structural woes

[93SOHC]

As you may or may not no my mx is in need of a core support replacement. I figured it wouldn't be that hard but now im getting nervous. I was going to just simply hack one out at the bone-yard, drill out the rivets, drill out my rivets and weld it back together. No biggie, right? Its like 2 degrees out at the moment so I have plenty of time till I do the work. In the meantime I decided to call a reputable body shop that we have been doing business with for 25 years to ask if they can locate me a new or reproduction core support, just for grins. Not only did he not find anything but he told me a few things that made me cringe.

"trying to hack out a junkyard core support and weld it in is not only difficult but dangerous. Removing and re-welding a structural part weakens its integrity and is nearly guaranteed to fail catastrophically in another collision."

He strongly advised me to purchase one from the dealer and have a certified tech install it.

So now here I am with an 84,0000 mile SE in great shape. What the heck do I do here? Should I look for a shell and swap all the SE stuff into it and part the rest? Or do I hack it back together the way I had planned and end up dead? This same thing happened with my protege LX I finally got the BP running primo and had tons of parts for it and I jack the car up to do ball joints and find out that the frame rails are rusted through...Junked

Any input would help

[Ryan]

Well, the safe thing to do would be go buy a full size SUV with a 5 star crash test rating in every catergory possible.

What you should do is just weld it untill you're satisfied with the safety. Also, try to avoid crashing it into a pole at 100mph. Techs *usually* are more halfass than someone who really cares.

Research some more and see how you feel about it. Lots of guys here run without actual bumpers in order to fit an I/C. Thats not safe either.

[wytbishop]

It can be made safe if done correctly. Getting it done correctly is the thing. In my case, I decided fromt he beginning that I would rather keep my SE on the road for another 15 years than buy a new car so to me there's only one answer. Take it to the best body shop I can find and have it done correctly. It'll probably cost a few thousand $$$, but a new car would cost 30 thousand.

If you actually know what you're doing removing the spot welds and preserving the part on a good condition wreck is not impossible. But in the end a reputable shop will not want to do the repair with a used part. in fact any shop that would do the repair that way would not be allowed to touch my car...so it's a bit of a catch 22.

If you can afford it, and the car is in as nice condition as you say, I'd fix it.

[fowljesse]

Also, if you, or someone welds it in, you can weld it well; not just tack weld it, so it could be much stronger than original. However, it wouldn't crumple, like it is designed to.

[93SOHC]

If I could afford it, i'd have a body shop do the work. I think I will continue with my plans to do it myself. I have been welding for about 9 or 10 years so I think I can do it. I really appreciate the advice from everyone. Keep your eyes peeled in my work log for progress pics.