Please check my sub frame welds

[GTRSOAR]

I wrecked the hat of the flange that secures one of the arm of the A-frame on the RR wheelwell. I tried to patch it up best I could but im building this car for AutoX and I dont want to break half way through a run :P What do you think? Please no flames, already bummed out enough from the crash...

BEFORE:





AFTER:

[Dragon Humper]

Hmmmmm..........looks a little like a chicken dragged it's ass across there. It's tough to do quality work with a stick machine thats not quite up to the job.

I would grind all the dinggle blobs off now that you have some material in there and run a nice hot cap pass across the whole joint. Don't worry about making it too hot, just don't blow a hole in it. If you were using 1/8th 7018 rod, drop down to 3/32 7018 and really pay attention to the weld puddle. Make that puddle crawl nice and slow pausing at the edges longer to get a nice build-up then drag it across slow enough to keep the puddle size the same (about 3 times the size of the rod with the flux is about right). If you have some scrap metal around to practice on that makes things look a whole lot better. Make sure it's the same basic thickness as your final weld piece.

When you are doing the verticles (the sides) make sure you have at least a 45deg. upward angle on the rod to push the metal up as you weld to keep it from blobing up as you make your way upward.



Jon.

[GTRSOAR]

Damn, wish you replied last night, I waited a few hours for a response then said to hell with it and put on the new knuckle and control arms. I hope it all stays together

[GTRSOAR]

Thx for the experienced input though

[Dragon Humper]

No worries, it looks strong enough, just not pretty enough. If some jackass gives you a VI for no particular reason and the shop has a hate-on for RHD vehicles you may fail because of that. Not because it's inadequate, just because it's not pretty.

You should be fine otherwise.



Jon.

[GTRSOAR]

Ok good, so in your opinion its structurally sound, just looks haggard? (Which I agree) If i get a VI then the shop would have to re-weld and my wallet would take the hit, but no big deal, right?

[Dragon Humper]

My guess is the shop wouldn't touch that with a 10 foot cattle prod, they would be too worried about liability issues. As long as you painted the area to keep it from rusting and drive it for a bit to dirty it up no-one will even notice it. From the pics it looks good enough (I could be more confident if I could see it in person) and the basic structure from the factory is still in place so you should be fine.



Jon.

[GTRSOAR]

Oh crap totally forgot about a corrosion paint! If I use a proper spray type paint will it be alright without having to take off the arm from the A-frame? The weight of the knuckle rly makes the job of bitch

[leeaspin]

If you ever do more welding and need help with anything pm me and I'll give you a quick response

[derk]

dude.. just get a new subframe, that one is tweaked, you can clearly see that its been pushed in where that tab is.

[Dragon Humper]

I don't know what you are seeing, looks fine to me. If (and that`s a big if) it`s bent alittle, you would need a Lazer Table to find it and it would be in the .100 inch range. There is no paint flaking or anything else in the before pics that indicate that the subframe is bent. That and the latteral locating portion of the bracket is the bottom, not the top.

Just use some good Chassis black from Eastwood (or Crappy Tire if you are willing to lower your standards), you can get it from KMS Tools for about $15.



Jon.

[disrupt]

I would consider paying a ticketed/journey man welder to grind that out and reweld that or get a new subframe. This is not what you want to hear but the next time your on a familiar road and the urge comes on, your hurling down the highway at +200km or ripping around your favorite corner. The last thing you want to be wondering about is if a suspension mount is going to fail.

[Dragon Humper]

I am a ticketed welder and it looks fine, stop scaring the man. All of the important parts are intact and an inward push is the only real stress on that mount. With the subframe directly inboard of the mount it's just as strong as the engineers ment it to be.




Jon.

[JBNR32]

Looks kinda sketchy to me, but I'm only an autobody tech. If you're worried about it being bent, one easy way to check if its bent is to cross measure the xmember at the mounting bolts. They're super heavy duty, from that hit I doubt its out of square. Since its a control arm I'd probably weld a plate across the top, seeing as how you've beat the metal back to its original place not to mention heat it up with welding it has probably work hardened the metal and its prone to cracking now. Its a control arm, pretty important to keep attatched.

[GTRSOAR]

Car has been put back together and is back on the road. Thx for all the help guys