Replacing the front subframe bushings.

large wooden blocks straddle the subframe to lift the body

image

The first step in this is to loosen the bolts on all of the mounts. There are four going to the car’s body and two on the radiator support. After they’re all loosened I removed the bolt from the left side by the firewall. This is a picture of my rig to jack the body away from the subframe. It consists of two 8″ scraps of 4×8 post resting on a block of 2×8. I took the extra step of sliding a plate of 1/4″ steel between the body and subframe for the blocks to rest on.

Once there was enough clearance I slid out the remains of the old bushing. That let me get a good look at the mounting point.

rusted subframe mount at the firewall on 1968 camaro
So I think THIS is what all those rusted out ones looked like.

Uh oh. That’s rusted through. There should be a 1 1/2″ hole there. Instead it’s almost 2 1/2″ across. The bushing falls through. I have repair parts ordered for that now in addition to the bushings I was ready to put in.