Bonneville Totaled!? PLEASE HELP! ASAP!
 

ok, please excuse me for the long story. the bonneville is going to be totalled soon if i don't do something quick. the bonneville is not mine - its my girlfriend's. her water pump died yesterday and her dad took the car to put a new pump on it. he called her today saying he's selling it to a wrecker because the engine cradle has rotted off the body. so, i raced over there because I am supposed to be buying the car next month! well, by the front of the passenger door under the car the engine cradle seems to have rotted off the body. her dad says that the cradle is rotted and that where it is secured by the rubber bushing has rusted out to the point beyond repair. to me, it looks like the rubber bushing fell apart and can be easily fixed. worst case senario, what am i looking at here!? the car only has 65,000 miles and minimal rust and i WANT it! my dad won't let me buy it if its junk. help asap or another bonneville will meet the grave.

IF the sub frame and the body where it attaches is solid, then everything is fine. You may just need to swap out the bushings. Not a real bad job. I believe Billboost has done this. So he's the guy to ask.

yeah, i hope so. i really want to ask the guy if we can have a mechanic look at it and tell me. he wants it gone ASAP so i don't know what kind of a timeframe i have. besides pulling the engine and tranny, how much work is it to replace the cradle? or is there another way it could be fixed? i really don't want this car to go...its too nice for that.

No need to pull the engine. You can support it from above. Get the car up on stands and the lower the sub frame with a floor jack. If he wants it gone like now, you should be able to get it on the cheap.

good god man... match what the salvage yard will buy it for... if you cant fix it, part it, then sell the rest to the junk yard and you wont be out any money

think man think... he wants it gone asap... buy it for less cuz its "junk" and you just want it for a "parts car" *smiles devilishly* *holds up the horns* lmao

really? hmm... i kinds suggested buying it and he still wants a grand for it. would $800 seem ok? i mean, the car kelly blue books in fair conditon at $2800. i'm guessing i could either buy this part new or find one off of another car at a junk yard. i think his intention is to jerry-rig it and send it off to auction.

If he junks it he will get about $200 or so. If he thinks the engine is going to fall out why would he want a grand? If it's bad and he thinks it is, let him think that and offer him $500.

I agree...play up the fact that your GF dad thinks the engine cradle is bad and offer to take it off his hands for $500...play it to your benefit not his!

Is the actual cradle rotted?
Is the body mount where the bolt is located rotted?
Or...is the metal washer that holds the bushings in the cradle via the bolt rotted and that's all?

I've seen all three. If it's just the washer and bushings.. here's the link for you.
https://www.gmforum.com/t273437/There are body shops that would fix the rusted body..but it'll cost. The subframe should be cheap at the JY and if you need to support the motor..
Here's how I do it.
Attachment 29817
Attachment 29818

On the passenger side you have a supporting mount, so all you need to do is support the driverside of the engine, the trans will stay put with the motor.

Call me biased..but by no means would I pay $500 for a dead 95 Bonne. Offer $200-300.

ok, thanks all... i'm at school right now for a late night for our yearbook class so i can't see any pictures on the forum but when i get home, i'll check them out and see what it looks like. does anybody have diagrams of that the assembly *should* look like? as far as i can see, the bolt looked like it was gone and the top part of the rubber tore off....

p.s. would broken sway bar ends have caused this? they're both bad too...