Update, got the new radiator support attached and put in place! This means the truck is virtually rust free now barring a fender, however; thats not extensive and Im not going to chase it. Lotta labor went into this! Rivets seem to work really well here holding it in.

 

What was the problem removing it?

 

A couple of things. First, I just took a sawzall and cut the support into three pieces, I figured since i was going to throw it out; it didn't matter. So I cut it into three pieces, center and the two wings. Center came out easily ,wings gave me a little grief. Because a lot of the welds I drilled out weren't completely drilled out. It does not take a whole lot of weld remaining to hold the thing in place! I took a chisel and ran it through the remaining welds to break them through. As well, the upper corners of the support have that little overlap which proved to be a problem. I tried to bend the fenders a bit; however, that was not super successful, what was successful was taking an angle grinder and cutting it so it could fold away (shown in the screenshot, courtesy of Wes_V10 from FTE forum) and that made things a lot easier. Those things together made it pretty ok to get out!

 

OK, Thanks
A thread I read somewhere didnt mention any weld removal, just all bolts, and he had to loosen the fender front corners.
I guess you had the fenders off for another reason?

 

Where did you source your sore support? Was the fit pretty decent?

 

I bought the core support listed here - https://www.carparts.com/details/For...t-4L/9840.html
Overall fit was quite good not much issue getting everything where it needs to go and every hole/alignment point was present and where it needed to be. The only knocks I have are minor, the paint they used isn't very durable it falls off if you look at it too hard, especially when you're moving around other bits of sheet metal and trying to fit it in, it'll scratch up so be sure to have touch up paint ready. They also didn't thread certain holes very well (grounding bolt and bolts that hold the hood latch) but they work well enough.

 

Thanks for the info! I called my usual body parts place. They're out of them, but they go for 120. I asked if he knew when they'd be back, and he kind of chuckled and said "depends on China".

 

Update to those interested. Got this thing all buttoned up and in place! I had to take off the face of my truck and reapply the fastening because initially I used Aluminum Rivets to hold this all together, upon thinking about it, I began to realize how awful of an idea that was! Fortunately nothing happened; however, I wanted to get ahead of it. Replaced the aluminum rivets with steel fasteners so this does not become a problem in the future for me! I wish I had taken more care in attempting to realign it properly; however, Ford left a LOT of wiggle room to adjust the front end components upon assembly, so fortunately I don't have to pay a big price for it.

 

LMC Truck also has the part. Front Steel Body Parts (lmctruck.com)

 

I'm in the processssssss its a long processsss spray and wait spray and wait. i am now at the point where i am separating welds seems the support is still hard to brake free