Anyone got a welder and want to help out a fellow F-body owner?

[CALL911]

I finally got my subframe connecters in from UMI, now I just need to have them welded in. I have seen subframes welded in before, and I know right where to weld, I just need someone with a welder and welding experience to do it for me. I even have the availablity of using a lift. I know several shops can do this, but after getting quoted several prices in the $150+ range, I think its a rip off. The only hard part about the whole process is just being carefull not to get the flame to close to the fuel lines.

If anyone has a welder and would be up for helping me out, please let me know. I have genuine German Beer I recently brought back from Germany, or for those that are under 21, or would rather, I can pay for your time and materials in cash.

[Rich189]

i have a mig welder but not much experiance with it so i wouldnt be confortable doing it but if anyone has experiance now u have a welder and a lift

[Mike]

mufflex did mine for 85 bucks

[CALL911]

Well, thats considerably cheeper, but I honestly feel that at even that rate, it is still a rip off considering how little there is to do.

When I had subframes welded in my Z, it cost me $20 at an exhaust shop back in Indiana. (I've already called exhaust shops around in NJ, and most won't do it at all, others want similar high prices to do it)

[ar0ck]

Originally Posted by CALL911

When I had subframes welded in my Z, it cost me $20 at an exhaust shop back in Indiana. (I've already called exhaust shops around in NJ, and most won't do it at all, others want similar high prices to do it)

Welcome to NJ

I think I payed way back when, I bought my subframe connectors at TTP and they Installed them there for cheap.

[198esp1]

stop being cheap you get what you pay for. you could go buy your own welder run some snoty looking weld maybe set your car on fire. I bet that 150 is looking pretty cheap I love guys that spend all sorts of money on parts but cheap out on the install.

[CALL911]

Originally Posted by 198esp1

stop being cheap you get what you pay for. you could go buy your own welder run some snoty looking weld maybe set your car on fire. I bet that 150 is looking pretty cheap I love guys that spend all sorts of money on parts but cheap out on the install.

There's no garuntee that spending the money will get you a good install. My buddy from back home is proof of this. While I took my Z to Tuffy (a cheep local exhaust shop) and had my subframe connecters welded in for $20 (and they are still holding up perfect I might add), my buddy who is a fanatic about keeping his car perfect, and only letting professional shops touch his car wouldn't do it. He didn't trust the local exaust shop, so he drove his car 3 hours away to Speed Inc in Chicago, and was going to pay $200 for the install. As his car was on the lift, he was talking to the owner (Tom Izzo) and was actually asking him if they ever had any issues with installing the subframes. As Tom was saying "nope" they heard a yell screaming "*****!" and just like that, flames shot up the side of my buddies car! Speed Inc. at least didn't charge my buddy for the install, and paid for his car to be flat bedded all the way back to where we were from in Indiana, and the $3,000 bill to fix his car, but as you can imagine, he was quite pissed of the fiasco he went through, vs my $20 install.

Like I said before, this is a very simple install. It should only take 20 minutes to do. You just have to be carefull of the fuel lines. I refuse to get ripped off here. You can call me cheep all you want, but I know which jobs I will pay for, and which ones I won't. If you want to spend the big bucks on something that anyone could do who knows how to safely weld, go ahead. But I won't.

[hardline_42]

CALL911, there's a little more involved with installing SFC's than putting them in place and firing up the buzz-box. When you're dealing with cars that are 10+ years old, you have to take into account the amount of sag the unibody has had and the possibility of any tweaked frame rails etc. A professionally installed set of SFC's should be done with the frame completely level and the suspension in full droop. All body gaps should be paid close attention to and the install should be followed by a wheel alignment (depending on the condition of the unibody, it may throw the car out of alignment). Can you just jack the car up in your driveway and weld it? Of course, I've done it on 2nd gens that way but you really do get what you pay for in this case. That being said, I have a Lincoln 140C welder and some fluxcore wire, and I'm not too far from Wrightstown.

[CALL911]

You are correct that the load of the car needs to be on the wheels or suspension to the wheels. This is the only way to get the load correct. But it can be done by positioning a lift at the correct points (as the pricey shops do). Most shops claim it is so expensive because some beleive they need to rip out carpet from the inside of the car to prevent melting (which pretty much tells me they will be going to fast and getting the torch too hot), as with my Z, it was not needed. Others claim it was that price because of the proximity to the fuel lines. If a shop would charge me like the shop back in Indiana did (for the time it took), then it wouldn't be so much.

Anyways, this thread has strayed QUITE a bit from what I was asking. If you would like to put up a post of why subframes are expensive to install, please feel free. But what I am looking for here is someone with a welder who can help me out.

[hardline_42]

Originally Posted by CALL911

You are correct that the load of the car needs to be on the wheels or suspension to the wheels. This is the only way to get the load correct.

Actually, I said the suspension had to be in full droop. That means unloaded, with the frame level and supported. If you weld them in with the load on the suspension, you won't correct any unibody sag that will more than likely have occurred over time. Sometimes, after the alignment of the unibody and subframe, the wheel alignment gets thrown off because the frame is now back to factory specs.

Originally Posted by CALL911

Anyways, this thread has strayed QUITE a bit from what I was asking. If you would like to put up a post of why subframes are expensive to install, please feel free. But what I am looking for here is someone with a welder who can help me out.

I guess I wasn't clear. If you're ok with welding them up in you're driveway, I have a welder you can use and I'm not too far away from you (see the end of my post above). Just let me know when you need it

[CALL911]

The only way I have seen it done, and heard of it being done was with the load on the vehicles suspension or wheels. True this may not be correct for any bending of the frame that may have been done previously over the years, but to do it otherwise will be trying to force the frame to a position that it is no longer in. At least that is how I see it.

I am not so worried since my car is pretty much bone stock. Any frame bending to any extend worthy of my concern would be shown in the alignment of the car in relation to when I put the T-Tops back in. I have seen some that were bent enough where you could see it when trying to put the T-Tops in (gap on one side, and an almost impossible fit on the other). I would be more concerned if the car had been previously modded, or if the T-Tops didn't align.

Hardline, thanks for the offer, but I do not have any welding experience. I am in need of both a welder, and a welder so to speak.

[BMF]

You say you arent a welder and need help....but you're pretty quick to assume the the installer is doing something wrong if they're smart enough to take the carpets out.....and you arent willing to pay more then $20???

Good luck with that, at $20 you're ripping the installer off, and asking him to put his shop on the line, and possibly pay for damage for the hefty profit of $20....yeah... RIGHT.

You know how to do it, rent a welder, pay for Argon gas and wire, and see how inexpensive it is.

[bad64chevelle]

Originally Posted by CALL911

I finally got my subframe connecters in from UMI, now I just need to have them welded in. I have seen subframes welded in before, and I know right where to weld, I just need someone with a welder and welding experience to do it for me. I even have the availablity of using a lift. I know several shops can do this, but after getting quoted several prices in the $150+ range, I think its a rip off. The only hard part about the whole process is just being carefull not to get the flame to close to the fuel lines.

If anyone has a welder and would be up for helping me out, please let me know. I have genuine German Beer I recently brought back from Germany, or for those that are under 21, or would rather, I can pay for your time and materials in cash.

Jimmy and I will be doing his soon (Im right in North Hanover) like 2 minutes from Wrightstown and if you still havent had it done by then, you can join us. Once the lift is moved here we will be cracking at his SFCs and headers....let me know.

[CALL911]

Originally Posted by bad64chevelle

Jimmy and I will be doing his soon (Im right in North Hanover) like 2 minutes from Wrightstown and if you still havent had it done by then, you can join us. Once the lift is moved here we will be cracking at his SFCs and headers....let me know.

Sweet! How long before the lift is there?

[jimmyboy8301]

soon as you help us move it lol

[CALL911]

Originally Posted by BMF

You say you arent a welder and need help....but you're pretty quick to assume the the installer is doing something wrong if they're smart enough to take the carpets out.....and you arent willing to pay more then $20???

Good luck with that, at $20 you're ripping the installer off, and asking him to put his shop on the line, and possibly pay for damage for the hefty profit of $20....yeah... RIGHT.

You know how to do it, rent a welder, pay for Argon gas and wire, and see how inexpensive it is.

I have seen this done numerous times (including on my Z) where they didn't take the carpet out, and everything was fine. I'm sure if a shop wants to take the carpet out to cover themselves, thats fine and their choice. But doing so also increases the time spent working on the car by quite a bit, and therefore raises the price of the install, and like I said earlier, its not necessary as my Z is proof of that. As long as they take their time with the welding, and don't get the torch too hot, which they need to do anyway because of the fuel lines, removing the carpet isn't required.

As I stated previously "I don't know how to weld", so I can't just go rent a welder. Otherwise I would have never even posted this up to begin with.

[CALL911]

Originally Posted by jimmyboy8301

soon as you help us move it lol

Let me know what I need to do! BTW, is it a drive on lift?

[jimmyboy8301]

yea, as far as i know

[CALL911]

Originally Posted by jimmyboy8301

yea, as far as i know

Pefect! Seriously, when do you guys expect for it to be in? I probably won't get a chance to do it until I am back from Indiana in late May anyways. Unless it happens to be in and you have the availability to do it the first week of May.

[bad64chevelle]

Yes, it is a drive on lift, and I dont know when we will be moving it here, but I would venture to say sometime late may early june. I wont be around much in May, with finals, and getting the Chevelle ready for Ocean City. When I get back from there is when I hope to bring it here.

[unstable bob gable]

Hurry up and get that lift installed, so I can sponge it off ya to work on my cars!

[Savage_Messiah]

Originally Posted by unstable bob gable

Hurry up and get that lift installed, so I can sponge it off ya to work on my cars!

[CALL911]

Originally Posted by bad64chevelle

Yes, it is a drive on lift, and I dont know when we will be moving it here, but I would venture to say sometime late may early june. I wont be around much in May, with finals, and getting the Chevelle ready for Ocean City. When I get back from there is when I hope to bring it here.

Good deal man. Thanks in advance.

[bad64chevelle]

No problem, I will keep you updated!

[BonzoHansen]

You beotches need to get in line.