Core Support advice

[TylerEss]

The core support in my Konvertible is trash, which explains the "intake manifold hitting the heater hoses under torque" problem.

Looking at it from side-to-side, it bows up about 3/4" in the middle and shows signs of heavy, poorly-repaired crash damage.

What's the easiest way to weld in a new core support and make sure it's lined-up correctly?

This is a 1985 Dodge 600 Convertible. What donor cars can I get a new core support out of?

Who's done this before? Any wisdom, Russ?

[GLHSKEN]

PM Top Fuel Bender... I bet he has a core support for that car...

[MiniMopar]

Been there, done that...LOL. A buddy in the local SDAC chapter had the nose from an LeBaron sitting in his garage. I traded it for some work. I bought one of these and drilled out all the welds to separate the two halves:

http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?i...emType=PRODUCT

It worked awesome. Then I went a little nuts on it and welded some 1" angle iron into the new support to beef it up. This pic doesn't quite show it and it is hard to see because it's all painted black with POR-15:



...but I welded two pieces along the top of the support on the motor mount side. They go from the mount box and stick out the ends. You can just see them behind the front beam that new support had. BTW, my 86 did not have this front beam at all, which may have contributed. This stiffens up the top of the mount. To stuffen up the bottom, I cut a 1" angle iron to go along the bottom of the mount on the outside, where the sheet metal "flaps" were sopt-welded together.

From what I observed with the old mount, I wanted to make sure I added support along the top and the bottom. Otherwise, the whole mount would literally pivot around the stiffer corner, tearing up the sheetmetal on the softer side. These two beams bolt to a large bracket that I welded to the frame rail. You can see them here (scroll down to 01/20/06):

http://www.knizefamily.net/russ/auto...a/history.html

[TylerEss]

It's been a long time since I read the page about your Z, Russ. Reading it again, particularly the dates, makes me not feel so bad about the progress I'm making with the Konvertible. Your Daytona is great; I hope I can get the 600 into that kind of shape. :-)

If I wanted to be lazy and just weld another one in, how could I be assured that I had it aligned correctly?

Unless I start losing axles or something, is there any reason not to armor the heater hose with PVC and let the fix wait until summer comes again?

[MiniMopar]

It's been a long time since I read the page about your Z, Russ. Reading it again, particularly the dates, makes me not feel so bad about the progress I'm making with the Konvertible.

WHAT ARE YOU IMPLYING!

Your Daytona is great; I hope I can get the 600 into that kind of shape. :-)

If I wanted to be lazy and just weld another one in, how could I be assured that I had it aligned correctly?

It pretty much aligns itself. Just grind/drill out the four spot welds on each end and use those as a reference. If the front half of you support is OK, then you'll have to split the old one off. Otherwise, just sawzall just above the top of the rear half of the core support and it will fall right out. The new one pops right in. The only alignment, per se, is to make it flush up against or even with the front half of the support (depending much much you cut out).

Unless I start losing axles or something, is there any reason not to armor the heater hose with PVC and let the fix wait until summer comes again?

You could try that, but it will keep getting worse. Mine got to the point that it was completely disconnected from the passenger side and was just barely hanging on the other side. The radiator was the only thing keeping the motor mount down. The rad didn't like that and the end tank broke.

[TylerEss]

It pretty much aligns itself. Just grind/drill out the four spot welds on each end and use those as a reference.

Awesome. This just sounds better and better.

You could try that, but it will keep getting worse. Mine got to the point that it was completely disconnected from the passenger side and was just barely hanging on the other side.

Mine's actually in fine shape structurally, it's just bowed upward about an inch in the middle! I have to jack the motor up to get it even close to connecting.

Since I'm busy with work and class, I'll just protect the hose to get through the winter. That'll give me time to track down a new one, too. When summer comes 'round again, I'll have time to cut the old one out and maybe'll I'll mount a big trans cooler while I'm at it...

Thanks so much for your advice.

[shelbyES]

I have to fix mine too! when I bought my 89 ES. I drove my truck over to my friends house to tow it home when one of the two hooked the chain to the core support.
Mike yelled ok go! So I started of slow to bring in the slack started to move and then stop, stop , Stop! You know the rest.

I'm not a welder nor have any experience welding so I'm at the mercy of my friend. Bummer! Niether one will admit to hooking up the chain either, Bastards!!!
Curt