Has anybody had any luck getting the dents out of the crossmember on the subframe below the engine? Seems like a lot of cars have jacking dents there. Any good methods for getting them out? I want to do this before I restore my subframe.

cut out and replace, sorry
it's the only way that work for me
Larry
or overlay,
i did that too but it stared to rust some years later

On mine, I used a thin cutoff wheel to cut the center section out and then used a hammer to flatten the piece back out. I then beveled the edges on the section that was cut out and the edges on the frame to where when I welded it back up the weld went down further in the V notch and I think I have a stronger weld (that's my thinking anyway).
On my cuts I place them a little bit inside of where the factory spot welds were at on the front and back edge so I didn't have to attempt to spot weld the panel back in like the factory did and the other cuts were straight back from those. After I got done welding I ground down the welds and after primering and sanding the repair became invisible.

One thing I would suggest is to make a temporary bolted in support going between both upper control arm bolt hole from one side to the other to limit any shifting of the frame when the section is cut out and welded back in. I would also stitch weld the section back in to further limit any shifting of the frame dimensions. I did not stitch weld a custom molded in frame on another car of mine and when I went to bolt it in the rear frame had to be pinched in to get the tranny crossmember to align up and bolt back in.

Below are some pictures of some subframe work I did for a 74 Nova I'm working on. While a correctly restored frame will have the ugly welds and splatter on them, I opted to make mine cleaner but not molded in and loose definition of the different parts that make up the subframe.

http://rides.webshots.com/album/556508944ZUMpIF

I also tried using a small hole on top of the subrame directly above the crushed in lower section to knock it back out but just couldn't get it to work doing it that way. Your results may vary.

Jim

if your good with the welder weld nuts onto the dent then slide hammer the dents out then grind the nuts off , this has worked for me in lots of applications including body damage

if your good with the welder weld nuts onto the dent then slide hammer the dents out then grind the nuts off , this has worked for me in lots of applications including body damage

Good tip, my sub frame is hammered up also so Ill give it a try.

i did what Jim....SOA-Nova did....it worked great and i've jacked up on it there with a piece of carpet on my jack with no problems.

Has anybody had any luck getting the dents out of the crossmember on the subframe below the engine? Seems like a lot of cars have jacking dents there. Any good methods for getting them out? I want to do this before I restore my subframe.

As already mention in this thread, cut out and strighten the old section. It may not be neccessary to cut all the pushed in area out, as some of it can be raised back up with a pry bar or 2x4 and some blockes.
This one was not to bad.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b107/m22mike/copo6-2006026.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b107/m22mike/copo6-2006028.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b107/m22mike/copo6-2006029.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b107/m22mike/copo6-2006030.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b107/m22mike/copo6-2006032.jpg

Mike