsible in the event something goes wrong. A private person does not when selling as is... I know many people that do "builders" where they get a front clip for a car hit in the front and put them back together, so i know all about "slugging" and everything else, but being that there's no spot welder that can do most of what's done on an automobile, people have to drill holes and fill them with a weld bead called a "rossette" weld

I'm not trying to argue by any means, but what an insurance company and car dealership can do and what a private citizen can do and both be kept 100% legal are miles apart and it stems from one word "liability" that's like a motorcycle frame ONE single dent and an insurance company can't put it back on the road because of the "what if" factor, where a private citizen can have the same frame safety inspected by the state as a slavage title or builder and it's 100% legit

I'm not saying you don't know what you're talking about , i'm just saying there's a difference in insurance work and private work.. that's how the company i use to manage a yard for LKQ made all their money, insurance is f*cked into using OEM only if it's available including used over a new aftermarket part all because of law suits and liable, what you're saying makes sense, and again it's all because of liability, the MB dealer didn't want to be liable for a dead person's law suit if that welded area was worked on, failed and killed a person
t
the world is a f8cked up croocked place full of lawsuits and we have those to thank for thesse rrules


edit, and i too was ASE ceritfied in chassis and suspension (and many others, but no HVAC as i had no interest in it) and we never had to learn to spot weld on them but then again i took mine at age 19 which was a LONG time ago and all mine are expired now, (what is the testing schedule these days for ASE certs?)
 
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And Puerto Rico and Canada also have the same laws...

If the part is designed to fail at the weakest spot, the spot weld, then it will still fail there.
 
cool, like i said, i'm not saying anyone is wrong in what they're stating or saying anyone doesn't knowwhat they're talking about (i don't know a think about PR and CA laws) I was just pointing out that it is legal for a private citizen to make a repair like that and also giving a few examples of why it is NOT ok for a shop or insurance co to aprove or do the same work

no offense intended i hope none was taken
 
don't mean to be a hater. but cutting it and welding it like that is ilegal. The right way is to spot weld it..

Thanks, good to know.
I don't plan on keeping this shell for more then a couple of years. This was simply to get some more time out of it as I'm not ready to buy another shell just yet.

Nice fab work, Anthony.

Thanks Paul!

I would think, given our cars are getting up there in age, that if he were to get into a wreck bad enough that the front support is destroyed that insurance companies would likely total the car. Yes? I've seen less damage and cars being totaled because of it. Air bags deploy, game over =/


At any rate, great job repairing the radiator support. I suppose I'm fortunate in not having salt on our roads thus minimal chassis rust.

What are air bags?

Salt and moisture will kill a car in no time. Sadly where I live there's lot of moisture and salt in the air :(
 
a private citizen is just as liable as a repair shop, insurance company, etc... just cause you don't know the laws or simply decide to neglect the laws, doesn't make you exempt of the law and a law suit.. I don't mean to be rude or hate, but fixing the radiator support ain't at all expensive, so why not fix it the right way, spend a few more bucks and avoid a problem in the future. Nothing is granted, I've seen auto accidents which the engine has been thrown out the engine bay about 50 feet away from the car..

I understand your point turboglenn, I'm not taking it personal, just two ppl debating a subject, LOL..
 
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As I said I didn't know this type of repair wasn't allowed. However, the car has to be 'safetied' (checked over by a licensed mechanic) before it goes on the road. I'm sure they can say if it's allowable or not in my province.

EDIT: Also I asked questions about doing this repair on many boards and even stated what I planned to do. I know people on some of the boards were body men (both in the US and Canada) and not once was it mentioned to me that it had to be repaired by a certified shop. Again, I'm not trying to make up excuses, I simply didn't know.
 
every state law are different from the other state, and every insurance company operate differently.. but to be sure, just pick up the phone and call your local dmv dept. or your insurance company. actually my radiator support bar is bend cause of incorrect towing, so I also have to r&r mine. at mitsubishiparts.com the lower tie bar is $100.33 and for a auto body shop to r&r without painting it and with the radiator and accesories parts already removed, should be around $75-$100.
 
I would also recommend you have a shop do it. Just call around a bit and you should be able to find a shop with the tools to do it just like oem. The shop I work at has a very nice $15000 spot welder that can do about everything. :thumb:
 
don't mean to be a hater. but cutting it and welding it like that is ilegal. The right way is to spot weld it..

Not to start another argument, or continue pestering and beating the dead horse, but could you explain what is illegal about this repair? Personally, I don't see the problem with a weld of this sort, so I would just like some clarification is all.

Thanks,

Garret.
 
Nice, job.

What type of welder(mig/tig) would recommend, harbor frieght is close to me and prices are within range.

Harbor freight has a few but not sure which to get. What welder did you use, looks a mig in corner of your pic show the welding gun.

Found a spot welder thought would share and ask questions.
Search results for: 'spot welder'
 
Nice, job.

What type of welder(mig/tig) would recommend, harbor frieght is close to me and prices are within range.

Harbor freight has a few but not sure which to get. What welder did you use, looks a mig in corner of your pic show the welding gun.

Found a spot welder thought would share and ask questions.
Search results for: 'spot welder'

Personally I will only use good name brand welders, Miller, Lincoln, etc. I've personally got an old Lincoln Mig Pak 10, it's a 120V welder and it's taken everything I've thrown at it.
 
Personally I will only use good name brand welders, Miller, Lincoln, etc. I've personally got an old Lincoln Mig Pak 10, it's a 120V welder and it's taken everything I've thrown at it.

Can't afford miller but I might find a lincoln on craigslist, they go fast.

Which one would you recommend from harbor freight, this would be my first welder.

My support is rotted like yours from underneath, I priced a new lower tie for 160 from jnztuning.
 
I've got no experience with HF stuff, there's no HF here in Canada. Though we do have a Canadian version.

Try and find a used Lincoln if you can or check out Everlast Welders. Everlast is Chinese but I've heard lots of good stuff about them and they have a great warranty. I might buy one of their multiprocess machines.
 
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