Some of you will have seen that I have been replacing all of my front bushes and ball joints, I am now at the point of repainting all the components before replacing them back on to the car.

However now would be the time to remove the subframe/crossmember to do some more rustproffing if I was ever to do it,

but......

would I regret trying to do it as there are so many stories of sheared off bolts.

The first two I have tried, holding on the X frame have already sheared off, see pic below. So should I just wire brush as best as I can and repaint or try to get the whole unit out.

Can someone also tell me what these bolts go into in this box section under the radiator, is there some kind of captive nut, is there any way in to the other side?

 

Race,

I really admire your work so far and have thoroughly enjoyed your posts. That being said, my gut feeling is that your car cancer is stage 4 and your best course is to put a little lip stick on the old doll and move on. There comes a time when time, effort and expense no longer pay off.

If time, effort and expense is no object then love is all you got and you go forward with that.

 

i agree with Tarheel, that thing is seriously rusted. come down south and buy a car. they dont have any of that. oh nevermind I see youre in the UK

 

Being from the UK, I think pretty much every 10 year old car here will look similar, certainly all the cars here in Scotland will.

Believe it or not is has snowed here virtually every day in the last two weeks and the roads have been salted pretty much every day so far this March.

Time is not too much of a problem as we have more cars than drivers in the house, and doing most of the work means that the cost is not too much either, it's mainly my skill that limits what I can tackle.

Given I have recently also changed job and now commute with Kim, she now sees that we have two spare V8 convertibles so suggesting that we buy another would not go down well.

So I'm stuck with it.

 

Hi,
id say go for it. A good light sandblast and powdercoat/repaint with new bolts would look and feel great.

Good Luck

Steveeasy