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Rotted out subframe mount


Addicted2bass

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Me and two of my friends started doing the rack and pinion on the TGP last night. When we noticed the front passenger subframe mount was gone, rotted away, so the subframe is no longer attached to the body in that spot. Im having problems finding new mounts, Napa doesnt have them and they are discontinued at the dealership. I found several online that are listed for 94-96 GPs.

 

http://www.am-autoparts.com/Pontiac/GrandPrix/BodyMounts/AM-29202117/363558.html

 

Will these work for my car?

 

I also found that there was a recall for this problem. Although im sure I couldnt get a dealership to honor it at this point.

http://www.w-body.com/showthread.php/1641-UPDATE-on-safety-recall-regarding-rusted-engine-cradle-bolts

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the mount itself is gone? :eek:

 

i was just looking at the GP's the other day when i was replacing the rack, but i didn't think they were in any way replacable.

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Yes its gone, well mostly, its broken off where it attaches to the subframe. I don't understand why because their is zero rust anywhere else on this car. Ill take pictures if I go back up there tonight if that would help. The subframe is going to need welding where the mount broke, but thats not a problem, my friend whos shop its at is an excellent welder. He says he can weld the whole thing back together, but its going to be a big project. Id rather find the mounts and do it right. Any idea if those 94-96 mounts will work?

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Take it the dealer if it was recalled. Recalls are ALWAYS honored regardless of the car being 2 decades out of warranty. That's what makes it a recall. I personally had to do recall work at my dealership on 20 year old junk piles with 300k miles. You'll probably ruin the technician's day, but tis life in this business.

Edited by jman093
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Problem is the body to subframe mounts are discontinued so im sure they would just refuse the job on that fact alone.

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I have talked previously with Adam about whether we could make frame repair parts that are basically a precut metal plate that can be inserted into the frame with a precut hole to fit the bushing. thus you could use this plate to reinforce a good frame or repair a damaged one. While it would make the most sense to weld it in, it could also be easy to potentially hard bolt it in place...

 

here's what is important: the rubber parts should be the same (though they have softer {fe1} and harder{fe3} versions, allegedly) in all gen 1 and gen 1.5 cars. the hard metal parts are slightly different, in that the 93- has a smaller bolt size than the 94+

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I think at this point we are leaning towards getting the lower mounts from the dealer. The body to frame mounts are discontinued so for that we will have to do some welding and fabricating. Luckily I have it up at my friends house who is a expert mechanic and welder and he has a lift in his garage to make this a little easier.

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front is a different size than rear.....

 

What part(s) is particular are we talking about? I sold someone a set of four 88-93 body to frame bushing lower metal retainers(the bottom piece only) for a pretty penny some time ago, and can get more good used ones if needed soon...

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Update: Its fixed!! Thanks to Mike (mra32) for the front subframe mounts. Its pretty scary how close my engine was to falling right out of the car. The passenger side one was completly gone and the drivers side was about to let go.

 

We got everything done last night. Dropped the subframe and my friend welded both sides. At the same time we did the rack & pinion, oil pan gasket and the upper strut mounts. Finished up around 12:30 last night so im prety shot today. Subframes are fucking heavy! I forgot my camera but took a few pics with my friends phone. He is supposed to email them to me.

 

Now I just need an alignment and will be needing tires very soon. Between the bad rack and the subframe being only partially attached my tires didnt last long. No wonder I could never get an alignment to stay!

 

Does anyone know what the hell the sensor on the rack is for? The new rack had a bolt in the place where the sensor would screw in. The old sensor was cracked anyway so we just left it out.

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power steering pressure switch. ECM raises the idle when pressure gets higher than normal(near a lock).

 

you can leave it disconnected without any serious problems.

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