10 replies to this topic

[Miniman1987]

Started to strip down the front subframe to give it a coat of paint and a general refurb and noticed that where the bottom arm pivot slots in has started to split.

Will this need welding or will a decent wire brush and liberal anti rust coating let me use it a while longer?  IMG_1764.JPG   43.6K   64 downloads

[Spider]

It's pretty rusty. Can you sand blast it so you can better assess how much steel is left in it?

 

It looks split as it's actually 2 sheets of steel laminated together. The rust is between the sheets.

[tiger99]

In some countries welded repairs to subframes and suspension components are not allowed. That little problem can most likely be repaired safely and protected against future corrosion, but you may have to cut out a fair amount of metal to get to the rust, so I recommend discussing with your MOT tester whether what you do will be acceptable before possibly wasting a lot of time on it.

Hopefully a repair will be allowed. There is nothing wrong with PROPER welded repairs to anything (including bridges abd such like). After all, welding is used for the manufacture of many highly stressed items.

[sonikk4]

That will have to come apart and in doing so will leave you open for not realigning it all correctly. This in turn will refitting the pin nearly impossible.

 

Now personally i would bin that subbie and buy a decent second hand one. Plenty out there.

[Mini 360]

Replace it.  Plenty structurally rust free sub-frames out there for not much money.

[Hedgey]

There's one in the 'for sale' section at the moment for not much money

[Miniman1987]

I know there are plenty of good condition second hand subs out there but the problem is they are all miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiles away from me and sellers either won't help out with couriers or couriers want a blooming' FORTUNE to transport one. 

 

One of the local mini guys is having a wee poke at it to see if it can be repaired, I've got my fingers crossed...

[nicklouse]

As long as it sits over the head of the wiggle pin it does not matter much.

[Mini 360]

I know there are plenty of good condition second hand subs out there but the problem is they are all miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiles away from me and sellers either won't help out with couriers or couriers want a blooming' FORTUNE to transport one. 

 

One of the local mini guys is having a wee poke at it to see if it can be repaired, I've got my fingers crossed...

Get onto Aberdeen mini Owners club FB page and put a shout out.

[nicklouse]

As long as it sits over the head of the wiggle pin it does not matter much.

Scrub this the anti rotation tab gas rusted off.

[tiger99]

Remember that the pin locates in three places, so you can leave it in two and it will then serve to locate the third. So one of its locations can be cut out at a time, and it's replacement aligned by the pin. So both these rusted layers, which count as only one of its location points, can be cut out and new metal welded in while retaining correct alignment.

But in view of what others are saying and the amount of work involved, perhaps only worth attempting if you can't easily get a replacement subframe. There have been times in my life when I had basically no money and some time, and would have definitely repaired it, off the car. But recently I tend to have some modest amount of money and almost no time, so maybe I would very reluctantly bin it.

If I bought a new or good used one I would probably have it galvanised before fitting.