So one part of the car had a beam/arm rusted right out. It was under the front of the car, just beside the right wheel. The left one is rusty but not broken. Is this a common thing to rust out? And what's the best option to fix this. Make our own, or get a donor etc.

http://imgur.com/cShgF70

Would embed the image but it's hard to do on phone currently.

Fiero Radiator Braces
Click to enlarge


1984-1987 Pontiac Fiero Cross Member to Radiator Braces www.Rodneydickman.com

quote Originally posted by Blitz54: And what's the best option to fix this. Make our own, or get a donor etc.

I got a good set from a Fiero parts car. Another option is new ones... as mentioned above.

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 08-21-2017).]

Here is the page.

http://rodneydickman.com/ca....php?products_id=107

Ok weird, I didn't think these would be related to the radiator support. They seemed to far away to be labeled with radiator on the description of them.

Second question, do you think these are these needed for a vehicle safety? Or can I put them on later. I just wanna get the damn car on the road and because I'm in Canada it might take a while for shipping if I buy these online.

quote Originally posted by Blitz54: Second question, do you think these are these needed for a vehicle safety? Or can I put them on later. I just wanna get the damn car on the road...

I don't know about "vehicle safety", but they were put there for a reason.

quote Originally posted by Blitz54: I'm in Canada it might take a while for shipping if I buy these online.

No wrecked Fieros in Manitoba?

quote Originally posted by Patrick: No wrecked Fieros in Manitoba?

Very little. Only ever seen one at the wreckers, and that was when I first fell in love with the car. That was maybe 5 years ago or so. And very little parts cars on kijiji, there's one posted yesterday but the drive alone to the car would cost more than buying the parts online :P

Yeah those are called radiator supports, even though they don't actually support the radiator. Last time I checked, the Fiero Store sold replacements.

On my car, I just deleted them. That was over 10 years ago... car hasn't exploded yet.

I replaced a rusted out set with Fiero Store parts. Rodney's new ones look better.
Maybe they're part of the collision crumple system; radiator braces might be a more accurate description.
in a collision it would be better for them to crumple than crumble...

They're more anchoring the front crossmember in place to the frame rails, expect that they're only bolted to the front lip of the crossmember, which doesn't seem so solid...

So if we put aside that theory, on the basis of being bolted to the front lip...

Maybe they're skid plates. If sh*t hits the fan, and the front of the car runs into a high curb, rather than the front crossmember hitting the wall, the skid plates allow the front end to "gracefully" slide over the high curb.

Now that I have this hypothesis regarding their purpose, I am not sure the new version Rodney Dickman replacements are adequate. The square tubes (as in the stock parts, or Rodney Dickman's original version of the reproduction) are more beefy and appear much more resistant to bending in the middle like a banana, if hit by a high curb in the middle.

The new version Rodney Dickman parts are relatively flat strips, oriented so that an impact from below would bend the strips in the "easy to bend" direction.

They look like skid bars to me, as well. The chance of me running my car aground is slim to none. So that's why I deleted them.