I found some rust holes in my radiator suport. Is the radiator support welded on, or even easy to take off. If so I will take it off and fix the holes and seal it up to prevent more rust. A new one is to costly with a man like myself on a budget. Please give me a heads up before I hit it up. I want to fix it before i put my body lift on.

Motorhead26

 

..Thread Moved...
Your question should get some better attention out here!

 

Out where? I think you just did me a favor....if so, THANKS!!!

 

What Year are we talking?

It should be bolted on. I have mine off of my 89 F 250.

Theres a lot to remove to take it out. Thats what hold the fenders and the inner fenders up in the front.

If its really bad mybe look for some southern parts? Some boneyards can order ya parts for cal. and Arizona. Might be a lot easyer and a little less costly then new?

 

I have got two good 87-91 spares and, to answer your question, they are bolted on and are fairly easy to remove, just takes a while.

 

So I just took my trucks front end apart except for the bumper. I didn't want to go overboard if I didn't have to. I still might have too! Anyway,this is what my radiator support looks like along with my radiator bushings. I have new polyeurothane ones I am putting on, but I have to get this fixed first and find out how bad it might be. Pics below.

View from the front:
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s156/Motorhead26/IMGP0522.jpg
Inside the support wall looking down on the bushing bolt:
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s...6/IMGP0521.jpg
Inside looking out:
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s156/Motorhead26/IMGP0520.jpg
Where did my lights go?
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s156/Motorhead26/IMGP0523.jpg

Let me know what you think guys. Should I try welding, and if so with what, a MIG, TIG? I know stick wont work. A friend said body filler....I don't know though!

Motorhead26

 

I vote for replacing it... you have some pretty heavy rust in the mount area. You will need to remove the front bumper to get it out, and best way is to remove the 4 bolts that attach the brackets to the frame, not the bolts that attach the brackets to the chrome bumper itself.

 

I had one heck of a time getting the core support off my truck. I had to burn the core mount bolts because they were so rusty and then put upward pressure on the core suport with a floor jack before it broke loose. The heat ruined the rubber bushings and I had to get all new mounting hardware. Those rubber bushings are expensive.

If you weld it up, it will just rust out again. Why go through all that work a second time? I also vote for replacement.

 

i did my diesel 5 years ago, and i got an aftermarket core support from the body shop supply company for almost 1/2 the price of a ford unit.

 

hanks for the help guys, I think before I go trying to mend what damage has already been done I will check my local junk yard and see what they got. A new core support might be the way to go. $140 later instead of $140 + just to fix what went wrong. I'll keep you all posted on the progress, and keep the pictures flowing. It's always nice to see what someone else is talking about, by pictures, instead of just a description. I always like to inculde pictures. Thanks again TJC! Nice to hear from you again man!

Motorhead26

 

Hey does anyone know about that RUST BULLET stuff? If so tell me what you think andif it even works. If so, it may be worth the money to replace what was rusted on the core and put some Rust Bullet on it. Sounds lajit, but who knows!

Motorhead26

 

I used POR-15 (a competitior to Rust Bullet) on the frame to my truck. It really looks nice but is still too early to tell about in the long run. You're probably going to spend $100 on the paint and prep (por-15 $40/qt, marine clean $20/qt, metal prep $20/qt, and chassis black $40/qt). A quart gos a long way so if all you are doing is the core support, you should get a smaller quantity. The por-15 is uv sensitive so if it goes on anywhere sunlight will hit it, you need to cover it with another paint. Also, if you get the por-15 or rust bullet on your skin and it dries, it doesn't come off until the skin does. I had a dot in the middle of my forehead.

You're dealing with sheet metal that has already been compromised by rust. You would need to get the rust bullet on both sides of the metal to insure that rust would not reoccur. If you do one side, it could still rust through from the other. Ideally you would get a rust-free part and then use the rust bullet on it.

 

Another vote here for POR-15.
That stuff is amazing!!!
I patched a corroded radiator with it once.....it got me by for a long time..
BTW, Sorry GUSTANG...I almost spit my coffee all over the Monitor when you said you had a dot on your forehead.
I painted the Spring mounts on my old Dodge truck with it LAST FRIDAY...
I still have the remnants of the dots on my palms where I bumped them hanging them up to dry.
The stuff dries quicker on a humid day than on a dry day....

KO

 

Here's a pic of my frame after the POR-15 treatment:

 

WOW! Is that the POR-15 treatment after painting it, or just the POR-15? Where can I get it, and how much preping and painting and all that do I have to do before I see any results. Unfortunately I know that it may take some work or time to get it the right way, but if I can get away from sanding my entire frame that would be great. Besides I may have to be moving soon and I don't really have the time on my hands to do any huge jobs. I will paint and prevent every part that is rusted before i get the truck back together. It would be stupid to take it apart and do what I need to, to the support but not fix everything else and do it all over again at a later date.
I almost had a free late 80's model truck that had all the parts to it, but I'm sure that it is gone now. I am going on vacation so one thing, its just a shame it was the right thing at the wrong time. Hopeing to check the junk yards and go from there. If I don't find anything I might buy a new one, or because of time being so precious, I may do my best to fix what I already have and prevent any more rust.
I just dropped my heads off to get done with my block today. hope everything works out. 've also got a guy who is going to see if he can price out a kit for my 302 as well. Please anyone....LET ME KNOW, if you have any radiator supports/parts for my 89' F-150. Sooner or later I will have a new engine in it and it will be hard to drive if the front is in pieces. Thanks to all of you.

PS...Gustang818 that is exactly what I want my frame to look like. Very clean, looks new and very clean for future assembly.

Motorhead26