hey everyone,
I am looking to maybe clean up the subframes in my 71 nova coupe a bit (they are beyond ugly-covered in 30 years of who knows what) and I was wondering if anyone knows how hard it is to take them off. I would prefer to not take out the engine if its possible. badically can I take them out without tearing the entire car down?
also, I was given a wrecked 72 coupe that i am parting out. It wasn't in great condition before the accident, but has fairly straight body (except for driver sidedoor and fender where it was hit by an impala) interior is pretty rough - no headliner, carpet or dash. bench seats are ok- a few tears in front none in back. dashpad somehow made it out untouched. it had the A/C setup, and most of its ok. pass door good with glass and panel. pass fender good. rear end and rear body all in good shape. no engine or trans though. I can get pics on request.
thanks zach

The front subframe is a one piece detachable unit and the motor is bolted to it. The rear is unibody, meaning the frame and body are one unit.

I removed and refinished the subframe on a '68 Camaro which is the same as the 68-74 Nova. I removed all the front sheet metal, the motor/trans and all steering and front suspension. Then the subframe itself was removed and sandblasted clean with no other parts attached to it. You can remove the subframe with the motor and suspension attached, but it's still a major project and you won't be able to clean and refinish the frame as completely as you could with a total tear down.

In my opinion you either tear it down all the way like I did, (huge job) or just crawl around inside and under with degreasers, wire wheels and brushes. When you have a section as clean as possible finish it with something like Eastwoods "Rust Encapsulator".

thanks. Sounds like its more than I can do easily. I will probably take your advice and wait till I have the time to tear it down campletely. (may not be for a while unfortuanately) may go under with the wire wheel, but will probly just have to make do for now.
thanks for the help, or at least stopping me from starting a job I couldn't finish.
thanks - zach

The front subframe is a one piece detachable unit and the motor is bolted to it. The rear is unibody, meaning the frame and body are one unit.

I removed and refinished the subframe on a '68 Camaro which is the same as the 68-74 Nova. I removed all the front sheet metal, the motor/trans and all steering and front suspension. Then the subframe itself was removed and sandblasted clean with no other parts attached to it. You can remove the subframe with the motor and suspension attached, but it's still a major project and you won't be able to clean and refinish the frame as completely as you could with a total tear down.

In my opinion you either tear it down all the way like I did, (huge job) or just crawl around inside and under with degreasers, wire wheels and brushes. When you have a section as clean as possible finish it with something like Eastwoods "Rust Encapsulator".


I heard clunking from under my 1978 Nova and discovered a rubber bushing was gone between the subframe and unibody. The furthest reward, on the passinger side. How do you replace them with least amount of teardown. This Nova is a daily driver, stock 250, 3 spd auto