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My 91 Trans Am convertible has 2 cross rods in front of the condenser. They form an X . Each rod goes from top to bottom where the X meets in the middle behind the hood latch. In the front of these rods is the bracket which holds the hood latch and it also gives support to the bumper cover. My question is do these rods give any support? I am thinking in case of a collision the rods might protect the condenser and radiator. This is the first time I have seen this and thinking it might be specific to the convertible and maybe even the 91 and 92 since the nose of the car is so long. Any ideas?? Thanks
This is the first time I have seen this and thinking it might be specific to the convertible and maybe even the 91 and 92 since the nose of the car is so long. Any ideas?? Thanks
Purpose? I'm unsure. I suggest they're common to our cars. Anyway my 85 IROC is so equipped.
they are indeed for support-the front structure of these cars is so floppy they can use all the extra support they can get If you do not mind modifying your 3rd gen,a couple stout support struts between the strut towers and reinforced cowl flange will greatly reduce front end shake on these cars -no longer visable to the naked eye with the hood off...Old Mopars,68 Roadrunner and the like,also have this front end shake problem
The two rods I mentioned were just taken off by me to install a transmission oil cooler. When I removed the first one the top mount had broken the metal that it was attached to. It was completely separate from the mounting point. And the other rod had started to crack at the mounting point also. So, this leads me to believe that the rods had done their jobs before they had cracked. After I install the oil cooler I will reweld the mounting points on the car. I gather with the constant flex is when they cracked the metal. I don't know how long they had been cracked but I have installed sub frame connectors and a steering brace long ago. The spots that were broken did look as if they had been cracked long ago.
The cutout for the radiator is a large rectangle - and one of the weakest geometric shapes. Push on any one corner and all the others will move, creating a parallelogram before the whole thing comes apart. Adding those diagonal rods gives a huge amount of support to that rectangle by turning it into triangles - the strongest geometric figure.
I completely understand. I am sure the constant flexing of the front end would have been the cause of the cracks. In fact it only affected the top connections and not the bottom connections. Goes to say that is where the flex would have been greater. I will after I install the cooler and a new fan system on the car then I will weld those weak spots with a thicker piece of metal. That should fix the problem. Thanks for all the input. And that post that James installed from a few years ago was really a help. A good read!!! Thanks James!!
I went back through this post and need to add that the wander/wonder bar is in the pontiac parts book. It was supposed to be used on the WS6 and 1LE cars too. Not sure why it never was, at least I haven't ever seen one on those cars.
My 84 z had those cross braces on the core support, along with a rubber isolator in the center to prevent rattling. Also had all the braces in JamesC's link. Purchased in 88 bone stock (from a middle aged lady).
I made this one for it too (its on my vert now).
10-16-2021, 01:27 AM
If you do not mind modifying your 3rd gen,a couple stout support struts between the strut towers and reinforced cowl flange will greatly reduce front end shake on these cars -no longer visable to the naked eye with the hood off...Old Mopars,68 Roadrunner and the like,also have this front end shake problem 
