hi guys i just want to share my fix for my radiator support. i search for a aftermarket one but i never found a store in my town(canada) for a brand new support.

So i started to fix it with my dad that are a mechanic guy over 30 years, all the fix was his idea and i can tell you ,this is very TOUGH, much more than a very costy nissan OEM genuine support hahaha. once the job finished, i started up my car and put it in 'D' while holding the brake and i was snapping the gas pedal hard, Same for reverse and the 'homemade' support was not MOVING at all hahaha

heres before:

and After

we order a custom 'beam' 1/8'' thick ''U'' shaped 3 inches for the bottom 2-1/4 width and 2'' for the top. This is a ''one piece'' part of metal we only modifiy it a little bit to fit right on the old rusted support. we bolted it at the bottom and put some monobolt stainless steel rivets (1/4'') and we will weld it tomorrow

this is maybe not the Right way to fix if you get a car inspection BUT i can confirm you that is stronger than a OEM for sure haha

AND it cost $25 CAN for the custom steel beam and some beers hehe so its very cheap !

Please tell me what you think about it, i will post maybe others picture tomorrow if you guys want :P we stop the job right there but i only need to put the bumper back on the radiator support is 100% complete

Franck.

 

Great work,this looks like a very decent job your dad did,don't forget to rust proof it before you put the bumper back on

 

@johnVQ30 : thanks for your comment , And yes! we spread (by hand) a massive amber car anti-rust grease coat for the ''inside'' .. we dont know yet if we do the same for outside...

i think this will be the best too hehe this grease is so thick it can stay there for years

 

holy ****, built ford tough lol

 

heres the custom ''beam'' that we ordered




we bolted the bumper on this morning.. i test drive it and mann you can feel the difference from a dead stop and of course when its shift too. its more firm

well i bought the car near 2 years ago and its was already damaged and rusted so its normal that i feel that the car looks like i swapped a race tranny hahaha, a race tranny only for $25

 

nice custom work around! nice to post to inspire others.

 

thanks

 

Mine was pretty bad. The lower cross beam broke free from it. I do contract work at a body shop, so they gave me a good deal on having it fixed. This is what it looked like when they cut it out.

 

nice work. i did something similar on my 4th gen.

 

did you paint it afterwards?

 

no. i spray a nice coat with a car antirust airgun for the outside

 

mine looked like this when i tryed to unscrew the 2 big bolt in the middle... You know what i mean when the bolt is seized a lil bit... it crushed and was turning with the bolt

 

I am going to use a differant approach to same problem, you tore that car apart big time. When done I will post pics of repairing reinforcing it

 

Ar those measurements for the outside or for the inside that fits over?

 

yes. The new one measurement is for inside... So it fit over the rusted one.

 

the bumper is not a big job to remove... And its pretty quick to do (took me 20-25 min) i removed the beam bumper but you dont need to, i removed it to get some space to work . I want to see your job (pics)

 

Bumping an old but important topic.
I am looking at the picture and it looks like the crossbar with the two mounts had to be removed and if yes wouldnt that throw everything off by an 1/8 since there is now an 1/8 of extra space between the crossbar and the radiator support.

 

Not if it's in the same spot as oem and it looks like it's done right. My "beater" looks to have a replaced lower rad support because it's all new looking but the bottom is rotted out with a piece welded on top of it already. They must've used that ebay version. We all know the ebay version is cheap and rusts out quick thanks to members who have documented this. This is one of those place's where OEM only or do what the OP did.

 

Still not understanding. I was referring to what The OP did which is add 1/8" iron on top of the oem rad support. Which should push the crossbar with the mounts lower. Am I missing something?

 

You're right, but this is negligible when you factor in normal movement within the motor mounts.

 

Very true, my beater came in with one crossmember bushing missing and it was sitting uneven so having both evenly spaced 1/8" is fine.

 

The rad in my car has actually dropped and moves freely so replacement is likely the only option.

I'm afraid the rotten core support is the final nail in the coffin and I don't have the skills or set up for a homemade fix. I've seen some US guys posting that they paid around $700 for the repair but we pay more for everything in Canada. I'm sure that most shops will be well over a grand though I will be looking for real quotes soon but even 700 would be cost prohibitive.

That said, if anyone in the Ottawa area has had this repair done, please let me know who did it and approximately how much it cost.

It's sad really because the car runs well, just passed the emissions test and has less the 100k miles on it. It does have rust on several body panels and was relegated to winter beater a few years ago but I still love to drive it.

Realistically at 14 years old, the car is probably worth $1500 so a real repair makes virtually no economic sense.

 

Hi Kanata, my Infiniti I30 is 14 years old, too. I have some rust on the lower body panels and the corner of one door, which isn't that big a deal, but my rad support is almost completely shot and the radiator is even starting to drop on one side so I am buying the lower radiator support and the side pieces (all OEM) for $350. My local body shop will install everything for $300. It seems a lot to spend, but then it definitely needs the work done and it's cheaper than buying a new car right now.

 

I haven't found a parts seller in Canada yet but Courtesy Nissan in Texas has the full assembly for $343. Not bad until I factor in $345 for shipping and add taxes, duty if it's not made in NA, exchange and UPS brokerage fees.

That's easily over $900 Canadian and then with 3-4 hours of shop time, the job comes to somewhere around $1200-1300.

Maybe I just need to go Red Green on it with some duct tape.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nissan-Maxim...item4620891622

This is a quality alternative to the dealer support. It is sold by a company, auto rust tec, that specialises in replacement parts for cars known to rust. It is a little thicker and stronger than the oem. It is basically a sleeve and cap and that you place over the support and mig weld.

 

thanks for the dimensions and posting this man, saved me a ton of time and money for my moms car 2000 I30t fit perfectly.

 

Buy the eBay part for $269.98. They ship free within US; find out what they'll charge for shipping to Canada. Alternately, ship it to a PO box in Watertown and drive down to pick it up (yes, you would have to rent one but it you buy more parts, it will pay off quick).

 

I will add to that. Just had mine welded on after putting in some bolts. Seems absolutely solid. Make sure you have a cut off wheel/grinder when you tackle this so you can make the cuts. the two wings bend up pretty easily but I would recommend cutting in about 6 inches bending and then cutting in another 2 inches for a total of 8 inches on each side from the 42 inches in length. other the curver wont fit so perfectly.

 

BTW you can do this easily removing just the from bumper and nothing else

 

I know this thread is close to two years old, but it is just such a good post. Thank you Franck so much for the post and the dimensions.I just had a couple questions for anyone who has done this successfully

1) Do the dimensions leave the extra steel for the wings in the picture or do i have to fabricate those wings? What kind of metal was the beam made of?

2) What holes will have to be drilled in the new beam to accept the old mounting hardware like the radiator grommets and bolts and the engine mount bolts?

3) did you cut out all of the old rust and then put on the grease or did you just leave it and lather on the grease?

4) Did you buy new hardware for the new beam install?

sorry i know it is alot of questions. I am looking to do this hopefully in a month or two before winter comes and though i think i could handle it, it is better to learn from the experience of others before i jump in lol!

 

Hello All,

Old thread, but same problem.

Non of the photos are still active.

Can anyone post some pics of their repair (with angle steel or replacement part)

If I could get the measurements dimensioned better or a few pics I would appreciated,

Bert

Does anyon

 

you planning a replacement? I bolted this one in after the aftermarket Support wouldn't line up. It's a Nissan part from Nissan. Surprisingly it was only approximately $250 shipped. That's an approximate figure so don't quote me on that.

 

Thanks.

I’m having a hard time getting my bearings with your photos.

Mine is rotted bad directly in the middle right under the radiator.

My bet is the 2 large bolts in the middle would just twist the metal to bits.



Is there any differences between an AT and MT?