scott_06

Okay, im hoping that some one on here has been through this problem and knows if its fixable or not. Now im not sure what part this is called so i will try to explain the best that I can.

On the rear end, it looks as their are two brackets on each side of the car to prevent the rear end to flex/move. Now the brackets that connet to the rear end to the back wheel well, looks the be a squar bracket with a bolt in the middle. They both rusted through. So now when you give the car gas to move, the rear end will twist. I will try to get pictures up tomorw so you know what im talking about, but mainly i was wondering if that is fixable or is the car is trashed now. And if it is fixable, would it be cheaper to just buy a new body? I would think a fab shop could do some new custom brakets to hold that part onto the car. Any help would be great!! =(

Thanks!!

jeezy25

i had a similsr problem with the upper controls arms on my old 7. the brackets you are talking about could be the watts link or control arm bracket. what the watts link does is center the axle under your car. if you have a body shop fix it your into upper hundreds...maybe thousand dollar range. get a panhard rod. it does the same thing your watts link does but it does a better job. go to gforceengineering.com and look it up. it costs 299 plus shipping. if it is one of the control arms get a new body...thats what i did

post pics for bettter help

Kentetsu

I don't think he's talking about the watts linkage. Sounds more like the rear control arms, or whatever they're called. Welding in new mounts will be your only option. Whether or not this is a feasible solution will depend on whether or not there is good metal there to weld to. Good luck.



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scott_06

Hmm.. lol I am going to put pictures up, so that way people can see what i am talking about..

Thanks for the info that iv gotton from you guys so far!!=)

2cute

if its the watts linkage which it soundslike your refereing to then as already said panhard bars or new watts linkage would fix it.

if its the control arms then again thats replaceable.

here is the rear suspension setup on the SA/FB



what part are you having a problem with?

scott_06

"2cute" THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I tried finding somthing like that.

14,17,19,20 Just that part of the bar on both sides. There is some kind of a square plate that 14 slide inbetween and that rusted straght down the middle. so you can see the bolt move when you start to move the car.

scott_06

Fom these pictures you can tell how bad the damage is. The driver side rear is the worst. Well, fixable?

Passager Rear:



Drver Rear:

2cute

that would be part of/be the control arm

the only way to fix the plate is to have a new one welded in.

as for the control arm itself if you want a cheap OEM replacement try www.blackdragonauto.com

or get panhard bars. i believe that ground control makes them still or maybe mazdatrix.....i cant recall momentarily

trochoid

iTrader: (6)

That is very typical of our cars. What I do is grind/chisel/cut all of the rusted parts of the lipped bracket out. If you can still see the dimples for the spot welds, drill those out and pry the bracket off. Use the bracket to make a patch from 3/16" mild steel plate and drill at least 4-3/8" hole in the plate for spot welds. Grind all of the rust off under and around where the patch goes, spray with weld through primer and weld the patch on. Weld both the spot weld holes and the perimeter of the patch. Don't forget to drill out the access hole for the bolt head.

Once the welding is done, shoot it with an epoxy primer or POR-15, then coat the outer weld and spot welds with autobody seam sealer. I then coat everything with DupliColor truck bed liner instead of the typical spray on undercoating. If you want to see some of the work I've done on mine, click on the last link in my sig. While you're under there, you might as well treat all of the rust and restore everything you can get to to prevent further damage. This will save more extensive repair work later on.

You're bracket is for the lower control arms. What I've found is the upper control arm brackets usually rust out completely first, so check those and post pics from the underneath and from inside the bins. If your rearend is rotating or hitting the bottom of the car, it's usually due to the uppers being rusted out.

Also check the rubber bushings at all connection points. As mentioned, replace them with ReSpeed's urethane bushing kit. As a habit, any part that I take off of a car gets refurbished. That's one way to do a restoration, piece by piece.
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scott_06

Thats is some great info ^^!! Now with this new braket, will it be able to with stand all of the power from everyday driving? Also, I dont have a welder or anything like that, just basic tools. If I had a fab shop do the work do you think they would charge alot? Just from your experince? Iv never ran into a problem like this before. Thanks for all the info again!

trochoid

iTrader: (6)

Have any friends with a portable 110 volt welder? A shop will cost you and arm/leg and first born. If you plan on doing more restoration and need more welding, it would be cheaper to buy a 110 v. mig welder and learn how to weld. When I start a project or phase of a project that I don't have the skills or tools to complete it, I look at what it will take to learn the skill and buy the needed tools, along with the cost/benefit ratio between sending the work out or buying the needed tools/equipment. Tool purchase usually wins out and I have that tool and skill for the next time.

Pay a shop to do the work and all you get is cash out and and a repair that may/maynot meet the needed standards. I tend to get ****, most shop work does not meet my standards.

scott_06

I dont know anyone with a welder, but I could find someone around here who would, and possably know what they are doing. I know what you mean by you like to do your own work. I try to do all mine, it gets tough though when you dont have a garage. Your right about shops.. Always out to A$$ rape. All the info has been more than helpful! I now know what way I need to go about this! Thanks alot!!

2cute

honestly a shop will charge you a fair amount of money to do that. that is true.

but if you dont know how to weld and you dont want your car sitting on a rack for a long period of time then id say just get it handled.

also there are other companies that make bushings for the 7.

i just got done revamping my suspension and i used energy suspension poly bushings. they are great.

fortunately for me though i live in so cal and my car is from here so i dont have any rust