i’ve done a search and found exactly what i wanted “core support replacement how to” but the link inside does not work anymore :bang: and i was wondering if anyone had a link or pics and guidance on how to remove and replace the core support. a friend of mine took a look at it and suggested that i could put a 2X4 behind it and pull it with some tow straps to maybe stretch it back out, what do you think? this is my first venture into body work of any sort. thanks in advance for any help. ill post up a pic of the damage in a minute.
small crease behind headlight here:
And here:
and its pushed back/ rounded here, so my hood will only half latch, and the lights are sucked in and dont match with the hood/ bumper:
if the stretching idea would work, ill try it. but do you think that there is underlying damage that needs to be checked out too? thanks for any help.
When I bought my teg I had the same problem cause the previous owner hit an Odyssey, though your damage isn’t nearly as bad as what I had to deal with. If there’s nothing rubbing against your PS pulley/AC pulley, exhaust manifold contacting the radiator, hoses or lines being pinched, or other potentially damaging contact between parts, don’t bother trying to “pop” your support back out. Its far too much work and can potentially cause more damage than what you’re “fixing” if proper precautions aren’t made (I used a logging chain, a steel post in a parking lot, and dumping the clutch in reverse to get mine pulled out so my pullies would quit burning holes in my coolant res and the radiator would get off my exhaust 
). Your damage is pretty mild so your best bet is to just do a support replacement. I can’t say how long it’ll take ya, but its fairly easy as long as you have these tools (sorry if I forgot one or 2, its been 5 years since I did one)
-Welder (I used a wire-feed, but don’t ask what settings or gauge wire I used cause it was my first time welding anything when I put the new one on and I just went to town on the new spot weld spots, though I did have a professional supervising me while I did it to make sure the welds were deep enough)
-Spot Weld Drill Bit
-various sockets (10mm, 12mm should cover it) and a ratchet or 2
If you’ve got those tools, check your frame arms (if that’s what they’re called :worry:) that the support mounts to and make sure neither of them are crumpled before ya do anything. One runs underneath your battery and the other is below your coolant res, I’ve tried to highlight how they run in your pics below. If they’re crunched back, your new support won’t sit right which means you’ll either have to heat the [frame arm] metal and manually pull the crunched arm(s) back out, or weld some kind of spacer in the gap between the new support and the frame arm.
In short, check the arms, if they don’t look damaged post a response (and a couple more pics if you can get some) and I’ll go take my bumper and whatnot off and take pictures to help guide ya. Its rainin at the moment otherwise i’d just post some pics anyways. :bang:
i have no welder, my buddy has one that works poorly so we’re trying to get the thing working now. thanks for the info, but if i cant get a welder do you think a shop would charge me a ton to get this fixed?
blackack, that is the link i was saying i found. it doesnt work anymore. :read:
Wish that post was still working, it’d be helpful. The remaining pics’ yellow marks for the spot welds are right on but don’t make the same mistake that dude did and saw off the ends of the arms. Do it right and get a spot weld bit. Once ya get the spot welds drilled out, the support will still kinda be “stuck” on in spots but should just pop off.
As for what a bodyshop would charge to do this job… you’ll either be really happy if they just charge ya for the actual time it takes to take the old one off, weld the new one on, and let ya take it out the door so you can reassemble it yourself or you’re gonna shit yourself when they monkeypound you for a couple hundred dollars in labor and then give you a follow up quote to have it painted properly. You’ll want to at least primer the welds after the new ones on to try to avoid corrosion if yer not gonna do a full paint match to it.
Friendly Advice: this isn’t somethin where you want to take the old one off then roll it around a whole lot with no support on it. As flimsy as that support looks, it provides alot of rigidity and structure to the front end so wherever you take the old one off is gonna have to be where you do all the work and put the new one on or you run the risk of spreading the frame arms like a drunken cheerleaders legs and screwin more stuff up.
If you don’t have the proper (or properly working) tools available and don’t have the time to patiently do it right the first time, you’ll probably be better off having a professional shop do the core removal and replacement at minimum, and primer the welds yourself when you get it home. If you can afford it, have a shop do all the work. Our tegs are worth the investment (in most cases 
)
/end novel
as far as cost to replace goes, I had just the left and uppers support done at a cost of about $600. mind you I also striped, towed and put the car back togheter once the new support was on
Best bet is to just get it done @ a shop. Remember, the old saying, “Do it right the first time.”
There’s a reason it’s an old saying.
:getsome::manual:
Figure that out!
true that, but broke times call for cheap tricks… i kinda want to pull it, just a little to see what happens… its not THAT bent. the buddy of mine has a come-along and a soid anchor point. but really do you think im gonna do more damage or could i possibly get this to work?
the welder is garbage, and $600 is out of the question. i just feel like im running out of options now.
why dont you just do it and let us know how it turns out? if you have no money, then it’s either the ghetto way, or leave it alone.
Avoid pulling on your radiator if you can, even if it means detaching your radiator mounts so you can get a strap/board/chain between the radiator and support.
Be careful man and good luck.
Oh yeah, if you’re using a come-along, you’re probably just gonna pull the car along the ground lol. May wanna chain the rear tow loop thing to another anchor point to keep the car in place.