I just got an 83 Trans Am Daytona pace car that had some front end damage. today I took all the parts off the fornt to see the extent of the damage and then took pics so hopefully they turn out on this posting. the upper radiator core support needs to be replaced and I was wondering how something like that is removed b/c it is spot welded in place. the only thing I can think if is to drill out all the spot welds, is this how it would be removed in a body shop?? also how would they weld it back in place? I assume a spot welder is not something they would have for something like this like GM has.below you will see the new one that Classic industires has, and in the other pic you can see the damaged core support as well. obviously the frame is going to need some def attention to but one trhing at a time, and this thing looks like it might be easier to fix than the frame would be.

 

Spot welders are as common & easily obtainable as MIG welders, so any
competent body shop ought to have one -- also useful for quarter panel
replacement. Depending on your tool budget & justification, Eastwood has
some units available. Is the frame repair something your considering doing
yourself? If not, might be more cost efficient to farm out that work. Good Luck

 

Man u should do some reading before u jump in and try to fix that.. It is not that easy to get a spot welder.. The old style one are.. But the kind that u should use on cars is a presure spot welder.. U can weld the the new one in useing a mig welder. Drill 3/8 plug welds. But that support is not the bid prob.. That frame rail is bent bad.. U should take the car to a body shop and atleast let them pull it all back into spec before u cut anything off.. Most likey the front of that car is over. If u try to weld in new part nothing will fit right. O yeah yes you drill out the welds and use a air hammer or chisel and hammer.

 

I'm not doing any of this work, I am a bad welder (more splatter than bead) so I am going to leave that up to a shop to do that, if they screw up its on them and not me I just wasn't sure how they would do this work so I was just curious how most places do this.

 

eek. Well, this was $367 to pull out at the frame shop. I paid cash and had the tax removed. Took a while to find the right shop for a few reasons.

 

$367 that sounds reasonable!!!!!!! I seriously was thinking prob something like about $750.00+ to have my repair done and mine is pretty similar to yours.

 

My frame wasnt bent. I barely needed an alignment and could have been fine without one. Looking at your pic, your damage seems a lot worse. That bumper mount is pretty tweaked, and so the frame could be tweaked as well. Definitely take jays advice and have the bodyshop fix that first. $750...more that that for sure. I hate to say this about our cars, but If I was in your position, I would not fix the car, take my losses, and get another. I hate driving around with a pulled radiator core as it is. I can just see that thing crippling again twice as far and if a passenger is in the car....

Those cripple points are there for a reason, to transfer collision energy and signal "dont fix this...the car safety is compromised". Im not trying to bum your party, the car can be fixed, but Iwouldnt be able to commit to that.

 

i did this same thing to my car....its not that bad of a job but i regular spot weld bit will make your life so much easier...i had mine plug welded with a mig...however my frame rail was not nearly as bent as yours....like chevy benz said i dont know if i would mess with that either