I finally finished my engine rebuild and went to weld in my new engine shelf when I noticed this fairly significant structural issue. I gave a slight wack with a rubber mallet to see how bad the "crack was" and the whole tab that holds the rear trailing arm cracked and bent.

Anyone done a repair like this? Any suggestions?

I would rather not cut and splice a whole new section into the car.

My only thought so far is to bend it back, cut out the bad metal and patch in some new metal. I am concerned about it being strong enough though.

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.
Click to view attachment

Thanks

Todd

Secondary question has anyone else had a problem with a "new" engine shelf not matching up?

The gap looks fairly small in the picture but I can not get it to line up without altering the new peice.

Is may car bent?Click to view attachment

Final question.

Will a simple cut and patch with some reinforcement strips welded on the outside be enough?

Click to view attachment

Do a search for "rear suspension console" It's a common problem. They rust from the inside out. Restoration design sells replacements. It's not a quick repair. Good luck, Mark

you really should put in a new suspension console

this piece is made by Rdesign

if you are tracking the car or driving with sticky tires... you should also install a console brace to keep this from repeating itself.

your a third of the way there with the shelf removed. just keep drilling spot welds. the rd console fits really really well. then when your done, you wont be worrying about it.

and yours does look rusty.
but on a track car I've tore one that was 1 year old....
ZERO rust.

so its a combination of rust and/or sticky tires putting structural loads that the suspension mount was not designed to withstand.
Thus the bracing is really a necessity on a track car
it doesn't make the car faster, but it makes it last.