Anyone have a good source for new strut towers?


Mine are rotted out bad and finding replacements at the salvage yard isn't going so well here in the rust belt.


Here is the drivers side, click only if you have a strong stomach.. lol

http://www.3500z.com/Misc/Camaro/100...8Custom%29.JPG

 

Find a new chassis or grind out the bad areas and weld in plate steel

 

Jesus man, thats thick steel too! I've never seen one anywhere near that bad and I have seen a lot of third gens! LOL, best of luck on the fix though. I'd say welding is your freind on this one.

I would make a template of the top flat area of the strut tower out of cardboard or something, cut it out of plate steel, and then zap a bead around it on top of your existing strut tower to re-create the tower. Prob better looking than "patches."

 

lol, that was after i smacked them with a hammer a little bit and watched all the rust chunks fall out the bottom.


I may have found a set locally, a yard has an IROC that's pretty rust free. If that doesn't pan out i'll just weld in some plate steel. I'd rather use factory metal so that the alignment guys won't cry about the slots not being perfect.


This is the only thing stopping me from putting the front end back together with all new parts.

 

If you weld in a new flat from underneath, you can completely hide the rust holes (after cleaning them thoroughly, of course) by putting the new plate underneath & the strut mount on top.

 

ooh, good idea. Thanks!

 

Purple82TA, which yard has an IROC? I am an East Moline and am always curious about a third gen in a junk yard.

 

Hickory Grove, they have a few Fbodies. the IROC has a disc brake posi rear but it's pretty rusty, i thought about grabbing it anyways.


Watch out for the red T/A, i almost fell through the floorboards

 

Thanks for the heads up!

 

How is the rest of the car if the strut towers are that rotted out? I dont mean this to come out wrong but you might be ahead of the game just finding a body that has no rust and transfering your stuff over to it. Im assuming however there is more rust on it than just the strut towers. I live in ct where rust is a problem as well and i found a low mileage iroc with no rust for a good price. It needed a paint job and some engine work but i bought it for the rust free chassis.

 

It's not too bad, there is surface rust on the floor pans but they are solid. The spare tire well has a hole through it and one of the rockers has some cancer. I can fix those pretty easy and the whole underside and engine bay is getting POR15'd.


I honestly thought about finding another shell, and i still might sometime but i got a really good deal on this one and I think it's still salvageable.


I talked to thirdgen ranch and they think they can help me out with the towers