Sub Frame Bushings

[Craig57]

I've located the part #'s I need.....Spacer 1626368 Nut 1150832 Cushion(Bushing) 1627359 Bolt 11503690 Cover,Bolt 1631396-5 But the only part I can find is The Cushion(Bushing) .(GM PartsDirect) Any suggestions? Thanks!

[Rawja]

I'm contemplating this project myself, could you list what (and how many) goes where?

[padgett]

Last time I looked the bushings were nearly $200, may have been discontinued since.

[Craig57]

6 Bushings total. 3 on each side. GmPartsdirect has the bushings ($11.00 each) At the local Buick dealer they say the rest of the parts are no longer available. Any suggestions? Thanks

[Greg Ross]

When I changed out all my front bushings 5 or 6 years ago I was able to reuse the big dished/ shaped cover washer. The bolts are metric and they were picked up at an industrial bolts/ fastener supplier. I went with cadmium coated "grade 8" bolts but that was probably overkill.
I just went to the GM Parts Direct Catalog and where you can search by part number and indicate the model as "Buick", they list;
Spacer 1626368 at $4.42
Body Bushing 1627359 at $19.18
Nut, Bolt and Bolt Cover are no longer available.
So, the nut and bolt are nothing special, any industrial bolt supplier has them in stock or can order them for you, just take in a sample. What they call the Bolt Cover is what I call the dished washer, I would suspect our Mr. Finn might just have a bucketfull of them. Just supposing!

[Craig57]

Excellent! Thank You!

[dchgomag]

Madison Wi here. I found body bushing kits at AutoZone for around $30.00 a side. I found that Don Miller GMC also here in Madison has the bolts, part no. 10409029, at a cost of about $6.00 each. I'm picking up 4 today, leaving them with an on hands quanity of 38.

Darrell~ Madison, WI., 91 Reatta

[dchgomag]

URGENT NOTICE.... hold tight on the bolts I noted above. I posted before having in hand. Seems as if the bolts I noted may not be the right ones. I'm going back today to work on the car but not before I speak to the parts dept. further.
The bolts I did pick up seem to bolt through the cradle arm and not through the bushings.... at least that is what appears at present.
More in a bit.

[Craig57]

I show the bolt as part # 115033690

[crtnrds]

Anyone have any suggestions on how to get the bolts out when the cage nuts have broken?
The whole bolt & "nut" spin.

[Greg Ross]

Step 1, 2, 3 and 4 is to apply penetrating fluid liberally over several days before you ever touch the bolt head with a wrench.
If it happens to be one of the pair out at the Radiartor bulkhead you can weave your way into I believe both of them and get a pair of vicegrips on the sleeve part of the speed nut. The mid-one I believe has access through the side of the sheet metal perch. The rear on requires that you drill/ with a hole saw an opening large enough to get in there with penetrant and vice grips. Would recommend finding a large press-in plug/ cover so you size the hole to the closure you'll want to finish with.
Perhaps someone who's resorted to the drilling option can recommend a minimum diameter opening?
Step 1 again was Penetrating Oil

[nic walker]

Bump for :

Perhaps someone who's resorted to the drilling option can recommend a minimum diameter opening?


in Greg's post above.......

[dchgomag]

Well, the bushings I purchased from AutoZone were the incorrect ones. They were too small. I ended up going with GM, found out here in Madison at one of the Buick Dealers. AutoZone I believe cost 32.00. Dealer 190.00. Best the correct part, huh?
Instead of contorting, drilling, etc., I took the long and hard road. I dropped the craddle. At that time, I also found I had a bad ball-joint, which was replaced at the same time.
What a different ride and handle.
Next for me will be the struts, shocks then headlight motors.
This week I'm also recovering the head liner which was dragging. I'll be recovering the a and b pillars. Buick colors is cat *** brown vinyl. My recovering (headliner: headliner material black. Pillars swade black.) Interior 2 tone from GM is brown and black.
I'm also thinking of recovering the wraps from the b pillars around to the near center back where the speakers are mounted. That top wrap would be the only panels recovered. The (center section) that gains access into the trunk from inside the car would also stay brown.
Any thoughts, notions or ideas??
Thanks, D~

[Barney Eaton]

I checked my reference material and a Reatta owner told me the originals were not available back in 2002 and he used 1627359 (as Greg Ross noted) GM changed the design during the Reatta run so there are actually two different styles.

If you have trouble, ask a friendly GM parts guy to look at the numbers used on the last Rivieras like our Reattas 1993.... they would work, but you may need all new parts.

[Vincent Vega]

I drilled 1 1/2 inch holes. I used a rubber plug to seal it.

[dchgomag]

I do know there was a change in a few thing during the reatta production. When I ordered the bushings from AutoZone, I was given only one option. As I'm experiencing, AutoZone staff tend to render me incorrect parts more then correct.

I hope to spend more time going over this AACA board in the next few days but with school full time, work full time, etc., my time has been pretty limited.

Regards.

[Craig57]

Waiting on my bushing(#1627359) and spacer(#1626368) order from GmPartsdirect. Next question is, any guess how many man hours this project will take. Reatta is being soaked with liquid wrench daily til the parts arrive.

[dchgomag]

What ever the book time..., in reality and with experience, and your choosen method of making these r/r, a few hours to ???
Again, I dropped the cradle and made a few other repairs such as ball joints.
When I initionally bagan the process, I was going to drill holes, etc. as noted here at this site. Getting into the process, the bolts and nuts did NOT play well. It required some torching/heating.
Words of thought... since the nuts used in these applications are cage nuts (welded) to the sub-frame, if they bust loose... what then.
Go slow, mark the bolts and watch then as you twist. Make sure they continue to move with the twisting of the wrench. Even then, if that cage nut breaks free from the weld how will you remove it for the new install?

[Mark Wishneusky]

Wow, I find out my bushings are gone in a few places (front sub frame, rear stabilizer bar, and rear control arms) and sure enough this was one of the top threads. I'm feeling better it's not just me.

Craig, the bushing you ordered, is that just one? So will I need to order two?

Does anyone have the part numbers for the rear stabilizer and rear control arm bushings?

...oh, I also need the rear stabilizer bar hangers, too. :-)

[technoweenie]

The cushion (bushings) are rotted out on my Michigan '90 coupe. Is replacement really a diy project? The recommendation to soak the bolts with penetrating fluid for days makes perfect sense, but I've not seen much detail for actual removal/replacement. How is the vehicle supported during replacement? In other words, how is the weight taken off the bushing to provide clearance during that step? Any details from someone who's been thru the process would be greatly appreciated.

[Vincent Vega]

Michigan. pay someone to do it.

[technoweenie]

Vincent, thnx for the advice. I think you're probably right and was already leaning towards making that decision. I assume it's still a good idea to order the parts myself ahead of time.

[Ronnie]

Vincent, thnx for the advice. I think you're probably right and was already leaning towards making that decision. I assume it's still a good idea to order the parts myself ahead of time.

You are correct on both counts. Being a Michigan car it is likely to have rust on the ends the bolts that go up into the nuts hidden inside the frame. The nuts can twist loose and then you will have to cut a hole in the frame to access them. It is not for a do-it-yourselfer if that happens. Also it is a good idea to round up the parts ahead of time as they can be hard to track down.

[KDirk]

This is a nasty job for anyone not fortunate enough to have a car that has not spent it's whole life in a nice climate. Mine started in Florida, spent a year in Ohio and then went to Kentucky for about a year before I bought it. Even with only 2 years in the rust belt, removal of the subframe bushings was a very unpleasant task. I was lucky and didn't break any of the cage bolts. The last of the six bushings had to be split with an air chisel to facilitate removal.

I'll put it this way: I have what I call the "F" scale when working on cars (or other difficult projects). This has nothing to do with rating the severity of tornadoes, mind you. Doing these bushings was a 12 on the F scale within the first 30 minutes. Then I lost count. By the time I was finished, they had probably multiplied faster than the national debt. You get the point.

FWIW, I did mine about 18 months ago. At that time, all the parts were available through GM SPO (dealer ordered). The part numbers were all different from the original spec'd parts as they had been superceded - in some cases more than once. This makes it harder to track down the parts needed, but not impossible if your dealer parts dept. knows what they are doing.

KDirk

[Craig57]

Cushions(bushings) and spacers arrived after 21 day wait. Have been soaking with PB Blaster. Project will start this Friday. I'll keep you posted. Wish me luck.