bumperquip

If any of you guys have issues (meaning problems) related to the removal of your radiator core support mounts, here's what I ran into and the persuasions I had to employ.

Here's one of the little beauties right here:



First, I cut the bolt off flush with the top surface of the upper cushion's upper plate. You can see the upper plate on top of the rubber cushion in the photo above. You actually might not need to cut the bolt but for some reason I did.

Next, I sectioned the upper cushion plate. I cut it into four sections using an air powered cut-off tool. The red arrows point to my cuts.



Next, along the rim of the depression/divot that's in the center of the upper cushion plate I made four cuts/notches. I didn't cut all the way through. I cut just enough to weaken the metal and give it a place to fold. In the photo below, the yellow dotted lines between the arrows show my notches creating the shape of a square around the divot.



Next, I took a hammer and bashed upward on the outer lips of the upper cushion plate sections to get the sectioned pieces to bend. Then I bashed them down. Then up, then down, and so on until each section broke off.

After I got all the sections broken away, I took a small pry bar or a large flat-head screw driver and pried up the rubber cushion from the upper cushion's bottom plate. While holding the rubber cushion away from the plate I took a utility knife and cut the cushion way from the bottom plate.

Next, I used a vice-grip, squeezing around the perimeter of the square depression/divot to round all the corners. In the photo below, see how the center of the mount is all messed up and rounded?



After I got all of this done and with the assistance of a pry bar working it and lossening it, I hammered the crap out of what reamained of the bolt until the whole center just started to move down through the mounting hole in the frame mount.

Once I got it to start to displace, I took a heavy chisel, seated the chisel on the stump that was the bolt and hammered it down through the mount hole.

It took me ~ 2 or 2.5 hours to get both mounts removed, but I was learning as I went.

If you plan on doing it this-a-way from the get go and if you've got a compressor properly rated to run a cut-off tool, I'd say it'd likely take about an hour for both.

One trick is to realize that all of this work is easiest working from the front. While engaged in all of this you can put a rachet and socket on the head of the mounting bolt (on the under side of the frame mount) and spin the mount so your working surface is always toward the front.

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Flats Man

Hey bumperquip,
This is what I did for my radiator core support change. I just said to heck with it and left the old bolts in and treated them with rust encapsulator and then painted them flat black. I figured the bolts were frozen where they needed to be and left it at that. I have pictures of the firewall and left and right inner fender wells. They are finished and I will be dropping the motor in pretty soon.



Here is a picture of the passenger inner well that I finished today!



I am ready to drop the motor on its mounts and then the core support, which is being painted, will go back in!

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94 Gen1 Stroked to 408, Race balanced to zero, TFS high port Stage 3 heads, Edelbrock EFI Spider intake, 60 # injectors, cam motion custom turbo cam, PT 76 GTSH turbo, big intercooler, oil cooler, built transmission, Art Carr Torque convertor.
98 F150 With Even More Stuff
2002 Supercrew With Lots of Stuff
NLOC #1636

bumperquip

Fred,

Thanks for the tip on the cut and hack alternative. What you've done looks great.

The truck overall looks pretty friggin fantastic too.

What did you use on the frame rails?

Flats Man

I got a bottle of rust inhibitor from Home Depot and after wire brushing every thing, i painted this stuff on and it turned every thing black. I let it dry and then painted flat black over it and the entire frame. I am now working my way back into the transmission tunnel and then I will drop the motor on its mounts. I am painting the tranny gloss black. Here is a picture of the tranny and motor that are ready to go in.

Flats Man

This is a better picture of the core support bolt! I have since painted the inside of the frame horns.