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For anybody getting ready to do this and reading this in the future, I found a diagram on LMC's website. If you are like me and your mount and bushing setup was too rotted to be able to tell how it was supposed to look like, the following diagram might help.
Great news!
What is really critical regarding the shims use under the radiator mount is getting the top of the mount level at a height that ties the two fenders into the radiator frame without raising or lowering the fenders. Keep in mind during reassembly that the radiator support drives the spacing gap between the hood and the fenders, and the visual symmetry of the whole frontend.
You say "I've conquered the rust". Well that's great, just keep your eyes closed!. Man contouring rust is an elusive goal.
You say "I've conquered the rust". Well that's great, just keep your eyes closed!. Man contouring rust is an elusive goal.
Well, I meant that statement to apply locally to this project and this moment in time. I am not deluded enough to believe that I gave conquered it completely or indefinitely. I mostly meant that I’m beyond the point of cutting off and grinding off old rusty fasteners and treating rusty surfaces and I’m on to reinstalling parts with fresh hardware.
I chose here to get in a little past the core support to replace or refurbish rusty parts to which I then had excellent access (battery trays and brackets and such). I could have gotten this done more quickly by ignoring rust, but that would have been a poor decision for the long run.
Pitting on my battery trays was pretty bad, and I replaced them both. I suppose that could be from acid leaking out of batteries over time. I’ve seen mats that go under the batteries to prevent corrosion. Is that my best bet, or just trust my paint and coat the heck out of it with Fluid Film or Woolwax?
Another thing that I found is that the core support that I removed bears a “1992” stamp on it. Is that normal for a truck that is 1996 model year? I know when I worked in a factory that supplied safety glass to auto manufacturers, everything was just in time. Does this mean that a previous owner did this job once before already or that Ford had a stockpile of core supports in a warehouse when they were assembling these?
Well, I meant that statement to apply locally to this project and this moment in time. I am not deluded enough to believe that I gave conquered it completely or indefinitely. I mostly meant that I’m beyond the point of cutting off and grinding off old rusty fasteners and treating rusty surfaces and I’m on to reinstalling parts with fresh hardware.
I chose here to get in a little past the core support to replace or refurbish rusty parts to which I then had excellent access (battery trays and brackets and such). I could have gotten this done more quickly by ignoring rust, but that would have been a poor decision for the long run.
Pitting on my battery trays was pretty bad, and I replaced them both. I suppose that could be from acid leaking out of batteries over time. I’ve seen mats that go under the batteries to prevent corrosion. Is that my best bet, or just trust my paint and coat the heck out of it with Fluid Film or Woolwax?
Another thing that I found is that the core support that I removed bears a “1992” stamp on it. Is that normal for a truck that is 1996 model year? I know when I worked in a factory that supplied safety glass to auto manufacturers, everything was just in time. Does this mean that a previous owner did this job once before already or that Ford had a stockpile of core supports in a warehouse when they were assembling these?
the 1992 likely was an engineering thing. The stamping carried over for several years all the same.. no need changing a trivial thing like that.
I've been making slow but steady progress getting everything back together. I wonder if anybody knows what kind of fasteners were used to secure the plastic inner fender piece to the bottom of the radiator core support. I gather from looking at my new core support that it wants U-nuts in the core support and looks like some kind of body bolt with a big washer coming up from the inner fender piece, but does anybody know what size? Most of the what I have gotten into has been M6 and M8 so far. Thanks in advance for anybody willing to help, because that part of my core support was completely gone on both sides to the point where it wasn't really possible to tell exactly what that was there. I want to try to keep it as close to factory as is reasonable. On this one, though, if nobody knows, I'll just use whatever works because that piece certainly isn't rocket science or anything.
Here you go.
These go up from the bottom, through the plastic mud guard into Radiator Support flange to which the u-nut attaches. Make sure you buy the long u-nut, the short will not work.
The thread is 6mm with a 1.0 pitch
Do yourself a favor and spray point the u-nuts before installing them.
Also, once you have the bolts in place, look very carefully for gaps between the plastic guard and the fender. There are likely big enough gaps to let sand and salt to bypass the mud flap allowing sand and salt driven by water to accumulate on the Radiator Support flange. I attach on the support side of the plastic guard some self adhering bituthene like Ice and Water Shield or comparable material used on roofs, to block the gaps. This will extend the life of the support flange.
Have fun.
Alright, I finally got everything back together and I'm driving the truck again. Thanks again to everyone for help and advice. The procedure for painting the core support that Yeoman offered worked great!
@Buckhammer. Where did yiu get the ‘brackets that frame the headlight openings’?
Originally Posted by BuckHammer
Yes, those are the brackets I mean. I’ll measure the replacements and make sure they’re the same before I install them.
The water pump is still mint. I replaced it years, but not too many miles, ago.
EDIT: Actually, the L-Shaped brackets are not the brackets that I plan to replace, if you are talking about those that mount to the top of the core support in a way that is horizontal. The brackets that I meant are not exactly L-shaped, but are instead the ones that frame the headlight openings. Sorry for the confusion, I just needed to look at the truck again before I fully understood what you meant. Those L-shaped brackets that mount to the top of the core support look like they're fine on my truck and I do not plan to replace those.
Looking for these brackets and see you may have replaced them.
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Radiator Support Bolts to Front Mud Guard
