Irish Steve
New member
Wife's Sei has developed a knock on the rear, which I thought originally (based on searching here) was a swinging arm bush, so threw the car on a friend's ramp to have a look, and while the bushes may be going, the more urgent and difficult issue is that the bump stop mounting cone on the passenger side has rusted, so the bump stop is rattling around loose in the spring, so probably contributing to the knock when it hits a bump. Even if that's not the eventual cause, the bump stop will have to be repaired before the next annual test (not due till October, so a bit of time to play with), as that will be a certain fail.
So, it looks like the sub frame has to be dropped in order to be able to do a good welding job on the bump stop mount, it might be possible to weld a new plate on there, but I don't like welding uphill from under the car, there's too many chances of a hot spot in uncomfortable places
From what I can see of it, the sub frame is held on by 4 bolts, which in theory should not be a major issue, what I don't know is if the nuts that those bolts go into are welded to the bodywork, or if they have to be held with a spanner while removing the bolts. I'm guessing that they are captive, and hoping that they are out of the "at risk" area for rusting, so in theory, the sub frame should be relatively easy to get off, (with appropriate weight reductions to make it easier), the only other things to deal with being the handbrake cables and the brake pipes, and the exhaust hanger.
Is it that easy, or am I heading in to a world of pain to sort this out, given the age of the vehicle, there are questions about the validity of doing this work, the main bodywork is not rusted, the sub frame needs a darn good going over with a wire brush and some rust cure or similar, as do the swinging arms, and I'm guessing that while it's that far stripped, I'd be as well to replace the bushes on the swinging arms, to cover the possibility that one or more of them are the cause of the knock, and also check the shocks and bushes in case they are a contributor to the noise.
We did give all 4 a good prod and push with the gorilla bar, and there's no evidence of movement, but I guess I'll only know for sure when we get it stripped.
My fear is that one or more of the sub frame bolts will be seized or worse, and if that's the case, it could be terminal, unless it's possible to get to the nuts from inside the car.
Any and all guidance appreciated, as I may not have a lot of time to do this job, my wife is the daughter's baby sitter, so needs the car most week days, which doesn't give me a lot of time if something goes wrong with the project.
So, it looks like the sub frame has to be dropped in order to be able to do a good welding job on the bump stop mount, it might be possible to weld a new plate on there, but I don't like welding uphill from under the car, there's too many chances of a hot spot in uncomfortable places
From what I can see of it, the sub frame is held on by 4 bolts, which in theory should not be a major issue, what I don't know is if the nuts that those bolts go into are welded to the bodywork, or if they have to be held with a spanner while removing the bolts. I'm guessing that they are captive, and hoping that they are out of the "at risk" area for rusting, so in theory, the sub frame should be relatively easy to get off, (with appropriate weight reductions to make it easier), the only other things to deal with being the handbrake cables and the brake pipes, and the exhaust hanger.
Is it that easy, or am I heading in to a world of pain to sort this out, given the age of the vehicle, there are questions about the validity of doing this work, the main bodywork is not rusted, the sub frame needs a darn good going over with a wire brush and some rust cure or similar, as do the swinging arms, and I'm guessing that while it's that far stripped, I'd be as well to replace the bushes on the swinging arms, to cover the possibility that one or more of them are the cause of the knock, and also check the shocks and bushes in case they are a contributor to the noise.
We did give all 4 a good prod and push with the gorilla bar, and there's no evidence of movement, but I guess I'll only know for sure when we get it stripped.
My fear is that one or more of the sub frame bolts will be seized or worse, and if that's the case, it could be terminal, unless it's possible to get to the nuts from inside the car.
Any and all guidance appreciated, as I may not have a lot of time to do this job, my wife is the daughter's baby sitter, so needs the car most week days, which doesn't give me a lot of time if something goes wrong with the project.
