Alright!, it was my fault! I f***ed up my car by running into somebody. My fault, didn't anticipate a slam on the brakes at a green left turn light. Anywho, I already have a new bumper, fender, headlight assembly, and hood to replace the old parts. Only problem holding me back is the chassis being slightly bent. My camera is charging and I'll have pictures of it soon. I'll just describe it now. On the driver's side, the chassis is bent backwards about 1 inch and has thrown off the mounts for the fender and bumper slightly. I'm new to body work, so I'm not sure how to get it back into the proper alignment. I'd rather do it myself, because I hear driving on the road without a bumper/fender is illegal. If I must get it done at a body shop, how much would it cost to rebend the chassis one inch? Can't wait to get the car fixed so I can sell it. Ever since the accident, I've lost the will to completely restore the car(new interior all around, new paint, new spoiler). If you guys happen to know about any place in Las Vegas, it would also help.

Thanks guys,
Cornholio7979

 

you can go around to the local shop and ask around take several pics of the car with you to show the damage to them so they can give you some sort of an price range on the repair to the cahssis alignment

 

Here's some pics, some are hard to notice the damage:

 

I had a third gen RS that was damaged more than that fixed that is nothing compared to the camaro looked. So you should be able to get bird looking good again

 

How much do you think this would cost? How much did it cost to fix your camaro?

 

I fixed it in my auto body class when I was in school so it was free all I had to do was buy fenders and bumper cover from a salvage yard. It depends on a shop what the charge would be so I have no clue. I wish I could be more help

 

Wish I had an auto shop that I could donate my car to for a project. Anybody know of a shop in the Las Vegas area that would be deserving of an f-body needing help?

 

Did you guys know that making an estimate based on pictures is illegal? I went to 4 shops, 2 said the car was too old for them to work on. Like framework on an 89 firebird is inoperable because the metal was different back then? Onther shop has a 1 month wait, I don't wanna wait. Finally, one shop said they could take a look at it, but only in person. Apparently my camera is going to steal their soul if they look at the pictures. Nobody wanted to go near the pictures. Guy couldn't give me a guestimate or anything, how much/how long do you think this is gonna cost/take?

 

No, the reason that they wont touch your car is simple: 1--cost of repair far exceeds value of car. The shop wont fix a car that they cant recoupe their money from when you come back and decide that you dont have the $2500-$3000 to pay. 2--They make more through insurance/car dealership work. 3--most older cars have rust. Most shops would rather deal with new metal cars/no rust (so they are less likely to have to repair the rust when it returns).

I would never do an estimate from a picture. Would you buy a car based upon just a few photos and not see it before owning it? Well, most people wouldnt. There is a lot of damage areas they look at to assess the amount of damage that is actually done (as far as they can assess without tearing the car apart).

Most shops would not want to give a guess-timate (lets say $1500), then you bring the car in to get it fixed, and they see that the damage way more (is closer to $3000). You get mad at the higher cost and probably leave;you dont get your car fixed, and the shop looses a customer, and has to book the block that they had reserved for your car.

 

Not to mention that if they gave you a verbal estimate they wouldn't want to be held liable if you brought the car in and the actual damage was much worse than the pictures and they had to give you a new estimate that was way more. They could probably be sued for giving a verbal estimate and then not sticking to it once they see the car in person.

 

Ok, I'm done taking my beating now. I didn't want a written estimate for my car based on pictures. I know that's stupid. I wanted to know if they could work on the car, and most wouldn't look at the pictures to say, "we don't do framework like that, sorry." An estimate I was looking for would be, " anywhere from $100 to $1000 based on the pictures, but when I see the car in person, it'll probably be more." An IDEA of what it would cost. I've never known anybody to have framework done, and since I'm broke, I'm also squeamish to illegally drive my car(without bumper/fender/hood) to a shop for them to say, "hey, can't do that kind of work." That's where a picture would come in. So they can expect what kind of work they're looking at. Don't want to offend anyone, but I'm used to the little guy type of shop where they would be on my side and would want to help me out, instead of seeing a time/money value. My rant is over, and it would be nice to see any $ figure for people that have had framework done, so I can expect what to pay. $1000 for bending a frame one inch doesn't seem cheap, but it may be the industry standard. I have no frame of reference. Please help me out.

 

damn that sucks that people wont even look at the pics to give you a rough idea on how much they think it will cost. all your asking for is a rough idea for the cost

 

That looks familiar I had an accident that was totally my fault too, it feels horrible. The damage on your car looks to be the same as mine. The core support was pushed back so far that the upper radiator hose was hitting the compressor. I wish I took pictures on how i fixed mine. I wedged a hydraulic press between the core support and the fender well and pretty much jacked the core support out straight. I have before and after pics. I don't think it would be too hard to fix what you have by yourself. Just don't do what my dad wanted me to do, which is chain my car to tree and back up real fast.

Before:
<img src="http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/5/web/773000-773999/773799_5_full.jpg">

After: Its a bad angle, its straight I promiss
<img src="http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/5/web/773000-773999/773799_6_full.jpg">

 

If only the top part is bent where the headlights and radiator shrowd attach, I wouldn't be too worried. It might not be as pretty as before, but it will be functional. Just straighten it the best you can so you can bolt up your headlights, radiator and nose.

However, I would take a good look under the framerails starting right behind where the front bumper mounts. If those are bent, it can really throw off your alignment and cause you to wear through tires very quickly. In fact, I'd get an alignment even if you just fix the core support and ask for a print-out of the before and after measurements.

 

Could you give me a more in detail method of how you did it? I'd love to fix it myself if I could. I see where you'd put it, but how do you keep the fenderwell from crushing instead of the core support?

 

Anyone ever done this? All I've got is a bottle jack. I'm thinking I'll use a sturdy piece of wood as a support against the fenderwell/surrounding area and just jack the bends out. Sound stupid or unsafe? Let me know. Do you guys have any quicker or better ways to do this? Let me know. I need help. I've been driving an 83 Buick Lesabre for the past 2 months because this car is down. As soon as I get this fixed, I'm selling it and getting a 4th gen Trans Am. Please help me get out of this ****ty Buick and back into an f-body.

 

what i would do is chain it to some immovable object. at work i have chains in the floor but ive also used telephone poles. unlike what was mentioned before you do not want to back up real fast. slowly go backwards to slowly pull the metal out. sometimes if need be i give a lil tug by tappin the gas. in ur case just a slow pull will work. this is known as a prepull. i wouldnt put a bottle jack between the rad support and the fender well. id be worried about crushing the fender well in. just my two cents i do this everyday.
matt

 

I'd even say have a buddy that knows what hes doin, not your stoner friend, watch and have a rubber malet handy just to make sure its pulling out the right spot.