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Cutting out the radiator support


grannyknot

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I'm going to be dropping a different engine in the Z this winter and I know by the time I'm done it will be in and out a dozen times so I'm going to cut out the upper most Rad support to make it easier but I'll will have to come up with some way to make that support so it can be removed and replaced while still providing the strength that is required.

Any suggestions?

 

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Edited by grannyknot
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Hola,

 

I measured off centerline and cut out upper core support at ~45*, then drilled and bolted two plates together tight, trimmed the upper support until upper edge was flush as it would have been before, and welded it together.  It's plenty stiff!!

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1 hour ago, HuD 91gt said:

The easiest way would be to swap with a tubular support of some kind. Fabricating proper mounting supports on each side, with a bolt in tubular cross piece. I’m surprised your putting in a new motor. The car looked almost complete!

It was complete,  I just want more power:D

 

@tim.d, that is very similar to what I was thinking but I like your angled cut better.

Thanks

Edited by grannyknot
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I have a suggestion: DON'T make a super strong support that comes off of the strut towers. 

If you are reinforcing the chasis for stiffness, end all of that at the front swaybar mount. Everything forward of that doesn't need to be super strong, and if you make it strong and get into a minor accident, it will take out the strut towers and make repair more difficult. 

If you haven't reinforced the chassis then you need the stiffness up front as that helps to keep the upper and lower frame rails in alignment. Just don't overdo it and run back to the strut towers. Not necessary to attach to the strut towers to support the weight of the rad, intercooler, ac condensor, whatever else you decide to put up there.

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3 hours ago, JMortensen said:

I have a suggestion: DON'T make a super strong support that comes off of the strut towers. 

If you are reinforcing the chasis for stiffness, end all of that at the front swaybar mount. Everything forward of that doesn't need to be super strong, and if you make it strong and get into a minor accident, it will take out the strut towers and make repair more difficult. 

If you haven't reinforced the chassis then you need the stiffness up front as that helps to keep the upper and lower frame rails in alignment. Just don't overdo it and run back to the strut towers. Not necessary to attach to the strut towers to support the weight of the rad, intercooler, ac condensor, whatever else you decide to put up there.

That makes perfect sense now that I think about, there is very little weight up there so doesn't need a lot of support.  The rest of the chassis has been stiffened to handle the extra hp.

Thanks all, I'll post up some pics when I get it done but I think it will end up with something very similar to what @tim.d has done to his.

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I had the same analysis of this area as JonM.  I've done a lot of bracing in the front end; but nothing forward of the strut towers and sway bar mounts.  When I cut out the top portion of the radiator support, I replaced it with a bolt-in section of thick angle aluminum.  Figured I could replace the aluminum with steel if necessary; but haven't had any problems in two years...and it makes pulling the engine and trans SO much easier, as well as smaller jobs like water pump, harmonic balancer, etc.

Edited by jhm
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20 hours ago, rturbo 930 said:

I'm guessing S54.

And you would be right sir, just finished rebuilding an S54 and chomping at the bit to get into my Z, it is somewhat lighter, smaller and the oil pan has a rear sump, oh and it's a lot more powerful than the s38 that is in it now.

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1 hour ago, grannyknot said:

And you would be right sir, just finished rebuilding an S54 and chomping at the bit to get into my Z, it is somewhat lighter, smaller and the oil pan has a rear sump, oh and it's a lot more powerful than the s38 that is in it now.

Buildthread! Buildthread! Buildthread!

:rockon:

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I wound up replacing my frame rails with 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" tube steel to fix damage from a previous collision and while we were at it I picked up a bolt in core support one of our members had used previously with success.  The car is still sitting like this so no real world experience yet but it sure makes test fitting a breeze.  I will eventual fabricate some sheet metal panels on both sides of the radiator.

 

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17 hours ago, grannyknot said:

@Jeff, I like it,  it opens it up  so you can put the rad and cold air intake exactly where you want them and then, as you say, fill in the gaps with panels.  So I guess you have some kind of backing support piece for the arch to bolt into?

 

Yes, the mounting area has been reinforced some and a tab added that through bolts to the removable support.  I don't seem to have any good pictures of that area but the one below shows the bottom of the upper support.  My body guy changed it up so that it only has one bolt on each side now and that is going to be corrected before it's all said and done.  He was trying to conceal the fastener(s) but sacrificed stability to do it, which pissed me off to no end since it was set up with four bolts before he did his mod.

 

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6 hours ago, Jeff said:

My body guy changed it up so that it only has one bolt on each side now and that is going to be corrected before it's all said and done.  He was trying to conceal the fastener(s) but sacrificed stability to do it, which pissed me off to no end since it was set up with four bolts before he did his mod.

All they care about is the look not the engineering.

My body and paint guy is the reason I now do all my own body and paint,  when I took the car up to him I said "Nothing under the hood needs any filler, please spend that time on the panels."  When I pick up the car he's filled in all the spotweld dimples and seams in the engine bay, he thought it looked great.  I told him it looks like the car was in a major collision and I'm trying to hide the damage with filler. At some point it all has to come off.

 

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While I like the idea of reinforcing the front around the radiator panel area between the rails due to how much stiffer it could make the chassis I would be worried about problems that could arise from an unfortunate front end knock hence why I left mine stock and didn't stitch weld past the support.

 

What are others opinions on this?

 

 

 

 

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On 11/3/2019 at 12:49 AM, EF Ian said:

While I like the idea of reinforcing the front around the radiator panel area between the rails due to how much stiffer it could make the chassis I would be worried about problems that could arise from an unfortunate front end knock hence why I left mine stock and didn't stitch weld past the support.

 

What are others opinions on this?

 

 

 

 

 

Eh? The consensus here seems to be that reinforcing forward of the strut towers is counter productive. Which I agree with. As a general principle all suspension and other load bearing points benefit from reinforcement, extending as necessary to other common load points.

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  • 4 months later...
On 10/29/2019 at 6:16 PM, grannyknot said:

Thanks all, I'll post up some pics when I get it done but I think it will end up with something very similar to what @tim.d has done to his.

I got the cut out of the radiator support all finished so thought I would post some pics of the final product.

 

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