After purchasing my 87 ea81 Hatchback, I began investigating more closely the damage associated with a mild left rear impact suffered by the vehicle some time in the past. While removing the bent bumber, I noticed that the square tube/support where the bumper mounts was pushed back and up a bit causing a small bend in square tube. I, also, noticed that the area around the rear subframe support mount is rusted pretty heavily and could use replacement.

 

Given this repair work, I am considering replacing the entire driver's side rear support tubing since it runs from about 8-10" in front of the rear subframe mount all they way to the back of the car where the bumber mount is. I am curious if anyone has done this type of repair and could suggest some materials to use in it. I have some pretty good ideas and can weld so any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Once I get this started I will post pictures of the work.

 

Thanks in advance for any help/suggestions.

matrixops.

Chain it to a telephone pole and try to stretch it back out. Might or might not work. I tried to do that on my wagon cuz the front tow hook thingie got pushed up from bottoming out, but I barely budged it. Pretty solid mount IMO. A hammer could help massage it a bit. Or you could shell out some cheese and get a 10 ton Porta Power. It's a hydraulic ram set with several different accessories for auto body/frame repair. If it's too rusted out, you could cut it out and weld a new one in from a donor car.