Big_Chap
06-04-05, 07:06 PM
Hey, just finished replacing the crossmember on my Nova GSi XE, kept a bit of a photo diary with a view to posting it here as i couldn't find info myself when researching the job before hand.
gonna keep it relatively short as there are lots of pics, (tried to crop a bit aswell!)
here is the problem, felt the car pull to one side ever so slightly so pulled off and inspected, couldn't see much so then looked under the front bumper and realised i was in a bit of trouble, knew it was a bit soft, just not this much! lucky i stopped as i was about to slap a saab 900 turbo down a dual carriage way...
the tie bar had "sheared" the cross member around the area of the tie bar bracket. the damage is easier to see from the 3rd pic, the 4th is just to show the surprisingly good condition of the the usually rotten headlamp area.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/untitled1.bmp
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/untitled.bmp
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00113.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00115.jpg
the front coilovers had seen better days (purchased in 1996!) so i whipped them off to avo to see if they could be re-furb'd, turns out they were too far gone so i ordered a full new set (could have gotten away with just the dampers being replaced) with the brucie bonus being that they now have rear height adjustment!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00117.jpg
got myself a new crossmember (?48 from local parts supplier), the relevant harry hockley plates and then it was up to a mate to weld it all up. strengthened all the spot welded areas with stitch welds and fully welded the plates around the tie bar brackets.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00127.jpg
i then sent the crossmember to be powder coated (only to seal the hollow section of the crossmember and to replace all paint which was burnt during the welding)
here is the finished article along with re-furb'd tie bar brackets, poly bushes and avo coilovers
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00132.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00137.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00151.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00150.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00149.jpg
i also got to work cutting out the old crossmember and replacing any metal which looked like letting me down in the next wee while
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00141.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00154.jpg
getting the perfect fit for the new crossmember meant constantly bolting up the crossmember, marking the chassis legs, removing the crossmember and cutting. i wasn't too confident with the material around the ends of the chassis legs so i cut back a bit further and rebuilt with fresh steel, the drivers side had been pretty much destroyed anyway so it was time to refresh the old plating and fabrication skills.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00160.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00164.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00166.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00168.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00158.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00162.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00181.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00182.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00184.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00186.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00191.jpg
now with eveything welded in place, all thats left is a clean up of the welds and slap some underseal on.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00201.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00202.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00204.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00203.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00198.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00206.jpg
fitted the rear coilovers and now i just have to play about with the settings :D
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00197.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00207.jpg
gonna keep it relatively short as there are lots of pics, (tried to crop a bit aswell!)
here is the problem, felt the car pull to one side ever so slightly so pulled off and inspected, couldn't see much so then looked under the front bumper and realised i was in a bit of trouble, knew it was a bit soft, just not this much! lucky i stopped as i was about to slap a saab 900 turbo down a dual carriage way...
the tie bar had "sheared" the cross member around the area of the tie bar bracket. the damage is easier to see from the 3rd pic, the 4th is just to show the surprisingly good condition of the the usually rotten headlamp area.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/untitled1.bmp
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/untitled.bmp
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00113.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00115.jpg
the front coilovers had seen better days (purchased in 1996!) so i whipped them off to avo to see if they could be re-furb'd, turns out they were too far gone so i ordered a full new set (could have gotten away with just the dampers being replaced) with the brucie bonus being that they now have rear height adjustment!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00117.jpg
got myself a new crossmember (?48 from local parts supplier), the relevant harry hockley plates and then it was up to a mate to weld it all up. strengthened all the spot welded areas with stitch welds and fully welded the plates around the tie bar brackets.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00127.jpg
i then sent the crossmember to be powder coated (only to seal the hollow section of the crossmember and to replace all paint which was burnt during the welding)
here is the finished article along with re-furb'd tie bar brackets, poly bushes and avo coilovers
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00132.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00137.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00151.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00150.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00149.jpg
i also got to work cutting out the old crossmember and replacing any metal which looked like letting me down in the next wee while
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00141.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00154.jpg
getting the perfect fit for the new crossmember meant constantly bolting up the crossmember, marking the chassis legs, removing the crossmember and cutting. i wasn't too confident with the material around the ends of the chassis legs so i cut back a bit further and rebuilt with fresh steel, the drivers side had been pretty much destroyed anyway so it was time to refresh the old plating and fabrication skills.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00160.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00164.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00166.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00168.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00158.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00162.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00181.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00182.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00184.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00186.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00191.jpg
now with eveything welded in place, all thats left is a clean up of the welds and slap some underseal on.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00201.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00202.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00204.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00203.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00198.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00206.jpg
fitted the rear coilovers and now i just have to play about with the settings :D
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00197.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/Big_Chap/Crossmember/DSC00207.jpg