Shock tower issue/repair

[defiance]

Some things are changing, with me and I'm having to shift gears a bit with the charger.  I was originally planning to do an alterktion kit right out of the gate, but the company I work for is being purchased and I'm likely to not have a job here soon...  Not really a bad thing in the long run, but it means I'm likely going to have to move soon... which in turn means I need to be somewhat conservative with spending in the short term, and I need to get the charger to a functional point in the short term... Meaning I need to get the front end put back together for now with stock components.

So the one real outstanding issue I have with that is the passenger shock tower.  I'd known for a while that it had issues, because where the shock tower attaches to the shock tower, the side wall metal had been detatched, and was reattatched with screws    Still, the welds to the frame are solid and the shock tower itself looks good... and I think the side metal is just attached for cosmetic purposes, not for bracing or support, and the tower itself looks fine.  So, I really got into it recently, and discovered that there's a bit more to it than I thought.  Looking from underneath, I realized there's also a piece of bracing missing - On the driver's side, there's an angular brace that is attached fom the top of the tower to the structure on top of that section of the car.  On the passenger side, that's just entirely missing.

I guess I'm going to have to replace that part, but how would I go about that?  I guess I can post in the classifieds here, but I'm not even sure what to call the piece or how to refer to it ...

Am I right about the structural integrity, though?  As long as the frame welds are good, and the shock tower isn't bent or damaged in any way, it should be fine, structurally at least, right?  If so, I may just concern myself with only the cosmetic concerns...

If needed, I've got bunches of pics of both sides.

[mikepmcs]

I'm trying to understand, are you talking about the piece that goes in this picture(I know mine is a 2nd gen but trying to get my head around this)

v/r
Mike

[tan top]

think it might be  this bit    Mike   

[defiance]

I'm trying to understand, are you talking about the piece that goes in this picture(I know mine is a 2nd gen but trying to get my head around this)

v/r
Mike

Yes, that's exactly it!  I've got lots of good pics on my memory card, but I can't freaking find my mem card reader at the moment   But yeah, there's a piece on the third gen that looks, as far as I can tell, JUST like the piece you circled there.  Looking at the one that's there in my car, I honestly can't tell how they removed it without damaging the shock tower; it looks like it's welded pretty solid - but looking at the side that's missing, I couldn't see any scarring or damage at all - it's like it was never there...  But seeing how it goes together on the other side, and considering the other damage to this side, I'm sure it goes there.

[defiance]

got the pics

[mikepmcs]

Ok, looks similar to a 2nd gen except yours attaches to the support inside the fender, it looks like, and mine attaches directly to the apron.

Mine was attached by 2 or 3 spot welds on the tower(lower) and by about 6 welds under the apron.  Looks like yours attaches roughly the same on the lower to the tower but the "other fender brace" as marked in this pic attaches to the apron with spot welds and the brace you are missing then attaches to "other fender brace" with spot welds.

What I would do if you can't get one soon enough is take 3 pieces of iron strips about 2 inches wide and hammer the angles in 2 of them to match the tower and "other fender brace" angles
then take the third piece and put it horizontally across the other 2 pieces.   Hoping you have a welder or a buddy near by with one. 

Of course I could be totally wrong and hopefully some other 3rd gen members will chime in and maybe have your part.

v/r
Mike