How to Weld Your Own Subframe Connectors

Mitchell took his time welding both the front and the rear subframe mounts once they were tacked into place. The factory subframe is extremely thin sheetmetal, so it doesn't take much heat to burn through the factory tin. The best procedure is to complete one bead on the front and then one bead on the rear before returning to the front.

This is a tighter shot of the open area on the rear portion of the flange. Global West supplies a flat-sheet steel gusset that must be welded into place to box in this section.

Here is the gusset welded into place. Mitchell has already painted this portion of the connector to prevent corrosion. We will come back later to dress up this area and remove the excess metal to make it look better.

Note how the front section is snug with the floor, as the tube attaches to the side of the subframe rather than below it. This means virtually no ground-clearance problems, yet no floorpan modifications were required.

Here's the driver-side connector completely welded and ready to take on a track day at Buttonwillow. What's also cool is that we now have a handy place for our floor jack so that the car won't bend every time we raise it.