• Registered users are encouraged to enable MFA/2FA to add an aditional layer of security to their account. More information can be found here: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/top-tips-for-staying-secure-online/activate-2-step-verification-on-your-email

FN2 Possible new rear sub frame

Messages
147
Was polishing the car today an knew the heat shield was vibrating on the exhaust.Went under to fix the heat shield, one bolt wont remove..typical. But when I got under the car, theirs more rust than I originally thought, which is worring me. Yes I know I need to replace the shock obsorbers but the sub frame wasnt looking in the best of nick, few other place show rust some more than others which aint good. Looking at get some kind of treatment to paint over the rust just stop it worsening. When I get into work to fix the heat shield in the morning I will take a few picks when Im under. The I can get a bit of advice from you guys.....oh and I discovered a big screw on the inside tyre wall just to top today off.
 
Subframes are usually pretty chunky things but its not impossible for them to rust through, our cars are almost 15 years old and will have seen as many British winters with salt on the roads, pics will help but you might need to get in there with a screwdriver and chip away at some of the bubbling to see how deep it goes or if its just bad looking surface rust
 
hadn't had chance to get photos yet, will get them up tomorrow. Getting the tyres change due to the screw. Goodyear F1 Asymetric A5, 2 for £250 which I don't think is that bad really. I will get under tonight as I have a few components from work to fix the heat shield
 
oops!
Blackcircles have got them at £89.50 fitted before discount

Not for 19 they aint, they were £131 fitted blackcircles, cut middle man and went straight to garage. Wouldnt take discount code so just went garage.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Got few pics will be up in tbe morn, pics dont do the rust justice really. Looks worse than it does. It just gets worse and worse. Just bloody fixed the heat shield, now just noticed the exhaust has broken of its bloody bracket. What f@@king more can happen. Only purchased car 2 months ago. This car is going to ruin me. Dont think my pockets are going to be deep enough.....I had good look underneath before I purchased and didnt think it was that bad. Always look on the bright side as they say...
 
Its almost 15 year old model of car, it'll generally need a few things, but a thin flimsy heat shield is bugger all really in the overall scope of things that could be wrong. Pretty sure if there was rust to worry about on the subframe it would have been picked up by the MOT tester.

Kinda sounds like you might be trying to bring the car back to being brand new, don't, otherwise it'll be a never ending process, just enjoy it for what it is, a cheap performance hatch
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Pics of the rust

Here are the pics of the rust the best I could take. My concern is the undercarriage where the plastic protection ends. Has the rust taken hold too much or can I clean the area and use protection paint over the rust to prolong the attack. My only other worry is the metal brackets the plastic clips are attached to, these have rusted considerably and I could feel them giving way. This would in turn have no support for the plastic undercarriage. It seems to me these are made of monkey metal and have just been eroded away in no time. Can these metal fixtures be purchased and then I will grind the old ones off, remove the rust treat the area, then get somebody to tack weld them on for me.
Just look over the pics and any advice would be welcome...Last pics are of my repair of the heat shield, new cap-screws and oversized washers either side to clap it together. Covered the washers/capscrew in Rocol high temperature grease to prolong the rusting and water.
Sorry some of the pictures are upside down, but I'm sure you guys can figure out what's what,,
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1327 (Medium).JPG
    IMG_1327 (Medium).JPG
    109.2 KB · Views: 23
  • IMG_1328 (Medium).JPG
    IMG_1328 (Medium).JPG
    138 KB · Views: 25
  • IMG_1329 (Medium).JPG
    IMG_1329 (Medium).JPG
    144.8 KB · Views: 22
  • IMG_1330 (Medium).JPG
    IMG_1330 (Medium).JPG
    134.9 KB · Views: 23
  • IMG_1331 (Medium).JPG
    IMG_1331 (Medium).JPG
    119.6 KB · Views: 22
  • IMG_1332 (Medium).JPG
    IMG_1332 (Medium).JPG
    131.6 KB · Views: 20
  • IMG_1333 (Medium).JPG
    IMG_1333 (Medium).JPG
    69 KB · Views: 20
  • IMG_1336 (Medium).JPG
    IMG_1336 (Medium).JPG
    133.2 KB · Views: 22
  • IMG_1337 (Medium).JPG
    IMG_1337 (Medium).JPG
    140.3 KB · Views: 20
  • IMG_1338 (Medium).JPG
    IMG_1338 (Medium).JPG
    95.1 KB · Views: 18
  • IMG_1339 (Medium).JPG
    IMG_1339 (Medium).JPG
    134 KB · Views: 16
  • IMG_1340 (Medium).JPG
    IMG_1340 (Medium).JPG
    92.3 KB · Views: 16
  • IMG_1341 (Medium).JPG
    IMG_1341 (Medium).JPG
    81.3 KB · Views: 15
  • IMG_1342 (Medium).JPG
    IMG_1342 (Medium).JPG
    123.5 KB · Views: 18
  • IMG_1343 (Medium).JPG
    IMG_1343 (Medium).JPG
    130.9 KB · Views: 19
  • IMG_1344 (Medium).JPG
    IMG_1344 (Medium).JPG
    118.6 KB · Views: 18
  • IMG_1345 (Medium).JPG
    IMG_1345 (Medium).JPG
    140.8 KB · Views: 19
  • IMG_1347 (Medium).JPG
    IMG_1347 (Medium).JPG
    136.6 KB · Views: 22
  • IMG_1380 (Medium).JPG
    IMG_1380 (Medium).JPG
    98.3 KB · Views: 19
  • IMG_1381 (Medium).JPG
    IMG_1381 (Medium).JPG
    78.2 KB · Views: 16
Last edited by a moderator:
Here are the pics of the rust the best I could take. My concern is the undercarriage where the plastic protection ends. Has the rust taken hold too much or can I clean the area and use protection paint over the rust to prolong the attack. My only other worry is the metal brackets the plastic clips are attached to, these have rusted considerably and I could feel them giving way. This would in turn have no support for the plastic undercarriage. It seems to me these are made of monkey metal and have just been eroded away in no time. Can these metal fixtures be purchased and then I will grind the old ones off, remove the rust treat the area, then get somebody to tack weld them on for me.
Just look over the pics and any advice would be welcome...Last pics are of my repair of the heat shield, new cap-screws and oversized washers either side to clap it together. Covered the washers/capscrew in Rocol high temperature grease to prolong the rusting and water.
Sorry some of the pictures are upside down, but I'm sure you guys can figure out what's what,,

haven't checked through all of the pics but the only real issue i would concern myself with is the bracket on the exhaust, it's most likely a suspect to be caught on the next MOT, the subframe looks fine, looks to be largely surface rust typical for a car its age IMO, as said haven't checked through all of them but i honestly wouldn't waste time or money attempting to paint it, it'll still look **** even with paint on unless the whole thing's taken out and properly done by being media blasted and powdercoated, any paint applied to it in its current state will just flake off within a year.

you're concerning yourself with non issues IMO, it's a 15 year old model that hasn't been treated like a concours garage queen just like 99.9% of the other civics out there, there's gonna be surface rust on stuff no matter where you look, what you need to worry about is structural rust near things like suspension components and body mountings.

are you replacing the shocks because of rust on the shock body?
continue at this rate and you'll bankrupt yourself chasing surface rust that won't make any difference to how the car operates, besides all painting stuff does is help highlight all the stuff around it that you haven't painted.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
haven't checked through all of the pics but the only real issue i would concern myself with is the bracket on the exhaust, it's most likely a suspect to be caught on the next MOT, the subframe looks fine, looks to be largely surface rust typical for a car its age IMO, as said haven't checked through all of them but i honestly wouldn't waste time or money attempting to paint it, it'll still look **** even with paint on unless the whole thing's taken out and properly done by being media blasted and powdercoated, any paint applied to it in its current state will just flake off within a year.

you're concerning yourself with non issues IMO, it's a 15 year old model that hasn't been treated like a concours garage queen just like 99.9% of the other civics out there, there's gonna be surface rust on stuff no matter where you look, what you need to worry about is structural rust near things like suspension components and body mountings.

are you replacing the shocks because of rust on the shock body?
continue at this rate and you'll bankrupt yourself chasing surface rust that won't make any difference to how the car operates, besides all painting stuff does is help highlight all the stuff around it that you haven't painted.

The bracket for the exhaust has been removed, sand blasted/cleaned to be tacked back on either at my place of work or my mates garage. which in turn will be carrying out the MOT. Its going in Fri for pre inspection to see what is required, the only component was the anti-roll bars as a advisory.
I will be replacing the shocks/springs as I think these have seen better days anyway, but at a later date
As for the subframe I was looking at purchasing a second hand, blasting/cleaning it in our work shop, then a possibility of having the thing galvanised. We send bits and bats and if I slip them a few quid they will do it in and amongst the parts, yes its over kill but so so much cheaper than powder coating because it will be a favour. but that's going to be over a 12 - 16 month period. How big of a job is it changing a subframe..massive. Is it labour intensive and just not worth the hassle.
 
The bracket for the exhaust has been removed, sand blasted/cleaned to be tacked back on either at my place of work or my mates garage. which in turn will be carrying out the MOT. Its going in Fri for pre inspection to see what is required, the only component was the anti-roll bars as a advisory.
I will be replacing the shocks/springs as I think these have seen better days anyway, but at a later date
As for the subframe I was looking at purchasing a second hand, blasting/cleaning it in our work shop, then a possibility of having the thing galvanised. We send bits and bats and if I slip them a few quid they will do it in and amongst the parts, yes its over kill but so so much cheaper than powder coating because it will be a favour. but that's going to be over a 12 - 16 month period. How big of a job is it changing a subframe..massive. Is it labour intensive and just not worth the hassle.

Yeah it's a fair bit of work, your attempting to remove the entire rear end support structure of the car, and not really for a great reason other than you want it "shiny" , it might seem like a good idea until your half way through and at the point of no return and youve stripped heads of bolts or snapped bolts that have been in 15 years and exposed to the elements with being on the underside of the car and then you will be forced to pull it off cos now you've snapped 2 main bolts that attach the rear end to the car... You were annoyed about a heat shield being loose and fixing that, this is a whole other level of difficulty
 
Yeah it's a fair bit of work, your attempting to remove the entire rear end support structure of the car, and not really for a great reason other than you want it "shiny" , it might seem like a good idea until your half way through and at the point of no return and youve stripped heads of bolts or snapped bolts that have been in 15 years and exposed to the elements with being on the underside of the car and then you will be forced to pull it off cos now you've snapped 2 main bolts that attach the rear end to the car... You were annoyed about a heat shield being loose and fixing that, this is a whole other level of difficulty

When I get it in for the pre mot inspection I will get my mate to look over the subframe to see what he thinks. Maybe its like you mentioned, I'm looking to do some thing that totally doesn't need doing and just for purely cosmetics.
 
When I get it in for the pre mot inspection I will get my mate to look over the subframe to see what he thinks. Maybe its like you mentioned, I'm looking to do some thing that totally doesn't need doing and just for purely cosmetics.

Cars come back pre-mot..no problems apart from front leaking shock, no bother as im replacing these and springs. Anti rolls bars have already been done, which I thought hadnt. So shocks and springs with mot..job done. As for the rear sub, says its not to bad, seen worse, say the subframes a meaty so shouldnt be a problem and welded my exhaust bracket back. All in all not too bad.
 
Back
Top