There is a major problem with my front suspension. The PO probably bottomed out on the oil pan and the crossmember at one time. The oil pan was replaced and the crossmember was welded to the bottom of the frame rails. The welds didn't hold. This is definitely a jerry-rigged frame.
Has anyone dealt with a similar problem like this? Any recommendations would be appreciated.
Your going to have remove the crossmeber , clean up the area and figure out why it was welded in the first place.. Maybe perhaps the welds broke inside and the bolts are just spinning. It may have been welded because the bottom wouldn't tighten. If that was the case. Your going to want to open up the frame and fix the welds. If the bottom bolts are tight. Maybe it did bottom out and formed that crack as a result of high impact. There are some shims on the crossmember. If the bottom bolts don't spin. You could reweld the crack and get a piece of steel the same thickness as the shim shim but longer and weld it over the frame to strengthen that area. Don't forget to remove the shim on the crossmember. Also check out the crossmember and weld all the seams to strengthen it. They like to crack eventually. My bolts spun. I fixed mine so the bolts went throught the whole frame and are removable. Anyways here's some pic's of what the inside looks like.
That problem is quite common, and I bet that there are many cars out there with broken or loose crossember mounting bolts that the owners do not know about. The weld on the side is the common quick fix until you can pull the crossmember and see what is actually going with the frame rail. I actually did a little weld like that on mine prior to doing the complete fix like Brady detailed. The welds don't last long do the the rotational forces from the brakes induced by a hard abrupt stop. When those welds snap you will hear it!
Do a search for "crossmember" in the suspension section, there are several threads and posts that will fully explain what happens, why it happens, and how to fix it. I came up with a solution which Brady copied so eloquently. The pictures in my post have been deleted from the flickr site due to space limitations, but refer to Brady's pictures in this thread as a visual guide.
The big single bolt through the side of the frame rail is fully boxed in and is somwhat of a failsafe in case the two lower bolts pull out. It may feel a little loose driving around, but there should be no danger of the assembily completely falling apart. Chalk it up to a bad original design, or metal fatigue after 30+ years of service, but its no reason to scrap the car or bad mouth the previous owner, just be glad you caught it, and care enough to fix it with a better stronger solution.
Thanks a lot for the excellent and elegant repair and pictures. I cannot think of a better repair, better than the original design in my opinion! I am going to proceed with that exact repair. I will offer the group my pictures on the progress. One question: what welder and gauge steel did you use?
Mig welder .025 L56 wire. 75/25 Argon / Co2
The metal there is pretty thin. If I remember correctly, it was like 22 gage. Just cut out the box. Then take it with you to compare. Make sure You get the pipe to go all the way through from top to bottom or you might have some compression. I work nights so if you run into any issues, you can call after noon. I'll pm you my number.
I used a Century 125GS on setting 2 with wire speed 2 3/4. any mig would do. You wouldn't have to get this one. I heard of some buying a Harbor Freight one and did fine. Just figure out how much your going to use it. I bought a Lincoln Arc welder to weld my rotisserie. I haven't used it since. I try to find a project to use it. Still it gets unused.
Yes, it sounds like the Harbor Freight MIG for $149 might do the job. I am concerned about laying under the car and welding upside down. So I now reading everything I can find on how to MIG weld.
The whole suspension is off the car. The engine is being held up by a chain and a make shift engine hold (another good fiatspider.com design suggestion), and the motor mounts are free.
Tomorrow I will drop the crossmember and see what I will have to work with.
Go with the flux core mig welder. It's easier for beginners and less expensive. If you go to Harbor freight, also buy the following: auto darkening welding helmet, long leather welders gloves, welders blanket, another spool of welding wire.
I just used up the spool of wire that came with the welder (poor quality wire) and installed a new spool of the replacement wire, the welds are much much better.
The helmet, gloves and blanket will prevent you getting splatter burns while welding on your back. I repaired my crossmember while the engine was in the car, not easy, but it can be done. You will want to cover some items before starting the project, the alternator, starter, and carburator. With the cutting out of old metal, welding, prep work, and grinding, you will have tiny metal particles all over the engine bay. The magnets in the alternator and starter will attract the metal bits. Cover the carb so it does not injest metal bits or you can damage the piston rings and loose compression.
The guys on the forum are a good source of advice and will provide more than enough encouragement for this project. However, if you don't currently know how to weld, or produce good structural welds for that matter, this might NOT be the project to learn on. I knew my car had the problem, knew how to fix it, but held off for about 18 months until I learned how to produce good strong welds. At the very least, try to find a friend or coworker who can weld or at least give some pointers.
Status: the bolts did indeed spin. Got the right side off by jamming the bolt shaft enough air gun the nut off. The weld was broke. I have to wait until tomorrow to do the left side.
Manoa: Thanks for the safety advice. I will definitely do a bunch of welds to get used to the MIG before attempting anything under the car. The car is up about 2 1/2' off the garage floor. There should be enough room to position myself away from the work area. What material can I used to protect the engine and peripheral equipment?
Those 5mm shims on each side are only on the 2L crossmembers. Earlier versions did not have that shim plate. The shim drops the crossmember for more hood clearance with the bigger 2L motor.
