FFS!
I have had this corner of the suspension and wheel bearing off a couple of times recently but didnt notice what was staring me right in the face, a rusty hole in the subframe, I noticed it today as I had a slow puncture and swapped the wheel over.
looking back to last year sometime when I changed my struts, a pic I took then of the same area and there was no rust hole, so its developed quickly.
it seems to be in an area of thinner steel compared to the rest of the subframe where the lower arm bolts to, I think its a closing piece to cover some box section type steel.
so anyway, a friend says he can weld it - with the arm off [it needs new ones anyway] there is access to sand it down and cut out the rot, reading various places on the web leads me to think that even if it was welded, it would still fail its MOT anyway, so it might be money wasted.
I have just about had enough now, I cant sell it on like this, and it wont pass its next mot like this, I cant afford to buy another car either, so am probably gonna have to replace the subframe.
Now, some of the other components have been changed, struts/coil springs, drop links, but there is play in the track control arm ball joints as well as the inner tie bars and outer track rods.
I might just suck it up, and buy another subframe.
then, I can put new arms straight on it, and when I take mine off [with rack attached...?] I can then change the inner tie bars on the rack with relative ease while its off the car, and lift the whole lot up into place
it will mean the car being off the road for a few days, so I might have to take a couple of days off work to sort it.
in the meantime I am gonna buy all the bits I need, the local fiat breakers has a subframe on ebay - same one fits all GP's, I am going to phone them about it because I want assurance that it will be sound. I will buy new arms, new tie bars, new track rod ends.
so, the big question is, to any of you who might have changed a subframe on a GP - is it doable?
[from what I have read, undo steering knuckle to rack [after centering], undo lower track control arm ball joint bolts, remove rear gearbox steady, undo ARB drop links, undo main subframe bolts, drop to ground [also, exhaust - I do have a back box to replace so can do that at same time?]
I think I will try and crack loose the mounting bolts one by one sometime soon, and retighten, just to see cos I think if they are gonna come out then it might be ok to do.
thoughts please
have a pic
:bang:
I have had this corner of the suspension and wheel bearing off a couple of times recently but didnt notice what was staring me right in the face, a rusty hole in the subframe, I noticed it today as I had a slow puncture and swapped the wheel over.
looking back to last year sometime when I changed my struts, a pic I took then of the same area and there was no rust hole, so its developed quickly.
it seems to be in an area of thinner steel compared to the rest of the subframe where the lower arm bolts to, I think its a closing piece to cover some box section type steel.
so anyway, a friend says he can weld it - with the arm off [it needs new ones anyway] there is access to sand it down and cut out the rot, reading various places on the web leads me to think that even if it was welded, it would still fail its MOT anyway, so it might be money wasted.
I have just about had enough now, I cant sell it on like this, and it wont pass its next mot like this, I cant afford to buy another car either, so am probably gonna have to replace the subframe.
Now, some of the other components have been changed, struts/coil springs, drop links, but there is play in the track control arm ball joints as well as the inner tie bars and outer track rods.
I might just suck it up, and buy another subframe.
then, I can put new arms straight on it, and when I take mine off [with rack attached...?] I can then change the inner tie bars on the rack with relative ease while its off the car, and lift the whole lot up into place
it will mean the car being off the road for a few days, so I might have to take a couple of days off work to sort it.
in the meantime I am gonna buy all the bits I need, the local fiat breakers has a subframe on ebay - same one fits all GP's, I am going to phone them about it because I want assurance that it will be sound. I will buy new arms, new tie bars, new track rod ends.
so, the big question is, to any of you who might have changed a subframe on a GP - is it doable?
[from what I have read, undo steering knuckle to rack [after centering], undo lower track control arm ball joint bolts, remove rear gearbox steady, undo ARB drop links, undo main subframe bolts, drop to ground [also, exhaust - I do have a back box to replace so can do that at same time?]
I think I will try and crack loose the mounting bolts one by one sometime soon, and retighten, just to see cos I think if they are gonna come out then it might be ok to do.
thoughts please
have a pic
:bang: