I need advice about that damn chassis crack by the steering box.My car diden't pass the inspection because of that and now everyone around tells me to scrap the car,it dosen't worth fixing it.

Plus they want the welder to sing a responsability paper for is work.So i can't weld it myself

I love this car,everything is in great shape and its getting frustrating just watching the car in my driveway.

Those this worth the trouble and money fixing it?How expensive can it be to weld that,cause now im so disapointed about this project.I fixed everthing i could fix and now im stuck and sunny wheather is here...

 

What’s a “responsability paper?”

 

Probably something proving that it got done by a certified shop claiming that they take responsibility for the weld. I honestly don't know, but that's what I'd guess. Lucky we don't have safety inspections here...just emissions

 

if you know much about codes "certified" doesn't mean much and to apply it to a car is a joke considering the quality of the welds coming out of the factory. without reengineering the chassis i think anyone would be a fool to think it could really be fixed by simply rewelding it. consider the fact that the factory design failed why wouldn't the repair, at some point in time.

 

83 crossfire:It's exactly what Duroncloker said

Ede:My english is not perfect,but if i understand well,you mean that if gm failed in properly weld the chassis,anybody else's job can't be better?But this car was missing those triangular braces and a wonderbar,could this have made the difference?I will install those braces for sure after the repair.

Here in quebec,your car can be stripping down while driving,as long as your car is not off the road for one year,it dosen't matter.I see car that are 10 times more damaged than mine on the road.In small town like here,cop don't botter stoping these car and send them to inspection.

A car can make thick black smoke all over the place,it dosent matter.But if your oil pressure guage is not working,that a big concern for them.If i blow my motor cause of bad oil pressure,those this affect the security of the car?i wonder...

 

I think that he means that it’s hard for someone to not weld things up as well as they did from the factory.

FWIW, it’s pretty easy to repair some of this stuff. I haven’t looked specifically around the steering box, but in most cases GM put a reinforcement plate inside the frame wherever something that was going to stress it some was mounted. The problem is that in most cases that reinforcement was just tacked in place so it wouldn’t move until the bolts that held whatever it was were tightened down. In those cases if you put a slightly uneven load on it you would tear through the frame right away.

If that is the way that section is built then it is simple enough to weld through the frame into the parameter of the plate and add a couple of plug welds. If not you can add a reinforcement plate through the crack or even through the front horn of the frame in addition to welding the crack shut.

FWIW, to keep the crack from coming back/spreading worse, I recommend finding the end of the crack now and drill it with an 1/8” or so drill bit before welding it

 

That shouldnt be very hard to fix, depending on how large the crack is. Go to a body shop and have them give you a price. Check a couple to compare prices.

As far as your inspection goes, could you just take it somewhere else?? You might be surprised what different people catch and dont catch on safety inspections, but either way you should take care of it.

 

Thanks for ur help!

The previous owner tried to weld it up.From under the hood,everything looks ok.It wasen't good enough for them!

I had to tow back the car from inspection cauz the say it was a major problem.Now i can't drive it anywere or i could get 3000$ fine...Figure it 50 buck a tow ride,i think i will chose the closest body shop from home,even if the are more expensive!The nearest on is about 25 milles.

From what i've learned in my search here,this is a common problem on early 3rdgen.Does other gm car/truck have this problem?Cause i never seen or heard anything like that before.

Does anyone have a pic of that,so i could show my T/A bodies...they all check their car after that story