Also trying to identify the part im looking at. Looks like a crack of some sort. Car drives fine...but this is worrying me.

 

Looks like the K-member.

 

Well ****. That's gonna suck replacing that. Thanks.

 

Might be able to put a weld on it. Else it's going to take some work to pull it. Wheels, brakes, springs, struts, a arms, brake line mounting brackets, support the motor, and undo the mounts. Try your regional board good chance someone has swapped a tubular in and has there stock laying around.

 

Easily accessible, take a grinder and clean out the crack, grind it out si you have full root access and then lay a clean weld over it. Very easy repair.

 

It's just a steel mount bracket. You don't need to replace the entire crossmember because of a crack that can be welded up.

 

yup, damage to that point is no big deal, clean up the rust and have it re-welded where its cracking. check the other side too while you down there.

 

drill a hole in the end of the crack with a drill bit and then grind it, "v" notch it and weld it back up, any exhaust shop should be able to do it.

 

The problem there is the rappy GM welds. All during the 60s, 70s and 80s GM had crappy welds. it's like they hired one handed monkeys to do the welding. On 60s and 70s cars it's even worse, wire stuck everywhere, burned pits and scratches from dragging a hot wire over the part and generally crappy and porous welds are very common. It's so bad I gound out all the welds on my race car c3 corvette and did them all over. It's an easy fix, jsut some work.

 

Doesn't look so much like a "crappy" weld as such, looks more like the weld has just rusted more than the metal around it.

But yeah, probably repairable easily enough, regardless.

 

Took it to my dad's friends house who has a lift...got it welded back up and put a few coats of paint over it. Checked around and everything else was solid.