body and interior Just Bought a Parts Car, Maybe NOT a Parts Car -- Advice on Welding Rear Subframe Mount

[thehackmechanic]

I just bought a '73 2002 that I'd looked at back in the fall and decided was a parts car due to the fact that the right side of the rear subframe was practically touching the ground because the mount point (the long bolt that goes through under the back seat) had rotted out. That was over and above some usual 2002 rust (right rocker completely gone, right rear shock tower very weak) and the car not having run in five years. I made the guy a criminally low offer for it, and today, to my surprise, he accepted.

 

I don't yet have the car in my possession, but due in part to some good-natured public shaming of me on Facebook by Mike Miller, I'm rethinking my plan to part it out. I'm showing pics here. The car looks much better in the pics than it is in person. The pic of interest is the last one, showing where the rear subframe bushing is hanging below the level of the (rusty) right rocker.

 

I believe the part number of the "mounting plate" through which the attachment bolt goes is 41121815320, but obviously the part is the least of my concerns. I have never done a lick of welding in my life, but this being beneath the car, maybe it's a good place for me to start, as it's out of sight. How difficult is this to tackle? What sort of welding equipment do I need? Is it reasonable to think I just apply my Hack Mechanic skills and muddle through by looking at Youtube videos, or am I an idiot to consider it unless I enroll in a welding class?

 

--Rob

 

 

 

[arminyack]

Ouch... Tough call..... That's a lot of rust back there.... But my underlying thought adheres to they don't make them anymore.... And if it can be saved.... Save it! It's almost like a duty!

Edited March 26, 2015 by arminyack

[Henning]

Well, Rob-

that's not enough info to decide what to do with the car, I'm afraid. What about the interior, drivetrain (matching numbers?), suspensions, history, title?

The subframe mount(s) and the shock tower(s) wouldn't be the main key for me, but without welding knowledge... Hm.

Used to be inka, very famous...  No sunroof... A 73! The best year, they say!

Drag it home, give it a caring clean incl. vac, take a barrel of pics and then let's see.

Cheers,

Henning

[arminyack]

+1 for the 80's cassete boom box in the trunk! I believe I had a similar one in 1983!

[M3M3]

that is a pretty serious place to rust.  the mount location is complicated, hard to get at, and must be precise as that is what defines the rear axle alignment.  that is not a place to learn how to weld....

 

also pretty obvious that the rear shock tower needs to be replaced.  another major job.

 

that is pretty close to a parts car.  need to see the frame rail pics, the left rear shock tower and what lies underneath the front carpets near the a-pillars before dealing the final blow.

Edited March 2, 2015 by mlytle

[jgerock]

+1 on Marshall's comments.

 

Car looks like an early 73 or late 72 due to deep bucket grills, close rear bumper and low front overriders.

 

Are those red center tail light lenses?

[TobyB]

yeah, like Marshall, I'd say

given how awful that butt looks, get the front fenders off.  

 

10 years ago I cut up nicer- looking cars.

 

Now, however, if the pix are the worst of it, it might be worth saving. 

 

But I bet there's worse under there!

 

t

[thehackmechanic]

Thanks folks.

 

Jim, yes -- red center lenses.

 

Here's a pic of the interior. Fairly complete, decent condition, uncut door cards with the usual water damage and crinkly chrome.

 

And yes, I'm keeping the Prototipo steering wheel.

 

It's currently in the seller's garage. He doesn't need it out of there today or tomorrow. I can wait out Boston's bad winter, at least to some extent. I think I may have it towed home and sus out the condition of the engine before I decide what to do with it. It's probably worth more to someone else whole, intact, and running than it is to me as a parts car, and it may be more in line with what the car's future should be.

 

We'll see.

[ray_]

What Toby said, tho I do hate to agree with him.   

 

You may well be seeing the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

 

Cheers,

[roadhog0]

Looks like lots of good parts at least! I may be in contact for a few for my recently acquired Tii! I'm curious what ya got it for. See if it beats some of my scores

Edited March 2, 2015 by roadhog0

[Mike Self]

Even though you don't have the welding skills, if you can get it running, someone who really wants a 2002 and does have welding skills will want it.  And since they ain't makin' any more, you may well save one from the crusher.  That rusty right rear wheel arch can be repaired as it stands without replacing.  I did one side of my '69 by MIG welding in a heavy plate on the inside, then reinforcing the spring perch inside the wheel well.  It's been doing just fine since I fixed it back about 1986.  Repairing the subframe mount wouldn't be terribly difficult if you can find a sound replacement from a nice CA or AZ parts car.  Make a cardboard template from the sound left side, flip it over and you have a template to locate your repair piece.  

 

Welding both places is more "agricultural" -- strength is more important than beauty, so a commercial welding shop (vs an auto body shop) would be a more economical.  I had such a shop repair a rusted frame on my Nissan truck some years ago, and they did a great job very reasonably.  And you can always check out any vocational schools in the area--either to take a welding course yourself or whether one of the classes there would take on welding up your car.

 

So my vote would be--get it running and price some welding repairs--or sell as is body-wise but running/stopping.  Nice steering wheel, BTW.

 

cheers

mike

 

PS--someone with a 68 or 69 is gonna want to trade you for those red center lenses....they've been  NLA since about Sept 1969...

Edited March 2, 2015 by mike

[ohioplatt]

So, are you looking for an objective opinion or some support to build a case to buying a car?  You do know the house to which you are playing I am sure.

[thehackmechanic]

I've already bought the car; I just don't have it at my house yet. I'm looking for opinion on a) whether rust that has caused one of the rear subframe mount points to break away from the body clearly puts the car into parts car territory, and whether it's reasonable to think that I can yank it back from that fate to the side of the living by learning to weld it myself. 

 

I've already given it something of a stay of execution -- I've decided to get it home, see if I can get it running, and examine the full extent of the rust before I start pulling parts off it to satisfy the eager masses.

[Conserv]

And after you've honed your welding skills on the (formerly-Inka) '73, Rob, you'll be ready to tackle this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/161620821343?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

It's been repeat-listed at least 6 times, achieved a high bid of $3,350, but still has a reserve hovering, I suspect, somewhere north of $8,000.

Good luck on this project: I'm hoping you pull it back from the parts-car precipice!

Regards,

Steve

[Grover]

Seems to make sense to first see if you can get it running and stopping reasonably well, in addition to doing an inventory, of sorts, on the rest of the needs the car has. If you want to learn to weld, I'd say go for it. Buy a MIG welder, do some practice on some similar gauge sheet metal, and then take a stab at the easiest parts first. I'd imagine that, at the very least, you could fix the rear arches functionally. If it's butt ugly and you just decide you don't want to tackle the bigger stuff, then you can still always sell it at that point or pay someone else to finish the welding. I took a similar approach when starting work on my Alfa and have really enjoyed the process of learning to weld and my skills have improved over the last year. Go ahead, just try it.