So i fixed that lower rad rust problem today. and ill be putting up some pics soon of it and if anyone needs this work done let me know

If you have trouble seeing the pictures. hold Ctrl on your keyboard and use the scroller on the mouse to adjust the screen size

 

Good to know! I know someone that is interested, will forward this thread to them

 

cool thanks

 

Good job, looks nice & I'm def impressed. I also fix a bunch of these for $450 out the door but with a new oem support, yours can be fixed that way but just a heads up not all of them can, I have done several that were much worse, I'm talking broken into three pieces & rotted the tabs off for the radiator so it was being held by the hoses and usually some sort of zip-tye etc to the upper support.

 

i know what you mean ive seen some. one of my friends from boston (alot of salty roads) has an i30 thats completley rotted. the hood cant even stay shut anymore. i was going to replace the whole rad support for him but didnt really have much time to do it. the one from the pic is actually my first fix up i did with a friend. i didnt really approach it the way i wanted to and came up with some better and cleaner ideas after i was done. i might eventually have to redo it but it doesnt seem to be having any problems. i have a 3.5 swapped 4th gen and i give it a little bit of gas here and there, so if its gonna break i wanna know what the breaking point is. so far nothing

 

nissan wanted 139 i think for the lower rad support (OEM) on courtesyparts.com . i was on a little bit of tight budget and only spent about 15 bucks tops on the angled iron.(which im not going to use anymore seeing as to how my welder cant really penetrate it too good). i use a mig and not a tig. so for the next fix ill be using steel instead of iron

 

very impressive. no doubts about it.

 

Man mine looks just like the first pic. It's about 450 to fix?

 

Pretty good. we just got a replacement from rockauto. Probably will rust through in a year or two..

 

yea this cost abt 20 bucks + a headache to fix. lol

 

Man wish I knew welding work. Going to take it to the bodyshop.

 

good stuff man. wish I saw this before I got mine replaced at a body shop

 

How much was it?

 

Just replaced one yesterday. The job wasn't awful but make sure you have a lot of good sharp titanium drill bits on hand.

 

My 2000 looks the same way. I'm assuming that's why I'm getting excessive engine movement since the front mount attaches to the rear of the lower crossmember and is flexing under load. Gotta get it replaced asap....

 

Definately. I replaced my lower support last weekend with the OEM part from Courtesy and I can say without reservation that my engine is a lot more solid now.

 

How much does Courtesy want for them? About how difficult and how much time did it take you to do it? The dealership I work at is opening up a new bodyshop so I can get it done for a good deal if it looks like it's going to be too much for me to do.

 

i think its like 130. its really not that hard

 

Not difficult. Time consuming, and proper tools required. I lost 3 drillbits when I just did one.

 

you use a drill bit and another bit that cuts out the top part of the pinch weld. idk what its called

 

^^ Spot weld cutter

Harbor freight has a cheap one that works great!

 

there you go. of course when you replace this you have to remove the bumper condenser rad and everything out of your way

 

Ah. I just used regular titanium bits for a pilot hole, then my titanium unibit to bore out the hole until it was bigger than the weld. Also worked fine.

Ya, most of the front end had to be removed. Condenser had to be moved out of the way a bit, not necessarily removed.

 

If one day I need this work done, I'll contact you. haha

 

This will be project number two. I have to get the radiator replaced and get her back on the road then got to all the body shops in the area and see what it will cost me. My guess is any where from $ 700 to $1000. The support is the most important part of the car. Holding the front and rear engine mounts and that is where I jack the car up at. the last oil change it was making crushing sounds.

 

damn thats o.d lol. ill do it cheaper lol.

 

Very interesting because I have the same problem....I didn't think it was that bad, but I looked today and it seems the member is separated from the lower support. You really have to look very closely to realize that...ouch!

 

thank god for i live in the west coast, LOL

 

Does one have to be able to weld to do this job, or is it a nut-and-bolt replacement?

 

The existing one is spot welded on. Plenty of members have replaced it and allowed the bolts to hold it in - it's pretty damn sturdy this way, but still not to OEM spec. Personal preference, really.

 

you could probably do it that way but you would need to do alot of fabrication just to bolt up your new support to the existing rad support. easier welding if you ask me

 

^^ I think he's referring to the situation in which the old one is completely removed. That's how I responded in the above post at least...

 

nice cost effective fix for this problem. Did you coat it(paint it) with some sort of durable rust proof coating? or at least an underbody coating?

 

deff. lol i dont want to see that hole ever again lol

 

What kind of steel was that and did you get two 90 degree corner pieces and weld them up?

 

i used angled iron. i just bought 3ft of the 90 degree one and cut it up. also used some regular sheet metal i had laying around

 

good now do mine

 

^^ This is not a difficult job. You need some good drill bits, some basic tools, and a few hours of time.

 

Would a home depot/lowes have this or did you got to a metal shop somewhere? how thick was it, 1/8"?

 

not difficult at all. just time consuming. and yes i bought this at lowes. home depot should have it too. but i recommend steel instead of iron. it took alot to get this thing to weld