Well, ok...

I took my car into a frame shop, and they wouldn't even hook it up. They said, "It's trashed, buy another camaro". I mubmled something about, "Your wife is dying... so get another wife" and left.

After I called this camaro junkyard, and got his mechanics number and i took it to his shop.

He said he could put it on their frame un-bender thing, wouldn't need a replacement sub-frame after all, and got a new rim, and steering knuckle from that camaro junkyard.

I just went digging for my paperwork, but i can't find my recipt for my frame fix. Sorry. Trying to remember how many hours it was, i think frame work was like 30-35 an hour though. Body work (which i didn't get) ran 65-80 as i recall. I was surprised how 'cheap' the framework labor was, but im sure they added in more hours then they really needed.

I didn't have any body work done, i told them, "just fix the frame, get it road worthy".

It does sound like you might be in worse shape then I was, so it's up to you if you want to risk the $80.00. I somehow found a way to pay around 2K for my fix, and this is in 'f*ck my a§§' california too. I couldn't have lucked out too much.

If you aren't as flipmode about your car as I am about mine, then you do have other options besides fixing it. If you are willing to part it out, or whatever... might be less stressful.

Good luck!

 

Yeah no kidding. I used to brag about how I had no tickets/wrecks for the 5 years i've had my license, driving hard (burnouts, donuts, racing, you name it) in three ticket-machines (two red firebirds: my 1st car...an '87 Formula and my current '88 GTA and my '85 corvette). Then i buy an '89 CRX Si so i could have some cheap transportation that i desperately needed. A week later, i get some BS 40-in-a-30 ticket on some deserted street in the middle of the night (1:00 AM) on my way home from work .

Oh yeah don't be fooled by the damage. It might not look like much but it trust me, it is. Especially with the way you described the one wheel being higher than the other etc. You'd better hope its some messed up suspension component (messed up a-arm, bent tie-rods, etc) but 90% of the time it means bent frames which means BEND OVER. It might not be bad enough for your car to be totalled but the car won't drive the same.

 

Well guys, I am determined to have it checked out professionally. My neighbor recommended I go to this auto body place. He knows the guy who owns it. We do to.

So I thought I should owe it to my car to have it checked out professionaly to see whats up. We talked with the owner about it. He said he'd drive by and take a look at it. He came later today. Look at it, noticed that the driver side strut is higher than the other. He noticed I need a new rim. He likes these thirdgen cars, he's dealt with them all the time.

He also said I'm sure the frame isnt cracked, they just bend. He also noticed the steering box was cracked. So he's gonna call around to find an "engine cradle" from a junkyard to put on the car. And fix all the other parts, and it should be good. We'll see tho guys he hasn't looked underneath the car yet, but he will. He said it CAN be fixed, that makes me happy. I love my car. We'll have to see tho guys, I'll let you all know.

Wish me luck, and pray for me, keep faith.

 

Great!!!

Keep us posted!

 

And ket's try to keep it a little more technical, or maybe start another thread...

 

What do you mean by pulls oddly? Does it start to drift off in a certain direction, even if you're holding the wheel straight? If so, do you still think it was worth it to fix it, and have it still pull to a side?

 

As soon as you started talking about tight diameter exits, I knew you were talking about Jersey.

 

this has went on long enough, and the moerators have gotten a few complaints about this thread. if you have any more specific tech related questions post a new thread. thanks