I think the reason they don't fold up or buckle under load is that the top rail is also somewhat structural. So you essentially have 2 parallel "frame" rails running from the firewall to the radiator support. My old 84 was rotted pretty bad on the driver side - not as bad as some here, but bad nonetheless - and I went through the process of replacing it. The K member bolts were as mentioned, rotted to the point of almost being non-existent. I never got to the passenger side frame rail, it wasn't as bad as the driver side, but wanted to. Then life got in the way and it was sold. After having that experience I looked over my 87 THOROUGHLY in those locations so as to not make the same mistake when I bought it.
Too bad you don't have the space to work, it's not really all that bad to replace, just time consuming.
Too bad you don't have the space to work, it's not really all that bad to replace, just time consuming.
I agree. I would actually say it was somewhat fun, but very time consuming.
I would only do it again if the car was something special. A 93 cobra, or a Saleen.
Do it right or get rid of the car... period. reinforcing those area's is fine if they aren't rusted and will be road raced but if there's any rust cut it out and put in new metal.
You really shouldn't just reinforce around it. You really need to cut out the bad areas and weld in new metal.