C3 Headlight assembly support frames

Hey guys, another question. I have disassembled my front headlight assemblies and noticed that the support frame assembly, where it attaches to the support bar, has rusted out so the bolts have nothing to grasp (what a surprise!) The former owner just used very large washers to compensate. Not sure what this frame is made of, it looks cast. Does anyone know what it is made of and if it can be welded? Thanks.

  If your talking about the housing its made of aluminum I think, I just had both sides of mine welded up and the welder used aluminum rods. Solid movement once again.If your refering to where the housing mounts to (foward) thats a metal piece that runs the entire length of the bumper nose.

[QUOTE=fcepguam]  If your talking about the housing its made of aluminum I think, I just had both sides of mine welded up and the welder used aluminum rods. Solid movement once again.If your refering to where the housing mounts to (foward) thats a metal piece that runs the entire length of the bumper nose. [/QUOTE] Mine was for an 82 not to sure of the foward mounting for your 72 could be the same.

Support bar bonded to the bottom of the hood surround panel is steel and will rust. 6880Mike2008-08-19 10:12:24

It is not the steel bar that is bonded to the nose (although that's rusted too, it's still usable!) I'm talking about the headlight assembly frame that bolts up to that steel support bar. There's 4 bolts that hold ithe headlight assembly onto the steel bar under the nose. The frame is rotted out where the bolts pass through on the back edge (towards the rear of the car) the prior owner used large washers to hold it up when bolting it to the steel bar. The material looks like the same material the grill is made of, it's a white lightweight metal (is this what's called pot metal?) and where it is rotted it does not look like rust, it looks almost like the white corrosion you find on battery terminals and the metal affected is very flaky. I'll post a picture when I can. (This whole saga started with me reinforcing the fiberglass under the hood hinges, now I have the whole darn front end disassembled! It was like nuclear fission..., "while I have the hood off I should check the radiator, while the radiator is out I should check the cross member, oops need to replace the cross member, hmm cross member is out lets clean the grills, grills are off let's get the bumper guards re-plated, etc. etc. etc.! At this rate I'll never get it back on the road!

The white stuff is probably oxidation which has occurred after the supports were in contact with the steel of the header bar.  You can continue to use what you have with the washers, or you can spring for new/used headlight supports ($$).

i just did the same thing with my car yesterday!

i was putting chrome actuator covers on and the passenger side housing broke right out.    the white metal desintegrated. it was only being held by one bolt anyway
i used oversized washers on all three bolts and it's better then before.
i think i'll leave it that way.  they are $189 in corvette central
Hmel '742008-08-20 09:04:10