Okay, so what began as a battery tray replacement has evolved into several new jobs including battery cables, belts, fan clutch etc... But here's my question. I found some mild surface rust on the core support below the battery tray. Will a Por-15 touch up suffice, or should I pull the core support and have it powder coated? It's an AZ car so rust isn't much of an issue, just wondering how much work to pull the core support and get it all lined up correctly?

 

Pulling the core support is WORK!!!!! Lots of work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would remove the tray and POR-15 it if it were mine....Actually I did that on a 23000 mile original car I own

 

My tray was bad removed it and saw a some nasty rust holes.Pulled the core and cut out the rust out today. Im going to have a shop bend some new sheet metal then i'll weld it all back together. Then Por-15 it. Its a pain popping out all the spot welds but have to fix it correctly. I saw this as the best fix. This is my first post. Not real computer savy.

 

I had the same problem. Rust and battery acid destroyed the batery tray and the surface of the Core Support under the baterry. I was pulling the engine and tranny anyway so the core supprot had to come out too. I sanded and ground the rust down as far as possible and sprayed the entire Core Support with POR-15. I'm really please with the finish and protective coating if offered.

Pics below.

 

Tony, those are great pictures, thanks for posting them. I didn't realize how big that core support was! Did you have any trouble lining up the hood and fenders when you were done?

 

I wish that I would have read the information at the Tech Support link before starting. An experienced body man would have put scribe marks to use as locators during re-assembly. I did wrestle with mounting the fenders. Note where the shims are located and use zip-locks to organize all the fasteners.

I’ll be pulling the fenders off again next spring, when budget allows, to clean up some rust behind the front tires. I need to find some body panel patches for welding in. Do you know of some good sources? I don’t want to but the whole fender if I don’t have to.

I also peeled back the side cowling to clean up some rust damage. I sanded and ground out the cancer then brush painted with POR-15, then re-welded up the cowling skin. As for the Core Support I went and bought a cheap sprayer at Harbor Freight. Spraying POR-15 gives it a great finish.

Pass on your pics and status as you get into it. I’m sure we can all learn and benefit from each others experiences.

Best to you,
Tony