Hi I am in the process of doing an ls swap 5.3/4l60e, bmr k member and a arms with the whole holley/hooker ls kit mounts cross member headers ect.

The car is a 1991 camaro rs tbi 305 700r4, Im at the point of taking out the torque arm and i see a bad repair, i assume done recently as there is a new trans mount and most evident the marker lines still on the frame. It looks like the whole cross member mounting area was toast so someone took a piece of 8th inch plate slid it in the channel and drilled two holes to hold it in place and two more for mounting the cross member. To make things even better the other side only has one bolt the other being broken off.

My friend got this car off craigslist for $1550 with out me looking it over, I expected some issues but this is structural safety stuff here. What is the right way to fix this?

Iv attached a pic of the "repair".

 

Crush it and get another one?

You're gonna need a new frame rail. Figure you cut the spot welds, and get the old piece off, then you gotta weld a rust free piece to the remaining rusty rail and rusty floor pan. Assuming you don't burn through, I'm guessing there's a lot more rust in the car. Chances are good that any donor car you can cut a donor rail from, will probably be in better condition... Building the donor car would probably be better than trying to fix a rust bucket.

What's up with all the hose clamps? Are those on the fuel lines? LOL

 

This is the only bad part of the frame not worth crushing, yes those are rubber fuel lines with airplaine clamps and it also has a trailer hitch someone was an idiot.

Seriously some helpful ideas would be appreciated, Iv herd of people capping the rail.

 

So here's the thing... I've lived in the rust belt all my life. I've been involved with thirdgens since 1995. The only thirdgens I've ever seen with rust in a structural part of the car, to that degree, have been people asking on this forum how to fix a frame rail.

The rear frame rails are available from Classic Industries, but the fronts aren't available as reproduction parts. That leaves you two options, a junkyard donor, or fabricating the frame rail or repair sections from scratch.

Now just from looking at the rest of the car surrounding the giant hole in the limited photo you posted. I see a floor pan that's missing most of it's factory coating. I see an entire frame rail that appears to be rusty red, and it looks like you've got serious cancer on the floor pan next to the frame rail flange.

The right way to fix the problem is to weld in structurally sound steel. You can't weld to rust. Welding body sheetmetal without burning through is bad enough without trying to weld a panel that's been degraded by rust. By the time you grind away the rust, you probably won't have enough good steel to take the heat of welding a repair section into place. That means you've got to cut back the steel away from the rust until you hit good metal you can work with. Just as a rough rule of thumb, say 3-6" past any visible rust. Once you start grinding on what you can see now, you'll almost always find more rust.

You don't have much good rail left to work with. That's why someone bolted in some duct tape and chewing gum and sold it to someone else.

So you're going to put how much time and money into fixing the hole in the frame, when you're tossing the drivetrain for an LS swap and spending a few thousand on swap parts? Why would you put good, expensive parts, on a used up chassis? It just doesn't make any sense. I know that's not the answer you want to hear, but it's free advice.

 

Hey, I luv my 91RS w/trailer hitch, pulls a little trailer great... was also a Craigslist buy/build - Roller Body with newish Shorty headers, Y-pipe, new Cat, Flowmaster American Thunder. V-6 car already had been Swapped for V-8, Sourced a 700r4 for $150, a '83 K-10 LE9 305 complete $200, and the roller car for $500... Texas/FL panhandle, Super Clean Bottom Side, Even had the old Serpentine Truck brackets and accessories laying in the hatch, that I can confirm do fit under the hood.. Threw on Futura Super Sport GLS Tires, Freshened up the suspension struts shocks rubber as needed, Added used 36/24 sway bars ect.. $500.. All around fun beat car on the cheap...

As Mentioned, I too would just shop around for another clean roller/body, You could try and cap the rail, even if done well, I wouldn't want to test it with an expensive, much more powerful LS swap.. Strip this one for all the missing parts as needed instead of having to nickle/dime and search out each one, which does add up fast.. Wella,, Done, Driving, And No Worries... It looks like that really got torqued good when it let go.. Seems a shame.. all tho, Someone Learned a Good Lesson..


She's no trailer queen, but sure does pull one with a smile..

 

Alright im at the final stage acceptance, anyone got a line on a roller in Minnesota?

 

jason Fritz

 

You're doing the right thing.


Several years ago I checked out a blue, '87, LB9, 5 speed IROC. It was really nice, except both front subframes were rusted through. Floors were fine. The guy was honest and up front about it and only wanted like $3K for it.

I thought about it, thought about it again, really mind wrestled over it. But the next day I told him I'd pass. Glad I did. Someone bought it a few days later and said he would fix it. I always wondered how that guy made out.

 

All is good got a 89 ta off craigslist for $1000 super clean has all black undercoating. I knew deep down it was fubar just needed a push thanks guys.

 

https://detroit.craigslist.org/mcb/p...602595405.html

 

It's fixable. But I suspect it might need floor pans as well. Sound advice to go with a roller in this case.