Hy82e

iTrader: (14)

I bought this car with a blown motor, 1982 Buick Regal, for the body and interior. Car was and is in need of no body work. I have pulled the front clip off and have found no signs of impact, (no obvious anyways), but I'm nothing close to body man.

When the car was on the ground it had a little bit of a lean, but i had charged that off to the 30yr old springs since it didn't appear to have signs damage.

Today I pulled the old V6 out and seen this


The scrapes in the front are just a quick pass with the scraper.

Here you can see the outline of the motor mount. The bend follows the fromt edge of the mount perfectly like it is supposed to be there. No damage to the mount it sit flat on the garage floor.


Drivers side is what is in question.


Here you can see the drivers side mount angles slightly to the front.


let me know what you guys think. I have not seen or heard of this being normal, but this is my first build. Any frame or body guys if you could chime in let me know what are some signs to look for of old repairs. Thanks

6togo

iTrader: (13)

I know on my 86' GN frame that both sides of the frame where the mounts bolt to are flat. It looks like yours is pushed in!

Hy82e

iTrader: (14)

yeah that's how i thought they should be, is flat. I am noticing that my drivers side frame horn is about 1/2" higher than the pass, but if my cross member wasn't shaped funny i wouldn't have noticed or just thought it was jack stand placement or the floor. Still could be i guess.

Byrdman308

It looks like it may have been hit at some time on the left front. The area around the motor mount is the area that these frames tend to buckle at when this is the case.

Hy82e

iTrader: (14)

Yeah I found the repair on the drivers frame horn. About even with the steering box.
Now the question is repair or replace. Since the frame is coming out regardless I'm leaning towards replacement. But I need to research frame alignment cost in my area vs a good frame.

ici8uup

if it doesn't wear tires and you can get the motor mount bolts in a would'nt bother with it there are a lot of bent frames out there, unless it can't be alighined or another major problem i'd would'nt worry to much

Stu Cool

iTrader: (13)

I would find another one to look at and compare them. That may be an intentional bend for clearance.

Pat

gofastwclass

iTrader: (2)

Agreed. I've owned one of those cars and had it and several others off the frame for restoration. There are a lot of strange bends all over them, some for reasons I've never understood and others for clearance. I can't really tell in your photos but honestly it doesn't look like a problem to me. Either your frame isn't bent or won't be a problem if it is with a small tweak on an old school frame machine.

Since you are building a custom car with aftermarket or custom engine mounts, the only thing that matters is: are the suspension and body pick up points in the proper spots and is it solid. If so, game on!

Old Geezer

iTrader: (3)

Center of the X member sagging is a common problem. This pulls the upper a-arms in, and requires offset upper arm shafts, if bad enough...BTDT.
That frame is crunched. The pads should be flat. Only way to tell how bad is, is to put it on a frame machine. Around here, it usually costs in the hood of $3-400, to set up, check and pull.

LS1MCSS

iTrader: (18)

If it's coming out anyway, just replace it. That one isn't worth the extra cost of trying to get it fixed. You might still end up with a car that eats front tires even after trying to straighten it.