Went outside to work on the hardtop, and I noticed a pretty badly bent up area. Its the peice that connects the drives side frame rail to the fender area behind the front control arm. What do you guys think.....an accident or just someone who tried to jack it up from there? Am I going to have any problems with this? Maybe I should take it to a frame shop...but I really dont want to spend the money on it...though i will if i have to. THanks for the help.

http://home1.gte.net/res0f6fo/frame/frame.htm

 

i cant really say if that were from an accident but im pretty sure that is not from a floor jack or jack stand that metal is to strong to bend from those 2. my car is messed up in the same spot and i know its from a crash because theres more evidence on the front end.

 

Is it something thats going to affect the car...or can i just leave it?

 

If I were you I would take it to the frame shop and see what they say. I know it sucks to have to spend the money on stuff like this but you dont want to risk your safety while driving around or racing ...

 

well i hate to be the beacon of bad news...but your Camaro was probably in a collision at some point in its life. i know this because my buddy's RS (89 model w/T-Tops) had this same damage and i know a wreck caused it because i was in the passenger seat! im not sure on the type of wreck yours was more than likely in, but his was hit in the front L corner as he was sliding off a dirt road at about 45...

 

Geez, come on now that is not that bad. You should see under my car, it has been hiked up in that same stupid spot and all mushed up. I seriously doubt that that was accident damage, there would be more previlant evidence elsewhere on the car as well. Just look under 9 out of 10 third gen cars and you will see the same thing. I bet your fenders stick out some on the sides.

 

I couldn't agree more. That metal is very thick at that spot on the frame. The weight of the car will not bend the metal that way. Unless you dropped the car from lets say 10 feet or so onto a raised jack then that damage would occur.

To me it looks as if it had been to the frame shop already and the work performed was not up to par. I'd bet that the car was impacted right at or behind the left front wheel then brought to a frame shop to get pulled back out creating those crumple zones in the subframe. He also says that his doors don't close all the way.

....from the link he published

Anyway thats my opinion. If the frame is not stong and goemetrically correct, it will most probably fail if you put any power to it. Saftey is not a thing to play with.

 

Interesting. But if it was wrecked in the front side, would the fender not have been replaced? It still has the original fenders on it from the pictures. Or at least the pre-damage fenders. Perhaps the car ran something over? I wonder what he means by the doors won't shut? Maybe the bushings are toast like so many others? Or perhaps the body geometery is tweaked and the A & B pillars are to close together? I just helped a buddy part out a T/A that was that way, it was pretty off, the door overlapped the rear post a little.

 

its most likely from jacking it up. i jacked my car up from there once and the same thing happened, its only sheet metal and not as strong as the frame rail.

 

I THINK the reason the doors arent closing properly is because it is jacked up...and theres no engine in the car...so its probably all twisted up. I'll be installing SFCS and a rollbar as soon as i find out whether or not this car is workable. They do close...but you have to close it a bit harder than usual....and if i were to just slowly close it....it woudlnt close properly. Anyways....like i said...i checked out the fender area VERY closely....there is no damage or folds on the strut tower (which i would think there would be a 90% chance of being damage if it had been hit) there was no damage on the fender (though it could have been changed at some point) and there was no broken seams or welds. Im just really confused. I'm going to go to a frame shop and see if they can help me out if I tow the car over there....and have them go ahead and weld up the sfcs and rollbar if they can. I'll let yall know what they say.

 

Might've been an accident; just not the kind you're thinking of. I wonder if high speed and a tall curb could've caused that. I don't think it's anything to worry about. Good idea about asking a body shop about it... if they give you an outrageous figure ($1000) to fix it, see what another shop says. As to the doors, I don't know what stage your project is in, but can you put all four wheels back on, and put it on the ground, to check the doors out?

 

yeah im gonna have to tow it to the frame shop soon...so i'll check it when its on all fours. But like i said..even when its on the ground...the body is still half way in the air since theres no engine.

 

NO NO NO it is from jacking it up...the metal is very thin there. I have seen several 3rd gens with the same dents.

If you don't believe me take out a floor jack and put it on the frame instead of the jack points and see what happens.

 

some moron at one of those tire shops used it as a jacking location. it's is not. they should have tried jacking at the so called frame where the sheet metal is stacked. as metioned the metal at that area is not to strong at all. it could also very well be what Tom metioned... a curb being where it should have been or a combination of the two?

 

Is there paint missing on the top of the GFX and the bottom of the door??

 

Without a doubt, a jack. I have 2 camaros with the same damage and they have not been invloved in an accident. I know this for certain.

Andy.

 

I'd say that's from a jack also. I have dents in my frame rails also, not as severe but still have dents.

I doubt the doors not closing properly is because it's on jackstands with no engine. My car has been on jackstands since january with no engine in it and the doors close the same way they did when I had it on the ground with the engine in there. I have the whole car on jackstands and level. If you just have the front on jackstands I can understand how it could be from being in the air though.

 

Are the doors just having problems because the hinges are shot? My passenger side door is horrible; it was great until 2 years ago. For shts and giggles I picked up the outermost edge of the door, and lifted the door up & down- talk about loose! I can move the door a good 2 inches up and down! No wonder my fiance always has to slam the door!

(Hehe, she got in her dad's car one day and slammed the door shut- meanwhile, his car's doors shut verrrry easily. I thought he was going to kill her, haha! It was really funny; he sputtered for a while before he could get any words out- it caught him completely by surprise. And those were some words! Aw hell I'm laughing right now just thinking about it! )