Welding radiator support panel...

[ArJay]

Hey guys.

Just wondering if anyone could answer a couple questions for me. Picked up a AE92 SX Seca just recently that has had a bit of a front end bingle and will have to have the rad support panel replaced. Just went and got a nose cut from a wrecker....

My question is...is it something I could do myself or am I better off taking it to a panel beater? I'm a bit of a novice with a MIG but can do basic stuff...

Rory

[Alex]

There is a fair amount of drilling required to "unpick" all the welds to remove your rad support from the nose cut, welding will be the easy part, I suggest you give it a go it is an easy job, if you need step by step info let me know.

[ArJay]

Thanks MH. Good call....

So when the "new' one goes back in is it best to just spot weld it similar to the existing one? Is there anything to look out for?

Cheers for the help...
R

[Alex]

you will need to use a couple of srews or tack welds to sort out your final position of the rad panel, then trial fit guards, bonnet, headlights, grill and bumperbar, then when satisfied, take all your bolt-on panels etc off again, weld it up

As for getting your old rad support off the car, just use a grinder rather than a drill and grind through the spot welds on the rad support side, it wont matter if it's messy coz you'll be throwing the old rad support out anyway, it is much faster than drilling

Make sure you take your time with your new/frontcut rad support drilling then chiseling the spot welds undone it can be a pain in the arse but it's worth it

[ArJay]

Great info. Thanks MH...will really save me time and $.

When you're talking about drilling out the welds on the replacement panel, do you have to use any special tool or just get stuck into it with a metal bit. Obviously you have to make sure you don't penetrate the panel?

R

[Alex]

Start with 1/8 as a guide hole then follow through with a drill bit anything bigger or the same size as the spot welds, you can go all the way through both panels with unpicking the frontcut/new rad as the bigger hole will be filled with mig,

As for the old rad attached to your car, use a grinder i said previously, but if you need to drill some hard to get welds, only counter sink them with the big drill bit so you dont have to try and fill massive holes in both panels

Hoping this is all making sense

[ArJay]

Yep making total sense. Thanks heaps for the help mate...much appreciated.
Will attack it on the weekend. Will post up how I go.

Thanks again
Rory

[JP]

FWIW you can also buy spotweld drill bits at some good tool shops, last one I got was about $20, they just go through the top sheet of metal so you're not left with a whole hole in your car to fill with the MIG

[ArJay]

Ok cheers JP. Perhaps might look into that...

R

[EldarO]

Start with 1/8 as a guide hole then follow through with a drill bit anything bigger or the same size as the spot welds, you can go all the way through both panels with unpicking the frontcut/new rad as the bigger hole will be filled with mig,

As for the old rad attached to your car, use a grinder i said previously, but if you need to drill some hard to get welds, only counter sink them with the big drill bit so you dont have to try and fill massive holes in both panels

Hoping this is all making sense

also, use a metal punch to punch a dent in the centre of the spot weld, helps center your pilot hole.

Elmo.

[ArJay]

Thanks Elmo....more handy hints. See, this is the sort of stuff I had no idea about...

Cheers mate
R

[ArJay]

Update...
Did the front end of the AE92 over the weekend. Cheers for the pointers folks, especially MH. Really helped out in knowing how to go about it.

Like you said MH, was a fairly easyish job in the end. The main pain in the arse was unpicking the welds and aligning the panels...

Needs a bit of cosmetic shit done like painting the ricer bonnet (couldn't find a white one) but otherwise is done...

Rory

Before





During



After

[Alex]

Nice work, it was worth having a shot at it yourself was'nt it!

[ArJay]

Sure was mate! Cheers again for the encouragement....was well worth doing

[EldarO]

looks awesome mate!

top work!

Elmo.