Frame/A Arm failure
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 123
Likes: 0
From: Wertheim Baden-Württemberg Germany
Have a lady friend over here that had the same cracks on the drivers side.Wasn't as bad as the OP's,but still enough that it was snapping loudly when she turned the wheels at a standstill,and you could visably see the engine buck up to one side,as if it had a broken mount.And this was a Stock 79 L82 that never saw any abuse in the 15 odd years she's owned it.Big plate of 8mm steel fixed it.
Also have another c3 (76)where the frame is cracked behind the A-Arms on both the driver and passenger side.
These were exactly the things (among others) I looked for when we bought ours.Still check these areas occasionally.I don't auto X,but I do beat mine up twisty mountain roads.
When I do ever get around to my frame off,it will be more or less to beef things up,and not so much to make it show quality.And maybe a cage, since my other half won't let me have side pipes.
Last edited by Ravoll; Oct 22, 2014 at 03:45 AM.
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 3,961
Likes: 573
From: Lompoc, CA. Santa Barbara County
I forgot to update. I completely removed the lower bracket, straightened it out and mounted it back in place by drilling four of the rosette holes, and bolted it in place using header bolts (with allen heads for clearance) and nuts. Once it was bolted back in place, I had my neighbor weld a bead on each side. That sucker will never come away from the frame again. While we were welding, I had him weld a bead on one side of the driver's side bracket.
I have to pull my blown engine soon, so I can then get in there and weld some more support. Since I put it back exactly where it was, alignment was not a problem.
Bee Jay
I have to pull my blown engine soon, so I can then get in there and weld some more support. Since I put it back exactly where it was, alignment was not a problem.
Bee Jay
