Radiator Support Repair

[herb101]

I pulled the front end of the Blazer apart to clean up some loose ends and generally refresh the under hood area after swapping in the 700R4 and moving the motor forward. I pulled the radiator support off and was faced with the fairly typical acid induced rot:




I'm a tightwad and don't want to buy a new radiator support and I was surprised at the cost of the repair panel from Brothers, for what it is. I decided to throw caution and good sense to the wind and try my first ever metal fabrication project. I picked up a 6"x18" section of 16 GA sheet steel from Home Depot to $10. After killing a HF bender and returning it and some creative cut and curl work I had this ready to weld up and fit in:




Here it is from the top and bottom after spot welding it in:




And here it is hiding under a fresh coat of satin black:




What do you guys think? It's a far cry from the quality of work I see in the project builds, but I'm pretty happy with the turn-out for my first ever attempt.