CUTLASS Radiator Support Bushings, a question?

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old80cs

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Jun 27, 2013
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Ended up spinning my wheels in the garage today, (not in a good way) and didn't get much done. I wanted to get the fenders installed on the '80 and my friend came up to help so as not to scratch anything. After setting the driver fender in place we decided the door needed to come forward a little. The gaps opened up a little more than I would have liked but it's no worse than it was to begin with. I think anyhow.

Then we looked at the radiator support and the front of the fender was way high above the bolt holes. We built it up 2"s plus the body bushing to work. Looking back I don't recall ever buying Radiator Support Bushings, I just assumed (bad) that body bushings were the same item? I bought all the rubber body mounts from GM way back when and used them all for the body and radiator support. Best I can tell the body is set flat on the chassis and not running uphill back to front causing the fender to run so high. Does anybodies radiator support sit up high like this?

IMG_3794.jpeg IMG_3796.jpeg IMG_3798.jpeg
 

Rktpwrd

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Mike, I just double checked your post in the “what did you do to your G body today” thread to make sure, and confirmed to myself that your car is up in the air.

Get the car back down on all fours with the full weight on the frame and suspension before attempting to go any further with trying to align the panels. The front end of the car will flex downwards with the weight of the engine and throw your alignment off, especially with none of the other front sheetmetal on it to keep things in place.

I’ll be willing to bet that you’ll find the gap gets significantly reduced once the full weight is back on the wheels.
 
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old80cs

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Thanks for the reply, Donovan, I’ll look into that tomorrow and drop it onto the ground and see what it looks like.

Do you know if the body bushings the same as the support bushings? The body bushings I have are about an inch thick.
 
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Rktpwrd

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Thanks for the reply, Donovan, I’ll look into that tomorrow and drop it onto the ground and see what it looks like.

Do you know if the body bushings the same as the support bushings? The body bushings I have are about an inch thick.

Mike, I had to wait until I got home to confirm, but I was correct in remembering that the radiator support bushings are different than the rest.

I have a set of original GM bushings that I bought new from GM back in the day too. They were in The Juggernaut until I upgraded to polyurethane.

2E8621EA-C01B-4274-B579-117074899C15.jpeg


The rad support bushings are taller with a heavy steel base to them, and look substantially different than the rest of them:

F7CA7BA6-DBDA-4982-AEAC-688F82E24C7B.jpeg


The part that goes inside and on top of the support is a slightly smaller diameter with a large domed metal washer.

81FE181F-29C9-41A1-A09A-3EE9F465D575.jpeg


The bottom piece sits on top of the frame, and the steel stem protrudes through the bottom of the support.

5A73E5AE-CB3B-4C6E-B772-93835F574F61.jpeg


89DD9D3B-63EC-4349-9D08-15FA686C53EB.jpeg


The diameter of the smaller bushing will be slightly smaller than the rest of the standard body bushings as well.

C5151FB4-4A71-4F0F-ABB6-CD9505C951CB.jpeg


This is the underside of the lower bushing half, this part sits on top of the frame.

33B7B084-6BAB-4771-AE38-F96DE11F715B.jpeg


Hope this helps.
 
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old80cs

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Thanks again, Donovan, I appreciate you taking the time to look into it! I’ll have to see about locating a set of those bushings.
 
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69hurstolds

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Rad support Upper Bushing- (2) of GM p/n 377888.
Rad support Lower Bushing- (2) of GM p/n 343258, superseded to 14034780.

Of course, there's aftermarket...probably the way to go because GM rad support bushings are HARD TO FIND.

 
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69hurstolds

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Oh, and the bolts are a beeyotch to find as well, and if you do...they're going for 25-ish bucks EACH. M10 x 1.5 x 95mm, GM p/n 11508134 and it's a 9.8. Maybe the nut, too. GM p/n 11501086. Or equivalent.

You can get the same exact sized bolt in 10.9 strength for 10 bucks each here.

 
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57 Handyman

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Question: When buying aftermarket radiator support bushing sets or kits, do these include that metal cups, center cylindrical spacers, and washers? If yes, where/who is the best source for these parts?
 

69hurstolds

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Not sure about where you can find the "best" kit. I went back to see what the Parts Place is peddling and it seems the LOWER bushing is fairly correct (The one with the big umbrella looking metal piece on it), but looking on their website they advertise it INCORRECTLY AS AN UPPER BUSHING. Which it is NOT. The upper bushing (shown in Rktpwrd 's excellent posts showing the bushings) above is a 377888 which is the correct bushing. Not exactly sure what the aftermarket upper bushing is all about with that metal washer infused in it already. Just not sure.

Hopefully you didn't toss the washers when you took yours off- you should check your upper washer to ensure it's in good shape, clean, repaint and re-use. They're thick and hard to find new, but I'm sure you can find a used, decent one somewhere if needed. They only used them on 10 gajillion cars over the years.

Although the shims (as needed) were part number 3714962, and were 1-3/4" square with a 0.54" slot, these Auveco 5076 shims are about as close as you'll come to that. They're actually called out as Ford caster/camber shims, but they'll do the job and ALMOST look GM factory, but you won't see them when installed anyway, so there's that. But, they're 50 to a box so it's a bit much to purchase when you may only need 2 or 3.

They also sell some 1/8" thick ones as well under p/n 5077, and 1/32" thick under p/n 5075. The ones below have a 1/2" hole, but the 10mm bolt will easily fit. Again, you may not need them, but if you remember taking any shims out, you may want to consider the fact you still may need them.


Maybe you can get a better deal with UFD shims part number 7325R. Only about 5 bucks for 5 of them. Cheaper overall in bulk, but who needs 50 shims for one car? If you're doing several cars it may make sense, but well, it's your call.


There's several pieces parts to the complete front support bushings for each side. Obviously the upper and lower bushings themselves, the bolt and nut, so that's 4 pieces there out of the way. The shim(s) as needed makes it 5, the upper washer is 6, the lower washer (frame to bushing) is 7, and the bottom washer (frame to nut) makes it 8. There's also a push retainer listed which would make it 9 pieces per side total, and this was to be pushed up from the bottom of the rad support under the lower bushing to hold that mess of crap together (the upper and lower bushings/washers/bolt) to make things easier as it was being assembled to the frame. Not required absolutely, but it never hurts. GM p/n 11501849. It's just a 10mm push nut. You can probably pick those up at an auto parts store.
 
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