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Can anyone share their experience with replacing the factory radiator support?
The car already has an APEXi FMIC where the radiator support was removed to fit the core and end tank piping.
It looks like the factory spot welds were drilled out to remove the support, and reinstalling will probably require a qualified bodyshop. Any bodyshop recommendations for Northern California?
We want to revert to a SMIC like ASP/M2 and have the factory radiator support reinstalled, prior to going with a complete 99 front conversion with the bumper reinforcement bar.
Here is a photo of the radiator support (where the hood latch mounts to, and the factory horns, etc):
my advise would be to buy a new one if its still available and then put the car on the frame rack before you put the new piece on. people don't remove this piece unless they are hacks, or its bent.
once the car is straight actually installing the thing is really easy.
The ETS or APEXi FMIC requires the cross member on the support to be removed for IC core clearance purposes, and have a provision to mount the bottom of the hood latch assembly directly on top of the IC core. Seems to be the price to pay to have a thick IC core.
While the APEXi looks great and probably performs well, I'm more interested in a stealth IC setup like ASP/M2 medium, along with the full factory '99 front end conversion.
Any leads on FD3S body repair guides from the factory? I'd like to provide the bodyshop or fabrication shop with as much information as possible to ensure the radiator support replacement is done to spec.
