Underbody Rust and Bad Subframe - now what?

[Maine_2JZ]

Sooo.... as i already posted, i got a realy good deal on a 97 GSX auto a few weeks ago.
i expected a few bugs, that ive started working out over the past 2 weeks
with help from members here, and just general reading of other posts with the same problems.. Thanks Everyone

well Yesterday i had it in the shop to Replace a rear hub assembly that was bad, and i also asked them to give it a good once over for any other issues, or things to plan for in the future.

i got a call saying that the rear subframe was toast, and someone had fiberglassed some of the underbody n stuff to cove rust (totaly illegal) and they were thinking it was a total loss!!! after talking them down a bit, and asking them to call a shop that repairs autobody, they called me back and said it might only cost 600 - 800 to fix..? hard to estimate without seeing... so i told them to put the new hub in anyways and hope for the best.

anyways, i havent seen how bad it looks, but they told me to not hit any potholes and dont put any weight in the back seat and, get it to a shop ASAP. on the way home yesterday and back to work and home again today i drove like a Grandma - listening to every little sound with fear

Its going in for a look over at a shop tomorrow early afternoon, and i know a guy who does good work that i will also have take a look at it to see if its fixable, worth fixiing etc..

So i guess for now my question is where can i get a rear subrame for the car? new, used? aftermarket?
any links to vendors and part numbers woud be helpful
im sure you guys have better sources then some of the autobody shops

 

[dsmfa9nutter]

So someone used fiberglass to fix a rusted mounting point of the rear subframe? That's what I got out of your post at least. Definitely cut all that fiberglass out and find out what you're working with and get some metal welded in there asap.

 

[caboose]

pictures would be good. Definitely get that crap fiberglass out of there and get the mig out.

 

[NiKKUH_BOViCE]

post pictures of the car, mileage, upgrades and how much you paid for it. only then can we tell you if its worth the 600 to 800 to fix it. just be careful with shops. when you ask them to look over something they tend to blow things way out of proportion to make it look like more needs to get fixed, ergo more money. And dont think that you are buddies with the shop runner, chances are he is a scammer. Have a close friend look at it. Look at it yourself too. If other than this the car is in fair condition, find a junk 2g awd and swap the subframe from there. pictures pictures pictures are worth a thousand words

 

[Maine_2JZ]

post pictures of the car, mileage, upgrades and how much you paid for it. only then can we tell you if its worth the 600 to 800 to fix it. just be careful with shops. when you ask them to look over something they tend to blow things way out of proportion to make it look like more needs to get fixed, ergo more money. And dont think that you are buddies with the shop runner, chances are he is a scammer. Have a close friend look at it. Look at it yourself too. If other than this the car is in fair condition, find a junk 2g awd and swap the subframe from there. pictures pictures pictures are worth a thousand words

havent had a chance to take pictures of the exterior, and i wasnt there to see the underside/let alone take pictures of that.
Car is a 97 all stock gsx auto missing the factory rims with 125k on it . overall it seems to be in very good shape, with a few bugs up untill the rust part..

has a boost leak i tracked down in the TB shaft (just got gaskets and seals today so probably fix that this weekend), car was low on coolant, threw a check engine light if you boost much (do to the leak i think), had the bad Rear wheel bearing that i just replaced. power antena is halfway up, winsheild wipers on the front dont return, so you have to time when you shut them off to get them down. powersteering and alternator belts look pretty worn, some minor rust starting in the front wheelwell lip passenger side, and some surface rust 3-4 inches to the body side of the drivers side front strut tower

i paid $2400 for the car

the shop i took it to for the weel bearing has been good to me in the past, and they wouldnt be the ones fixing the rust/sub frame so i dont know why they would blow it out of proportion as they wont be getting any financal gain out of it. In fact they werent going to put the hub in till told them to go ahead - as they figured it would be a waste to put $$ into it if the car is unrepairable. Im hoping its not as bad as they think, just cause they dont deal with that type of repair.

as far as the guy i know that does autobody being a scammer, umm i guess you are entitled to your opinion from your personal experience, but i can assure you that is not the case. He i a a Deacon at my church, and i trust him fully.
--------------------------------------
the other shop that some guys i know reccomended, were out to lunch when i stopped by after work today, so i didnt really learn anything today - just about when i was leaving one of the workers showed up and took a look under the car just on the ground, and he said it didnt look all that bad. but im not getting my hopes up till it gets up on a lift and has a professional look at it.

still looking for places to buy a subframe in case i need one.
i doubt i can just go find a junk GSX lying around in Maine - but you never know

 

[starscreem]

i got a 2g awd subframe for sale if u end up needing it and ya they are hard to find. and i wish u the best of luck its sad what people do to these cars when there are not to many left in good condition. i wish u the best of luck on that though

 

[Maine_2JZ]

okay, heres a few pictures i just took

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Paint lift /rust starting on the passenger side front

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[jjrock5]

Holy sh!t that's some rust

 

[stevestevesteve]

Try to jack the car up and snap a few pictures of the underbody. By just the pictures you gave us, your GSX has hardly any rust (to be worried about). (Replace fender, grind down shock towers and repaint). Granted your drivers side shock tower is doesnt have a hole in it, and is glassed or filled with Bondo. I good place to check for rust is in the rear wheel wells, in the front part of them. There is a small "ledge" where salt likes to sit and rust through and then rust through the body. Here are some pictures of my car to clarify...

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[kmv]

What ever you see there is usually twice as worst underneath. Here’s my rusted towers when i try to uncover the rust.

 

[Maine_2JZ]

Holy sh!t that's some rust

its really not bad at all - looks way worse in the picture
unless its worse underneath, it feels solid when you push on it
i think its only surface by the tower.

ill definately have em look it all over and fix it all at once if its worth it
its the underbody part that im concered about right now

 

[907gs-t]

What ever you see there is usually twice as worst underneath. Here’s my rusted towers when i try to uncover the rust.

Damn now that's some Cancer there.

 

[Maine_2JZ]

status update
it wasnt the rear subframe
it was the siderails i think they are called
just in front of the rear wheels
they are toast...
one shop quoted about 2500 - 3500 range to fix with factory parts
(not that we can even get them)

another shop is going to fab up new rails, wheel weels, rear trailing arm mounts
and replace my fuel lines for 800 bucks...
im like uh.. okay sounds good to me

so we will see where that goes

supposed to drop it off wednesday

 

[agentorange313]

good luck man. those picture were really hard to look at no joke. its like seeing neglected children.

I am hoping for the best for you, nothing sucks more then getting a useless dsm.

 

[Maine_2JZ]

good luck man. those picture were really hard to look at no joke. its like seeing neglected children.

I am hoping for the best for you, nothing sucks more then getting a useless dsm.

Those nasty rusted towers were another members post,not mine - thank goodness for me...

Status update:

The shop that does fab work SAVED MY CAR
they did exactly what they said they would
fixed the car in 1 1/2 days for 800 bucks !

they removed the side skirts
repiared the badly rusted rockers
fabricated new side/frame rails
rebuilt part of the wheelwells
fabricated new brackets that the rear trailing arms go to
replaced my rear fuel lines
undercoated all the work they did with some nice back goop

i looked under it and they used 1/8" diamond plate on the side/frame rails!!

i just dunno how they can do all that for 800 bucks!!!!!
now i can get back to fixing the other remaining problems

 

[talon_42o]

Nice your lucky I found out today my rear sub-frame is actually toast right near the diff bushings its rusted out now I'm deciding if I should get a new sub-frame from jnz for $650 ?

 

[jdsoza]

Nice your lucky I found out today my rear sub-frame is actually toast right near the diff bushings its rusted out now I'm deciding if I should get a new sub-frame from jnz for $650 ?

How about getting a new tubular subframe from Magnus? only $2500. God if I had a 2G this would be my first modification worth saving every penny for!

 

[talon_42o]

How about getting a new tubular subframe from Magnus? only $2500. God if I had a 2G this would be my first modification worth saving every penny for!

Ya but I don't race I just want a solid 300whp dd.