as some know i got an 89 trans am for a cheap deal in real good shape.. so i thought. well it had a dent on the fender so i was going to take it off to bang it out, my dad is good at auto body so he taught me some stuff here and there. well i am loosening the bolts and notice something, i take the front bumper cover off and the whole bumper is smashed upwards, no big deal i got an extra one, so i was like whatever and i got back to taking the fender off, i take it off and the driver side rail is crunched up towards the windshield, possibly why it's cracked. it's not bent up but it's cunched back. i haven't had the chance to tell my father about it yet and i am really upset over this because i just can't win with these cars, this is my 3rd one and all of them are junk. my first one was 1500 bucks it lastest me the spring and summer and hit a pot hole and the piece bolted on the frame in the back got cut off.. hard to explain.. then i buy my friends trans am body thinkin to put the motor and tranny in that, and now i look at that and it's oging to need a whole new front end, so i buy this 89 that looks like it's in great shape other then a few dents and needs paint all little **** i have extra parts for, and now i discover this.

so does anyone think we can fix this, any suggestions? i'm sure my dad has an idea to fix it but i just won't have the chance to tell him, and i'll be thinking about it all day till he gets home. it's not bent much but alittle bit.

 

Heh, can't ask for much better when you're buying $1,500 third gens.

Can you bend it back to original shape? ::cringe:: I wouldn't suggest that at all...But just giving you some ideas.

 

yea i guess my friend just got lucky.. 86 trans am for 1000 not a problem with it and it's been a year.

i don't know what i should do yet, my dad has made alot of **** cars look new again so i'm sure he has a solution. around here, third gens are cheap, very cheap. i almost bought an 88 iroc z 350 tpi 5 speed for 3500, immaculate. and there is a 91 z28, 1 original owner, 4500. 85 trans am 305 tpi also close to immaculate paint is dull for 2500. engine, paint, isn't a problem to me.. it's when the bodies are messed up.

 

Yeah, I feel your pain man. I know how that one goes, it is hard to find a good F-body that somebody has not ragged the hell out of and damaged the frame on.

Only possible thing I can suggest is to be sure to look UNDER the car before you buy. You could just bring a floor jack with you when you go for your next purchase, or make the sale of the car contingent on taking a look under the car (on a lift would be even better).

As for your car now, can you take a picture of the damage so we can get an idea?

If the frame is damaged badly? You can pull the frame to a certain degree, but if the rail moved all the way up into the windshield, I don't think it sounds too good.

 

well thats the problem, it is in beautiful shape other then that, needs a paint job and windshield, as far as the damage it didn't look too awful bad, it's snowing here but i can try to get a picture in a few. well i would just leave it but with it like that there will be dents in the fender.. here is a picture of it i took the day i got it of the fender.. thining it was the only dent on the car. i'll try to get one

 

Well if there is only 1 damaged side, it's worth fixing it. BTW, Nice looking car! IF you can fix it without signing over your bank account..nice steal!

 

here are some i took of it just now in the freezing all cause i wnt it fixed

 

heres another

 

anotha

 

last one.. i'll show you the interior in this car, it's in really nice shape too, if i could fix this problem i'd have a real nice one =)

 

some pictures - https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...14#post1237314

 

That doesn't look that bad from those pics. Easily fixed. Is that the worst of your damage?

 

yea thats the worst of it.. any suggestions on how to fix it

 

ok.. I do not advise for you to do it yourself... but here goes... you need to anchor that rail tightly and you pull on it to straighten it back... it really isn't bad from the look of it.. I'd suggest you take it to a bodyshop... it'd take not even 2 hours to fix everything.. make it done by pros... otherwise you might change the geo of the car and you won't be able to set the tires right anymore... you said your dad fix cars? he won't have problem repairing that... seems very nice... show us when the snow as melted

 

yea i talked to my dad tonight about it and he said it looks like no problem at all, he suggested pulling it to make it some what straight and weld the crack..cause there is a tiny crack you might not see in the pictures. he did lots of body work before but i was just curious on how you guys would fix it

 

yeh that can easily be pulled back with a frame puller.If the person knows what there doin im sure ur dad will have no prob. Doesnt look bad at all when u said crunched i thought it might have been pretty bad.

 

Yeah its not that bad at all. You should of seen my driver side frame where the impact absorber bolts onto. There were splits in the metal and below the steering box there was a crack going from one end to the other.