Finally got to my lower core support . . .
Been putting off the lower core support as I didn't know which direction to go with it. The directions show that the holes in the new support are weldments for attaching to the old support - I kinda liked the look of the holes myself. Since I'd already bought the replacement from US Car Tools - I decided to take a stab at doing it "my" way and see how the thing turns out - worse case, I have to buy a replacement core support.
Since it was a nice day ( the sun was shining and it wasn't raining - it did get up to 50 ) I was able to open the shop door and work on the lower core support.
Here's what I've come up with so far: I set the support up and marked the holes on the old support:
The dimpled holes required a bit more room so the metal will lay flat together new-old. Here's the hole saw I needed for the lower holes:
( you can see in the pic how it'll clear the edges of the dimples )
Now the easy part - drill out the holes and check the fit ( and see how it'll look ). Not too bad ! ! !
From the back ( sorry it's blurry - should have backed off more ) - you can see I've got plenty of room to clear the dimples and weld too:
This one was going to be fun - the center hole has "no" metal to hold the centering bit in place ( here's a trick I've developed )
Drill a hole in a piece of plywood and clamp the plywood to the metal where it needs to go ( the plywood is now the "guide" ) - and drill:
And the hole is where you need it to be - works like a charm ! ! !
Here's the drilled out hole - you can see how the centering bit barely grazed the edge of the metal ( think that would have worked - NOT ! )
Check the support and see how it looks - now what to do with the other holes . . .
Decided to only drill out one more hole - so that it'll be part of what can show through. I'll explain why in the next pictures.
This part of the support I decided needed to come off - it's over the frame and I didn't want to make a bigger hole there, and it covers up a screw hole that holds a splash guard that attaches down here on the lower core support. So off it came - and it'll leave access to the bolt holes.
And the final fitting to see how it's going to look . . . I think this will work.
Now I'll just need to work on the alignment and make sure it gets welded in true and square - more welding practice ! ! !
This new support is about 1/8 thick ( much thicker than the original support ) and I left the original top, and bottom, which forms (2) angle braces (
looks more like a Z-beam than an I-beam )- with the angles, and the thicker metal, I think it should provide plenty of support and look pretty cool too boot ! ! !
)
