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So me and my father were looking over my new to me 91 civic hatchback. We were checking out the rear when we noticed this dent in the rear subframe. I was wondering if this was fixable in it's current state, or if I have to go and find a replacement and get all the welds redone. Also if the CRX and the sedans of the same years would work for the replacement if thats the way I have to go.
The rear subframe is welded to the chassis. The only way to replace it is to drill out the spot welds and weld in a new part. The U channel in the middle is made out of very thin metal and can be easily damaged. Often people will attempt to jack the car from the subframe and end up crushing it.
I would not attempt to replace it but rather strengthen it. I did this to my CRX to prevent the subframe from cracking, which is a common failure for cars running slicks. I used 1/8" x 1.5" strips of steal welded on all three sides of the U channel along with strips connecting the pickup points to the chassis. This does require dropping the fuel tank but that isn't that difficult.
I would not attempt to replace it but rather strengthen it. I did this to my CRX to prevent the subframe from cracking, which is a common failure for cars running slicks. I used 1/8" x 1.5" strips of steal welded on all three sides of the U channel along with strips connecting the pickup points to the chassis. This does require dropping the fuel tank but that isn't that difficult.
Assuming you mean for this to be a daily(ish) car, and based on personal experience with a car I still have (and love despite all the trouble)...
Take the fuel tank down. If it lines back up with no issue then take it for an alignment and make sure it's reasonably close. If so, THEN definitely do exactly as TacoCat says. If not, find a trustworthy bodyshop that does serious insurance work and see if they can rack it (I think this is a technical term but I'm honestly not sure). Basically they'll wrench and pull and smoosh the everloving crap out of it until it's roughly right. Make sure they check all four corners, since in my case they focused on a front corner and missed almost this exact issue on that same corner (sigh).
So me and my father were looking over my new to me 91 civic hatchback. We were checking out the rear when we noticed this dent in the rear subframe. I was wondering if this was fixable in it's current state, or if I have to go and find a replacement and get all the welds redone. Also if the CRX and the sedans of the same years would work for the replacement if thats the way I have to go.
hey bud, just wondering what you did to fix this issue, took it in for an alignment and it’s 1° out of whack even after maxing something out (not sure what it was they maxed out), mines in the same spot as yours with similar damage, thank you
What we ended up doing was we used a porta power to push it back into place, and then braced the subframe with metal plates on either side of it bolted into the subframe followed by an ASR subframe brace. I've been driving it for almost 3 years now and the alignment is mint and the car has never had an issue since!
91 Civic Hatchback Rear Subframe
Re: 91 Civic Hatchback Rear Subframe
