91 Regal Problems

My fiances regal took a major dump tonight. She was driving it home tonight and she said that the steering got really hard like the power steering had failed so she turned off into a parking lot and shut it down and restarted. The car started right up like always and when she tried to turn the wheel it made a popping sound and then the steering wheel would just freespin. When I got there I noticed that the rubber bushing from the subframe mount was laying on the ground and that both subframe mounts were hanging down a good six inches from parallel to the ground where they are supossed to be. The rubber bushing that I recovered seemed to be badly worn and rusted (I know rubber doesn't rust but the metal it comes into contact does). What I'm thinking is that the first mount broke causing a misalignment in her steering causing the stiffness in the controls. When she stopped and tried to turn the weight of the car caused the other mount to break as well as some sort of connecting pin/ bolt in the steering shaft. I would assume that the steering box and knuckle are alright because I don't see them turning with the steering wheel. Sorry for the long essay but I like to give as much detail as possible. Has this happened to anyone else before? Is there anyway to replace the lower mounts because the ends appear to be rusted/broken out? I have done quite a bit of repair work before and am pretty mechanically inclined. I also have a friend that has offered any parts that I need from his two "parts cars." I would really like to get some input on this. I probably won't have a great deal of time to spend on it until the middle of next week so I'll try to keep you updated on the progress. If you have any tips/pointers/ideas I would really appreciate them.

Thanks in advance.

Adam

Sounds like the area of the unibody that the subframe mounts bolt to have rusted away, this may be the end, get underneath and look at the mount areas at the cowl, I have seen this before and it really may not be repairable for anything but temporary use.

Well I got under the car and was taking a closer look at things. It looks like the top mounts in the body are good as well as one lower frame mount. The problem lies with the lower passenger mount. It looks rusted through. I should mention that a friend has two regals that he has offered for parts for this project. So I'm thinking that I can replace the mounts and I can rebuild that lower mount. I took pictures of the mounts and posted them on my webpage http://ap032.k12.sd.us/carpics.htm

I would really appreciate any input that you have on this. i haven't got into the steering issue yet but I will get there shortly.

Well I got under the car and was taking a closer look at things. It looks like the top mounts in the body are good as well as one lower frame mount. The problem lies with the lower passenger mount. It looks rusted through. I should mention that a friend has two regals that he has offered for parts for this project. So I'm thinking that I can replace the mounts and I can rebuild that lower mount. I took pictures of the mounts and posted them on my webpage http://ap032.k12.sd.us/carpics.htm

I would really appreciate any input that you have on this. i haven't got into the steering issue yet but I will get there shortly.
Try and get the bolt out of the body, look at the integrity of the threaded area, if ok move on to getting a used unrusted subframe, I would not risk a repair on the old, one used good ones are not that expensive, like a $100. here in NYS. Or get a good one out of the donor cars, they need to have the same engines though and it is double labor.

Am I right in assuming that if I replace the whole subframe then I have to take the motor out and unbolt the front suspension?

You can support the motor and trans with the special rig made to do this.

Where would I go about finding a rig like that. Also does anyone know if this is a common place for rust? I'm just thinking about hereditary rust in other "donor cars"