After pulling my subframe out (68 Camaro) I noticed that a couple of the holes rusted thin and a little out of round. I have been told to weld washers on top, on the bottom, and to cut holes and weld flush. What is the correct procedure?

I also wondering if anyone has the correct hole sizes and placement. I have an assembly manual but that does not provide any information.

Thanks for any help!

[ 04-14-2003, 08:09 PM: Message edited by: JHam ]

There is actually a kit that many parts houses carry for that exact thing. Bascially, it is just a set of really big washers that you enlarge your existing hole to their outside diameter and then weld in the new washers. I've seen some pictures of it done and it looked like new! Should be really cheap too!

Bill C.

I had a similar problem on my subframe on one side of body mounts and on my lower control arm mounts.

Subframe mounts:
You will have to cut out existing mounts as BC descibed above and either buy the kit or use a just get a piece of metal from a hardware store or metal yard. When I did mine, I just used a piece of the same thickness metal from the scrap pile at the local metal yard. I used solid bushings - and new bolts which provide some degree of play - so the "new hole" did not have to be exactly the same size as the old one for it to work. Make sure when you put the frame back in to align it according to the measurements in your assembly manual.

Lower control arm mounts:
It was elongated but not rusted. You will want to buy grade 8 washers from a hardware store. You may also want to replace the bolt as well with a new grade 8 bolt, I believe it is 1/2". You want to make sure that the washers have zero slop when placed on the bolt. Make sure you pick up some locking nuts to use too - its loose lower A arm bolts that cause the elongation to occur in the first place. If the metal is in decent shape around the bolthole, clean it, do not cut it out or make the hole any bigger. To get the holes to line up properly use a really long 1/2" bolt or a piece of 1/2" all thread to place through both lower mounts (all four bolt holes) at the same time. Weld your washers over the existing holes (on the outsides only - don't weld a washer where the bushing would sit). Its kind of hard but you will have to reach in and weld one on the inside of the frame (you may have to enlarge the access hole on the frame slightly to get the welder tip in there). In my opinion I would not cut the existing holes larger, it will just make it harder to line the washers up and to weld.

If your frame is really rotten, you may have to use larger metal plates & drill the correct size holes, or get another frame.

Good Luck