http://web.njit.edu/~mtp3/pictures/2004_05_07/


whats the liklihood of frame damage/bending. i have sfcs, the doors still work great and it drives fine.
what are your thoughts?

 

i doubt that you have any frame damage. it just looks like cosmetics

 

OO i think that frame is going to be down.But I would still fix it.Put a new quarter on it.Its not that bad seen alot worse

 

ok , one vote for no frame damage, one for yes.

lol

 

to find out for sure get a tape messure put the car on pretty level gound.Messure from the ground to the rail if they are the same no frame damage if one is down lower frame damage.Than u can tell us who was right lol

 

Its ****ed, but its fuxable, but i always find many surprises when i do cars with that kind of damage, specially a unibody....

 

I had my iroc damaged pretty close to yours, didn't get the tail lights and it cost the ins 2200 to fix it and yes it spent some time on a frame machine to straighten it out again. And my doors still opened and closed and it drove straight, but the hatch didn't close.

 

did you have subframe connectors?

ill have to measure to the subframes and see if they are the same. should there be some tolerance for difference? id imagine they wont be EXACTLY the same.

where do i go to have the frame straightened if need be? what kind of shop does that?

thanks guys!

 

I think that it's going to need to be pulled. after it is, you may be able to save the rear quarter. problem is that if there is frame damage, it may never line up the same again.

Excuse the Thunder Turd, but this had to go on the frame machine at my shop.. Doesn't look as bad as your car.

A lot of shops have frame machines, and the ones that do not usually send them out to have someone else pull them.

 

what do you mean by pull it?

pull the dent out? i figured just torching and welding a new 1/4 in would be the way to go.

 

My GTA was worse than that too. The frame area behind where the rear axle mounts is really of no consequence to how the car drives, it just supports the bodywork and rear bumper.

I suggest you remove the back bumper and taillights to see what is really going on back there, and call around to find a body shop that is willing to help you out. Find a reasonable body/frame shop and have them hang guages on it. They will tell you how much it is bent and how much to "pull" it back into alignment. I would guesstimate about $150 or a bit more, but like 86Irocket says, you will probably find after they pull the back end, that you will be able to strip the interior panels and work the quarter back into usable shape. The critical part will be getting the hatch to close and seal correctly. You can test this by putting a thin layer of grease on the seal, and making sure when you close your hatch that you get a grease line all the way around the bottom of the hatch. I would fix it.

Troy
So Cal

 

That's what I mean..

 

no, no subframe connectors

 

youre gonna have to take the back bumper, interior trim, hatch and tailights to see it better. even then id get the frame pulled before they fix it just to be sure its straight.

 

Nothing wrong with thunderturds. They make great reliable, comfortable daily drivers to keep the wear off my Camaro.

 

looks like it will be a toss up to weather you have damage to the frame. have u taken it to a shop to see what they think.

 

Parents bought a black '96 T-bird in late 1995. Had the 4.6 V8 and all options with the sport suspension package. Had it in the shop 8 times in the first 9 months of ownership. Engine blowing white smoke, hesitation, other little things.

 

Well, this even made me feel bad for this car.
My neighbor owns the car, and it pretty much sits in his driveway.
1994, 21,XXX miles, 4.6L, great interior.
A couple month ago, some kids drove by and paint-balled the car and his garage.

A week later he finds a dent in his pass. door. Then he finds a hockey puck.. (1+1 together)

The next night, (must be the same kids) ran their truck into his car, so hard that it spun through his driveway, and into his garage.
He turned it in to the ins. company, and they totalled it!

WAIT!! it's not over yet.. The day before he takes it to our shop to fix it, one of these guys walked up on the hood, and put thier foot right into the windshield!!!
It's too bad, feel bad for the old guy...

Even if he drives a F**D

 

You'll have to pull the quarter, frame rail and tail panel. The quarter could easily be hammered back in to fine shape by an expert. I would say about $1,200-$1,500 to fix. It's mainly how well you like the car to as if it's repairable or not. I know a guy who pulled an 85 IROC full leather 305 TPI with damage to the same area from a rear end collision which pushed the car through a T-intersection and into a field. The guys speed who hit him was estimated at about 50 MPH+. The only thing that saved the car was a custom sub box that absorbed the inpact partially. It's damage was far severe to your but looks good as new now without the quarter being replaced. And yes, I do do body work so I'm not just blowin ya bull.

 

jeremy, could you beat the hell out of those kids for me?

thanks

 

either which way its fixable. if i were u, i'd see it as a chance to do some lightening of the body. now ur 1 step closer to adding fiberglass 1/4's. if ur insurance covers it, i'd just get the frame straightened and put the rest toward f/glass 1/4's, say screw the paint and maybe add another mod or 2. go before show!!!

 

Hmm. Well, I have 205k on the 96' and 203k on the 95', both all original, and both run like the day we got them new.

86, Sounds like it's time to rearrange some punk's face. Unbelieveable.

 

well the quote I got from a local shop is 4660.74 and another shop I went to (a friend of the person who hit me) said its totalled, just call the insurance adjuster. i wish it was just 1500 to fix it.

 

in most states if its the other guys fault you can force their insurance company to pay to have it fixed, I wouldn't let them total it unless they are willing to pay you 5k, you cant find a good bird or maro for under 5k any more, at least not in the same shape as mine is this is why I am afraid someone will hit me, my car has never been hit, its had a dent in the door from the original owner driving with the door open into a poll but never hit, or hit someone.

 

My Firebird was hit in almost the same exact area, didn't roll the quarter panel under like yours is, but it did wrinkle the quarter in front of the gas door, and one behind it plus bending the unibody down as well. When the body shop put it on the frame machine and pulled the uni straight, every dent came out of the quarter panel and didn't even need body filler on it. It's possible that the other dents will come out when they do this.

 

you know what, SCREW THOSE GUYS.
put a new tailight in, push out the dents from the inside as much as you can, drive it for awhile. see if it dogwalks, and check the tire wear. what can you lose ?

 

If i ever would encounter them... you know it.

As well as the kids that keyed up a bunch of cars at prom.


The only plus out of this is some business for the shop.