The original core support on the Datsun 620 left little to no room for packaging any of the front end features that were intended to be designed into the build. Not really having much of any need for the existing sheet metal it consisted of, it made the most sense to design a new core support system from scratch and open as much real estate as possible. There would need to be considerations for mounting the front fenders, the headlight buckets, the plastic grill and all the heat exchangers.

Starting with a scan of the original core support, a new design was drafted using thin wall tubing as the main cross spans. The headlight bucket mounts were all windowed out laser cut steel brackets, with integrated and adjustable mounts for the front fenders. The main vertical mounting legs were designed as fabricated laser cut steel, with flare holed center profiles to shed some weight and add some style. Thin mount tabs were used for mounting the grill shell to the tubing at the top and bottom, allowing some adjustability to dial in the fitment of the grill in the front of the truck.

A handful of simple jigs were designed and laser cut to locate the thin wall tubing and brackets on a flat table, and the entire core support was built outside the truck where it was easier to weld. Once finished, the core support was assembled into the truck and all the sub assemblies fit into place for a look at the entire package. The difference was immense, opening up considerably more free room across the entire front of the truck which would come in useful for more design projects to come.