I thought we were going to need a new subframe for ours. Got lucky, though, as it seemed to have survived the rust invasion. But preparing for worse news, I did some research. Turns out that Chrysler used that same subframe for a lot of K body lines, from '84 to at least '90. As well as other chassis components. My advice: Try searching for a cheaper, less-sought-after model Chrysler car from that same era. Something like a Reliant, which was also powered by the 2.2 and 2.5.
@thefinalroman you can get the 89up with the dual pivots instead of the stupid stub and then swap the knuckles, it opens up alot of possibilities, like get the hubs, rotors, calipers, etc from a 90 Shelby Daytona, they are 12" rotors, get the bigger sway bar, get a reman rack. Lots of upgrades possible. You can literally buy everything at whatever auto parts store you want except for the K frame and knuckles, But you can find that stuff on a forum somewhere, Don't even have to go to the junkyard
@@josmith213 interesting fact on the 89. Is the transmission strut mount different on a newer frame? I assume that would have to be fabricated but shouldn’t be a huge deal. I appreciate all of you guys’ suggestions and input. This community is the best. We’ll see what we end up with, in talking with Steven Seale at turbododgeparts.com, it sounds like he has several different options I’m going to look into!
@@TheMoparGarage I believe the trans. strut mount is the same on the newer frame. I've had to replace a few of these in the past. Some with a junkyard piece, a NOS center section purchased from Forward Motion as the one on the 87 Shelby Z was beyond repair. I had to replace the trans bobble strut mount on the GLH that got peeled off. That required a reinforcement plate welded on...that's as much reconditioning I've done on the K-frames. My 86 Turbo Z has the 89 double pivot K-frame that the prior owner put on and it looks to fit in with no issues.
@@notsigningupforshit thanks man, good stuff to know. These K frames seem to be a weak point so I think no matter what year I replace with, I’m going to have it reinforced. Hearing from so many people that the 89 is a better unit, even if it does require some modification to work, I’m leaning towards going that direction.
Glad you got the subframe down - what a chore! My 2 cents worth on the subframe would be to get it completely out and take it to a welder and have it fixed/improved. My thought is that if it broke before, good chance others you find (if you can find one) will likely have the same issue, if not now, probably later on.
Getting rid of those welds is absolutely worth the work. The original bolts were large for a reason: Those turbo chargers put a lot of torque stress on the subframe, especially with the lag that was common prior to TII. If that motor turned out to be running well, those welds would eventually break. That would have been a very bad day. Also, the nuts for those original bolts allowed for a controlled amount of subframe movement. That was important for the stability of the suspension. Without that, that's even more stress being put onto those welds.
Thanks for the info! I think I found a subframe from Turbo Dodge Parts. Those welds were so bad, I didn’t want to risk it. The right rear mounting point is kind of messed up from all the crappy welds and will need to be fabricated a bit. TBD how much works it’s going to involve.
@@TheMoparGarage I'm not in my shop at the moment, so can't look at ours before taking an oath. But I'm pretty sure that the mount points won't be a problem. Should be able to just grind the surfaces smooth. A slight bend in either direction will be just fine. Not likely to be the case, though, because that's actually some very solid steel. And judging by the quality of the welds, doesn't look like they got hot enough to weaken or crack the mounts. Crappy welds are really good at making things look worse than they appear, ha! I wouldn't bother grinding too much around the sides. Just the mount surfaces...you'll be able see from there whether things are good. The rest, I would smooth only enough so that I can get some protective paint/coating fully covering.
This was filmed a few weeks ago, we’re going to be purchasing a new subframe instead of repairing what we have. What do you guys think?
Go with the 89+ subframe and that head u had was crossdrilled so it wasn't the original head anyways...
@@thefinalroman oh interesting. That’s good to know!
I thought we were going to need a new subframe for ours. Got lucky, though, as it seemed to have survived the rust invasion.
But preparing for worse news, I did some research. Turns out that Chrysler used that same subframe for a lot of K body lines, from '84 to at least '90. As well as other chassis components. My advice: Try searching for a cheaper, less-sought-after model Chrysler car from that same era. Something like a Reliant, which was also powered by the 2.2 and 2.5.
Back in the 80s and 90s those 2.2 and 2.5 were notorious for cracked heads!!
Big time! Keep an eye out for a video coming soon on the new head. Thanks for watching!
Scrap that k-frame, not worth fixing unless for content. Get a 89 k-frame and it gets rid of the rear stub shaft and has a dual pivot control arm.
isn't the balljoint/knuckle different?
@thefinalroman you can get the 89up with the dual pivots instead of the stupid stub and then swap the knuckles, it opens up alot of possibilities, like get the hubs, rotors, calipers, etc from a 90 Shelby Daytona, they are 12" rotors, get the bigger sway bar, get a reman rack. Lots of upgrades possible. You can literally buy everything at whatever auto parts store you want except for the K frame and knuckles, But you can find that stuff on a forum somewhere, Don't even have to go to the junkyard
@@josmith213 interesting fact on the 89. Is the transmission strut mount different on a newer frame? I assume that would have to be fabricated but shouldn’t be a huge deal. I appreciate all of you guys’ suggestions and input. This community is the best. We’ll see what we end up with, in talking with Steven Seale at turbododgeparts.com, it sounds like he has several different options I’m going to look into!
@@TheMoparGarage I believe the trans. strut mount is the same on the newer frame. I've had to replace a few of these in the past. Some with a junkyard piece, a NOS center section purchased from Forward Motion as the one on the 87 Shelby Z was beyond repair. I had to replace the trans bobble strut mount on the GLH that got peeled off. That required a reinforcement plate welded on...that's as much reconditioning I've done on the K-frames. My 86 Turbo Z has the 89 double pivot K-frame that the prior owner put on and it looks to fit in with no issues.
@@notsigningupforshit thanks man, good stuff to know. These K frames seem to be a weak point so I think no matter what year I replace with, I’m going to have it reinforced. Hearing from so many people that the 89 is a better unit, even if it does require some modification to work, I’m leaning towards going that direction.
That rack was from a junkyard u can tell by the grease paint they used.
I was thinking that as well. I doubt it’s even a Shelby quick turn one.
Glad you got the subframe down - what a chore! My 2 cents worth on the subframe would be to get it completely out and take it to a welder and have it fixed/improved. My thought is that if it broke before, good chance others you find (if you can find one) will likely have the same issue, if not now, probably later on.
Great thought! I’ve been able to source a good used one I think, but that’s a good idea. I’ll still have it reinforced before it goes in.
@@TheMoparGarage Even better!!
Turbo dodge parts! Steve is the goat!
Better believe it!! Welcome to the channel my friend, thanks for watching.
Getting rid of those welds is absolutely worth the work. The original bolts were large for a reason: Those turbo chargers put a lot of torque stress on the subframe, especially with the lag that was common prior to TII. If that motor turned out to be running well, those welds would eventually break. That would have been a very bad day.
Also, the nuts for those original bolts allowed for a controlled amount of subframe movement. That was important for the stability of the suspension. Without that, that's even more stress being put onto those welds.
Thanks for the info! I think I found a subframe from Turbo Dodge Parts. Those welds were so bad, I didn’t want to risk it. The right rear mounting point is kind of messed up from all the crappy welds and will need to be fabricated a bit. TBD how much works it’s going to involve.
@@TheMoparGarage I'm not in my shop at the moment, so can't look at ours before taking an oath. But I'm pretty sure that the mount points won't be a problem. Should be able to just grind the surfaces smooth.
A slight bend in either direction will be just fine. Not likely to be the case, though, because that's actually some very solid steel. And judging by the quality of the welds, doesn't look like they got hot enough to weaken or crack the mounts. Crappy welds are really good at making things look worse than they appear, ha! I wouldn't bother grinding too much around the sides. Just the mount surfaces...you'll be able see from there whether things are good. The rest, I would smooth only enough so that I can get some protective paint/coating fully covering.