[rolling money pits]

Hoping I get a little more viewership here than in the bodyshop section...

Got me one of the repop coresupports for my 69, the PY version, and it's a little snafu'd in the stamping.

the top plate, where the lip is for the fan shroud mounting is formed, is at the wrong angle.

my original support's angle is say 100*, just past 90*, the repop's is about 135*. thats a guess, as i havent measured it, but it gives an idea of what i'm dealing with.

I thought it was just the lip where the U nuts slide on and tried to bend that. when that wasnt working i eyeballed the two and saw where the root problem was.

i dont know how to get than bend corrected, as the sheet metal has those three reinforcing "creases" at said bend.

the way it is right now it cannot work, since that first bend is interfering with the top of the radiator, and it cannot fully seat into the core support, nevermind the fact the shroud would crack if i attempted to bolt it in.

any body know how to go about this job with some hammers and dollies? if not, any recs on a body shop in northern virginia that could perform this for me?

TIA

[rolling money pits]

LOL

this just gets better and better....

altho i see 60+ views with no response, of any kind, to my original question

did a little more "playing" last night with the support, and found more things amiss with it.

the square hole on the driver side, where the harness runs through and is supported by that plastic rectangle grommet thing------ too small, needs to be opened up a little bit wider - about 1/8" W and maybe a 1/4" H.

holes drilled for the harness grounds, at each end-----too big. factory was maybe a #6 sheet metal screw, repop support's holes will need maybe a #8 or #10 one.

Hole for the passenger side cornering light light feed------too small, the connector wont fit through it.

the supports/stops for the radiator insulators, on the bottom-------nuts are welded in the wrong spots, IIRC, the one on the driver side is in the right spot, the passenger side is too close to it, needs to be over towards the fender another 3/8" or so.

This may not be a support problem, but based on what i've run into so far, i'm leaning that way. My new forward lamp harness has those push-pin jobs wrapped up in the harness where it runs across the outside top edge, and they're in totally different spots than the holes in the support.

* sigh *

nothing a unibit, a drill bit, and my dremel cannot fix tho....

I know this is part of the drill, re-pop stuff and having to "massage" things at times to make them fit "properly", but good grief, how can this support have so many little things wrong?

[steve v]

Originally Posted by rolling money pits

LOL

this just gets better and better....

altho i see 60+ views with no response, of any kind, to my original question

did a little more "playing" last night with the support, and found more things amiss with it.

the square hole on the driver side, where the harness runs through and is supported by that plastic rectangle grommet thing------ too small, needs to be opened up a little bit wider - about 1/8" W and maybe a 1/4" H.

holes drilled for the harness grounds, at each end-----too big. factory was maybe a #6 sheet metal screw, repop support's holes will need maybe a #8 or #10 one.

Hole for the passenger side cornering light light feed------too small, the connector wont fit through it.

the supports/stops for the radiator insulators, on the bottom-------nuts are welded in the wrong spots, IIRC, the one on the driver side is in the right spot, the passenger side is too close to it, needs to be over towards the fender another 3/8" or so.

This may not be a support problem, but based on what i've run into so far, i'm leaning that way. My new forward lamp harness has those push-pin jobs wrapped up in the harness where it runs across the outside top edge, and they're in totally different spots than the holes in the support.

* sigh *

nothing a unibit, a drill bit, and my dremel cannot fix tho....

I know this is part of the drill, re-pop stuff and having to "massage" things at times to make them fit "properly", but good grief, how can this support have so many little things wrong?

Have you contacted the vendor yet? I'm sure they'd like to hear of any problems w/a product they sell. Maybe it's a problem they had in manufacturing & corrected but some of them were shipped anyway?

[rolling money pits]

Originally Posted by steve v

Have you contacted the vendor yet? I'm sure they'd like to hear of any problems w/a product they sell. Maybe it's a problem they had in manufacturing & corrected but some of them were shipped anyway?

nah, i just chalked it up to "it is what it is" when it comes to some of the repop stuff.

but i guess i can, cant hurt, and as you say - maybe they had a bad batch from the supplier?

of all the little things i've found ( so far ) wrong with it, none are really problematic, theyre just nuisances.

it's the deal with the bends for the mounting the top of the fan shroud that's really getting in my craw.

[Greg Reid]

Originally Posted by rolling money pits

Hoping I get a little more viewership here than in the bodyshop section...

Got me one of the repop coresupports for my 69, the PY version, and it's a little snafu'd in the stamping.

the top plate, where the lip is for the fan shroud mounting is formed, is at the wrong angle.

my original support's angle is say 100*, just past 90*, the repop's is about 135*. thats a guess, as i havent measured it, but it gives an idea of what i'm dealing with.

I thought it was just the lip where the U nuts slide on and tried to bend that. when that wasnt working i eyeballed the two and saw where the root problem was.

i dont know how to get than bend corrected, as the sheet metal has those three reinforcing "creases" at said bend.

the way it is right now it cannot work, since that first bend is interfering with the top of the radiator, and it cannot fully seat into the core support, nevermind the fact the shroud would crack if i attempted to bolt it in.

any body know how to go about this job with some hammers and dollies? if not, any recs on a body shop in northern virginia that could perform this for me?

TIA

Pictures might help with this one. Can't visualize what you're talking about.

[PaulatFast]

We have used dozens of these supports... nice piece. Yes they need a few minor tweaks every now and then, just like any factory part. simply clamp a straight edge to the radiator shroud mounting edge and bend it. no big deal.

[1969ta]

I tried one of the repo supports also, the top was warped up a 1/2 inch, the radiator would not fit you had to tilt the radiator back to fit, the upper fan shroud mount was wrong, I was lucky enough that the seller did take it back.

[PaulatFast]

...metal bends folks...

[GTO JOHN]

Paul is right, the quickest and easiest way to fix the problem is force the metal into a useable configuration. Metal does bend with the proper encouragement.

I used a repop support on one of my 69 Judges and from what I recall the entire top plate was installed at the wrong angle on mine. I'm not sure if you have the same problem or not maybe just the lip is wrong. We had to reposition the top plate and reweld it in order to have the core support look like an oem piece when we were done. I didn't want to open the hood and see a hammered out piece of metal on a completed show car.

Paul; out of the dozens you have installed, how many went straight on the car without any tweaks? Mine needed about 3 hours of work before it was correct.

[gregsgtos2]

If you really want to see some headaches-try using this on a 70. They say it will fit a 70 also-forget that. 3/8 inch too short and wrong angle at the top where the fenders meet.

[JOE DEYTON]

I have a 68 factory core support on a 70, so they are very similar. The repros "should" be the same way. The main difference on 68 on up seems to be the top plate from what i've seen.

[GT182]

RMP, try to find someone with a sheet metal bending brake that could bend it to where you want it all in one shot. That sure would be better than pounding on it with a hammer and dolly.

[rolling money pits]

Originally Posted by GT182

RMP, try to find someone with a sheet metal bending brake that could bend it to where you want it all in one shot. That sure would be better than pounding on it with a hammer and dolly.

i've let this one rest for a bit, did some monkeying around with it, but as far as the top lip goes thats on hold.

the front end is basically stripped, just the fenders are on it. when it gets a little warmer i'll pop them off then mock the front end back up with the new core support and see where things are. after some of the responses here, I'm more concerned about it being too short or the wrong angle for the fenders....

as far as bending the top lip where the fan shroud bolts ( the 4 bolts that go into cage nuts on the lip of the support ), i'm really limited to bending just the top flange, where the cage nuts slide on. the bend where it comes off the top of the core support has 4 or so "stiffening" creases stamped in it.

imagine, from a profile view, an L

then envision that being a right triangle, only the C-squared line is halfway on each A and B squared lines.

[PaulatFast]

Originally Posted by GTO JOHN

Paul; out of the dozens you have installed, how many went straight on the car without any tweaks? Mine needed about 3 hours of work before it was correct.

Maybe 1 out of 4 will work with less than an hour of re-work. Probably never spent more than 3 hours getting one to work. Never had one bolt in and fit perfectly that I can remember. BUT I'VE NEVER HAD ONE THAT WOULDN'T WORK! I've used them on 68,69 and 70 models. Probably at least a half dozen of each. More 69's than any other. Are they perfect? No. But they are about the same quality of the repop hoods... and far better than the repop doors, fenders and quarters!

For those that may be a little queezy about bending the top shroud mounting lip, find an experienced body guy... it's a 5 minute fix...

If the angle at the fenders is off, we have bolted the top edge to the workbench and tweaked the intire support until the angle is closer. On one we busted a few spot welds to reposition the top. On a driver, you could simply shim one of the bolts to take up the uneven gap.

I do find it interesting that one of the issues we see on almost every support has not been addressed... The opening for the frame horn is not centered and they need clearanced to make sure they don't contact the frame.

As I stated earlier... metal bends...

[PaulatFast]

I need to add... it's not often a used support will fit perfectly without being tweaked a little bit as well...

[jarretts70]

Money pits - Try a search in the 70-72 section. I know there were a couple good threads with pictures there that might help. I know to make the repro work on my '70, I had to drill out some spot welds and reposition the top plate to make it match the angle of the fenders. I spent hours trying to get the fenders to bolt on properly thinking I had a problem elsewhere. Spent about 1/2 an hour to drill out spot welds, bolted the fenders to the support while the top plate was loose to get the angle right & rewelded. Totally easy.

Paul - I'm really glad you brought this up, as I fought with this issue as well. I spent more hours wrestling with the core support hitting the frame, wondering if my frame was bent (it measures fine). 5 minutes with some snips and I was in business...

[steve v]

These all seem like fairly easy issues to correct at manufacturing.... do this issues get reported back to them or do they just not care to make them right?

If enough customers sent them back I'm sure the vendors would want to see the supplier fix them before they loaded them on a container.

[gregsgtos2]

Thats just what I want on my restored car-a PILE of washers to make the fenders fit. Vendors know all about it,but people just keep buying them.

[PaulatFast]

Originally Posted by gregsgtos2

Thats just what I want on my restored car-a PILE of washers to make the fenders fit. Vendors know all about it,but people just keep buying them.

The pile of washers wouldn't be acceptable on a restored car but will work alright on a driver, if the whole support is low on one or both sides we have shaved the core support bushings to gain height and keep the stack down.

I totally agree that as long as folks keep buying them, the manufacturer will not spend the money to resolve the issues. Unfortunately, we need the dam things... so we have to make do with what we have...

[1969ta]

not only was my support not built at the right angle, the top outer ends were a 1/2 inch higher. it would have been really hard to bent the whole top to make it flat and i sure was not going to cut up my new nos fenders to try and make them work, I did send about 12 pictures to goodmark but they said that is just the way they are.