new subframe and rust repair, lots of photos

[IROCZman15]

well, my winter project is to tackle the rust on the car and redo all of the stock-old undercoating underneath. i began by pulling up the carpet, after taking out the seats, center console, radio, moving wires, etc. i looked around online, carpets for the pass cabin go for under $200, so i think i'll scrap this 23 year old carpet for a new one...



looking at the floor pans i noticed that everywhere is rust free in the car, EXCEPT THE DRIVERS SIDE FLOORPAN AND KICK PANEL AREA. damn. i knew i had to attack it now before it spreads.







this is what i found/knew was there..





while working here on a cooold day




so since i dont have a plasma cutter or mig welder and wanted this done right.. i brough it to PRO FAB CHASSIS located in whitehouse station NJ.. 5 mins off fof RT 78. www.profabchassis.com 908-591-3087 ..they build race cars mostly and work on these cars often too

i asked them to weld in my alston racing subframe connectors.. which can be seen in the above photo.. because i had them only bolted in. i also wanted to run a second set of sfc's along the rockers (spohn, bmr, or umi type).. the guys at pro-fab know their stuff and they recomended i go with a S&W suspension kit for subframe connectors....

..the S&W kit comes with a few extra pipes that weld to the rockers, a few plates that bolt through the floorpans for extra support, and a crossmember support. the kit is designed to be used with the S&W adjustable torque arm, so we ordered that, and this allowed me to run a driveshaft safety loop up there too so the car wont po-go stick if the front u joint fails.

below are the pics of the welded up and bolted S&W kit. it feels very tight. please excuse the underside of the car, its oily and nasty looking... FOR NOW!! in the next 3 months i will be wire-wheeling and sanding down the old undercoating, cleaning off the old oil-spray and redoing the undercoating after a rust-treatment of POR-15. THEN it will look good. maybe a new cat back and an adjustable panhard bar with lca's too.

pics:


























saw this 2010 on the way home


quick pics of other projects they have going..





the car felt TIGHT. after a few miles of driving already, i highly recomend the S&W subframe kit.

if anyone wants my old Alston Racing SFC's they can be for sale!

heres 2 quick photos of the areas where the rust was cut out, sheetmetal was welded in, with seamsealer, and some temporary paint. the bare metal spots nearby will be sanded down a bit more, then rustproofed and covered

[Anti_Rice_Guy]

Looks great Dave!

[CHRIS67]

Nice job.

[LTb1ow]

The underside of your car is quite busy!

Damn.


Looks good!

[ib4200]

good thing you found that rust, taking good care of the car as usual

[Teds89IROC]

looks great! I have a similar project lined up but my rot is behind the fenders on the inner rocker panels.

[andy78TA]

Do you mind if I ask you how much they charged you to weld on the subframe connectors? I was just talking on another post on how I was going to order new solid bushings, g braces and subframe connectors but did not know of any place that would weld them in for me. I happen to live 10 minutes from whitehouse station though haha.

[IROCZman15]

pm sent on the price

[andy78TA]

got your PM, thanks for the info

[HardcoreZ28]

Wow that is one heck of an undercar setup. Just out of curiousity what kind of power are you making with that thing? Will ground clearance be an issue with that piece that crosses under the exhaust pipe?

Oh and a few tips on the rest of your preservation of the floor pans. A wire wheels will likely take you FOREVER to remove old undercoating. Try a heat gun and a scraper wherever you can....it'll go much quicker. Then when you POR it make sure there's something for the paint to bite onto or it'll eventually peel off in sheets. And if you don't mind changing the color of the floor pan...I'd scuff the inside and POR that too so the metal is completely sandwiched. Did that with my car and I still have zero rust on the underside.

[WildBillyT]

Originally Posted by HardcoreZ28

Wow that is one heck of an undercar setup. Just out of curiousity what kind of power are you making with that thing? Will ground clearance be an issue with that piece that crosses under the exhaust pipe?

Oh and a few tips on the rest of your preservation of the floor pans. A wire wheels will likely take you FOREVER to remove old undercoating. Try a heat gun and a scraper wherever you can....it'll go much quicker. Then when you POR it make sure there's something for the paint to bite onto or it'll eventually peel off in sheets. And if you don't mind changing the color of the floor pan...I'd scuff the inside and POR that too so the metal is completely sandwiched. Did that with my car and I still have zero rust on the underside.

This is spot on and great advice (not surprised with it coming from Paul).

Do not bother with a wire wheel. At first you will zip through the undercoating and think you are doing great. Then when the wire wheel loads up in around 30 seconds you'll reach for your heat gun. Been there, done that.

[IROCZman15]

awesome, thanks hardcore and wildbilly..

from looking at the car on the ground. it looks like the crossmember below the tq arm and driveshaft loop is the lowest part. it looks about 1"or so lower than anything else important. what i mean byy important...is the lowest part of the car is the air-dam up front.. very low. . i hope the x-member not too big of a deal for ground clearance since the front is on 2" drop spindles and the rear on cut moog springs. i'll measure it's height off the ground one day soon and let u know if ur still interested.

as for power. i have to be honest. not too much. its a replacement long block from gmpp. about 7 years old too, with the stock tpi setup. the long block is a step below the gmpp zz4 motor, and that puts out about 350 hp 350 tq . mine was quoted around 310 hp at the flywheel, so maybe 275 if im lucky at the wheels after driveline loss. but the headers, exhaust, and air induction may add another 10 or so on top of it. future plans are for a small 100 or 125 shot of nitrous.. then to yank this motor and throw in a 383 with a reasonable procharger/vortech/paxton/etc...or if i decide i like the nitrous ill pump it into the 383...goimg to sta with a small block most likley tho.


i will prob use that heat gun and scraper method. i read about it on thirdgen as well. iw as planning on doing both. it'll be a messy project, but a necessary one. i was planning to use the por15 or some type of paint on the inside of the floor to seal off the metal as well. which orignally is why i thought a wire wheel would be good b/c it would open up the bare metal and paint would stick better than just scraping it off. thx for the advice guys. ill post progress pics in a few weeks. havent started it yet

Originally Posted by HardcoreZ28

Wow that is one heck of an undercar setup. Just out of curiousity what kind of power are you making with that thing? Will ground clearance be an issue with that piece that crosses under the exhaust pipe?

Oh and a few tips on the rest of your preservation of the floor pans. A wire wheels will likely take you FOREVER to remove old undercoating. Try a heat gun and a scraper wherever you can....it'll go much quicker. Then when you POR it make sure there's something for the paint to bite onto or it'll eventually peel off in sheets. And if you don't mind changing the color of the floor pan...I'd scuff the inside and POR that too so the metal is completely sandwiched. Did that with my car and I still have zero rust on the underside.

[HardcoreZ28]

Sounds like a good plan all around and the extra bracing will pay off when you upgrade the engine setup.
For the undercoat removal...take off as much as you can with the scraper and heat gun...then you can use a rag soaked with kerosene, gasoline, or brakleen to remove the light stuff that's still on. Just don't go back at it with heat while there are fumes are residue around.

Oh and wear a hat and goggles when you're doing the job. Melted undercoating is hot and sticks to your hair....and if you get POR on your face it could take a couple days for it to come off....been there and done that.

[WildBillyT]

Originally Posted by 87IROCmadman

awesome, thanks hardcore and wildbilly..

from looking at the car on the ground. it looks like the crossmember below the tq arm and driveshaft loop is the lowest part. it looks about 1"or so lower than anything else important. what i mean byy important...is the lowest part of the car is the air-dam up front.. very low. . i hope the x-member not too big of a deal for ground clearance since the front is on 2" drop spindles and the rear on cut moog springs. i'll measure it's height off the ground one day soon and let u know if ur still interested.

as for power. i have to be honest. not too much. its a replacement long block from gmpp. about 7 years old too, with the stock tpi setup. the long block is a step below the gmpp zz4 motor, and that puts out about 350 hp 350 tq . mine was quoted around 310 hp at the flywheel, so maybe 275 if im lucky at the wheels after driveline loss. but the headers, exhaust, and air induction may add another 10 or so on top of it. future plans are for a small 100 or 125 shot of nitrous.. then to yank this motor and throw in a 383 with a reasonable procharger/vortech/paxton/etc...or if i decide i like the nitrous ill pump it into the 383...goimg to sta with a small block most likley tho.


i will prob use that heat gun and scraper method. i read about it on thirdgen as well. iw as planning on doing both. it'll be a messy project, but a necessary one. i was planning to use the por15 or some type of paint on the inside of the floor to seal off the metal as well. which orignally is why i thought a wire wheel would be good b/c it would open up the bare metal and paint would stick better than just scraping it off. thx for the advice guys. ill post progress pics in a few weeks. havent started it yet

Sounds good- but from my experience a wire wheel won't leave enough "tooth" for POR to stick to. It will peel off in small sheets. If you are going to wheel, use some sandpaper to rough it up afterward.