JamesRich Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 My pathy was wrecked before I bought it and fixed halfassed. When I put my bumper on I had to shim the passenger fender ALOT to make it line up. I'd like to replace my grill and head lights but don't want to make them fit. Rock auto sells a new radiator support or I could pull the one from my 94 parts truck. It doesn't look like its all bolt on though, has anyone done this before to shed some light for me? James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 Mine is rotted at the bottom and I had looked into replacing it. Apparently you have to drill out all the spot welds and then do the opposite to put the new one in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nefarious Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 yeah you have to remove the fenders first to gain access and you will see how the rad support is attached. it is held in by spot welds along the seams. I put a link up to a build thread when I did the rad support on a 1990 300ZX. Very similar but MUCH easier on a WD21 as it's not so structural and just a body not a unibody. There are not that many spots welds to drill out in the WD21 really. make sure you make reference marks and measurements, so when you put the new support on it will line up. Best way to do it is to only drill through the first half of the weld with a specific 'spot weld drill bit' so that only the layer of sheet metal you are trying to removing seperates, it's also a little easier when you are welding the new piece back on as you will have a backing to start your weld. I personally just drilled out the entire hole when i did mine as i just wanted it done and didnt want to track down a spot weld bit haha. it's just a bit more technique when you are filling the hole. Either use some copper backing or make really controlled balls of weld to fill the open gap. Also pick up some weld-thru zinc primer or some kind of weld-thru primer to coat all of the areas of metal on both sides of both surfaces you are welding. It will protect the welds as well as help stop rust from forming in between the layers of sheet metal. I would just use the one on the parts truck if its clean of rust! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmag23 Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 I replaced mine last year. I purchased the spot weld drill bit but found it was difficult to only cut through the rad support panel without sometimes going through the other panel as well. Ended up just drilling all the way through on all the spot welds. Instead of spot welding the new rad support back in place, I used galvenized nuts and bolts ( as many as there were spot welds before) since I don't have a spot welder and also didn't want to have to fight future rust from the weld burns. It's tight and stout. No problems since. You do need to get your alignment right before you bolt it up (or spot weld). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nefarious Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 p.s. i forgot to mention. if you do decide to weld it back in place, make sure you only do one spot weld at a time and then go to the other side of the rad support and do a spot weld there. alternate from side to side so it doesn't over heat the sheet and warp it! just a heads up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesRich Posted December 5, 2011 Author Share Posted December 5, 2011 (edited) Cool, doesn't sound too bad. I was thinking about bolting it back instead of welding so it could be repositioned if its not perfect. Is the front body mount connected to the radiator support? Does the wiring harness snake through it or is it just clipped to it? I believe the A/C will have to be disconnected too right? I haven't looked through it really good yet. I may have some troubles lining it all up because I know my frame is a little higher on one side because I had to shim my bumper. I know it won't be fun but It will be nice to have a straight panel to bolt everything up to. Thanks guys! James Edited December 5, 2011 by JamesRich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmag23 Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 As I recall I did not have to deal with the front body mounts when re-installing the new radiator support. My wiring harness ran along the top edge of the radiator support from passenger side to driver side. It had clips that held the wire harness to the radiator support. I just unfastened the clips and re-secured after the new support was in place. Wasn't a problem with the wiring. I have found that aftermarket parts are not very well protected from rust. I cleaned my new rad support and spray painted it front and back with truck bed liner. Costs a little more than spray can undercoating but it drys to a hard finish and seems to hold up a little better over time. I also sprayed the mating surfaces on the Pathfinder that the new support bolted to before I attached the rad support to the body . After I finished, I sprayed the exposed galvanized bolts on both sides of the rad support for a little extra protection. I replaced the rad support because of a minor front end impact. Glad I did now, since the original was rusted anyway. Because of the wreck though, the A/C condensor and radiator were part of the replaacement also. And to answer your question, yes, they had to be removed to do the radiator support replacement anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesRich Posted December 6, 2011 Author Share Posted December 6, 2011 The more you explain the easier it sounds! I figured the A/C had to be opened which isn't a big deal. My pathy came with R12 where as my parts truck came factory with 134 freon and it was still working when I parked it. I've converted mine to 134 and it works pretty good but I will probably put the condenser from my parts truck on it too, it should be a little bigger. Thanks for the info! James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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