what should i do?
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 533
Likes: 1
From: South East AZ
what should i do? i traded my black 2000 t/a with 135,500 miles for a totaled out black 2001 t/a with 46,000 miles. the guy i got it from side swiped a guard rail to avoid a head on collision and it has all the mods i wanted to do to my 2000 so i figured in the long run this one would last me longer then my 2000 would mechanically. the car i have now has the entire passenger side body screwed up and the rear 1/4 is going to be the worst to repair/ replace. take a look at my pics and let me know what i should do to fix my problem.
https://ls1tech.com/forums/picture.p...ictureid=36481
https://ls1tech.com/forums/picture.p...ictureid=36480
https://ls1tech.com/forums/picture.p...ictureid=36476
so as you can see from the pics the front part of the under body from the front 1/4 took most of the hit and since it crumpled it pulled the passenger head light under the hood. what can i do to pull it back out, what would be the best way to do this with out cutting
https://ls1tech.com/forums/picture.p...ictureid=36481
https://ls1tech.com/forums/picture.p...ictureid=36480
https://ls1tech.com/forums/picture.p...ictureid=36476
so as you can see from the pics the front part of the under body from the front 1/4 took most of the hit and since it crumpled it pulled the passenger head light under the hood. what can i do to pull it back out, what would be the best way to do this with out cutting
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 701
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From: chicago
ummmm how about your fucked!!
from just the shitty pics that upper rail needs to be replced, at least i would replce it, not to mention that it might be swayed over and pushed down, which menas what class?????>...............................frame machine!!! which then means what?????.......................90 bucks an hour on that machine
if its just what im seeing and its the front end, you might be at 3-4,000 total out the door, ohhhh to much money?? well so sorry but the cost of parts, the cost of labor, the cost of repaing other broken parts, paint labor, ya its not cheap,
if you have deep bank account then hey no biggie right???
from just the shitty pics that upper rail needs to be replced, at least i would replce it, not to mention that it might be swayed over and pushed down, which menas what class?????>...............................frame machine!!! which then means what?????.......................90 bucks an hour on that machine
if its just what im seeing and its the front end, you might be at 3-4,000 total out the door, ohhhh to much money?? well so sorry but the cost of parts, the cost of labor, the cost of repaing other broken parts, paint labor, ya its not cheap,
if you have deep bank account then hey no biggie right???
lol.... you would have been better kepping your and buyin the fd one out right and transplanting..... i have a feeling that the hood hinges arent straight, possible cracked fiberglass in the hood. but judging that he side swiped the guard rail it may not be shoved over as far as i may think. and then there is parts....... your probably going to be getting all used parts. it may be more than that 3-4000.....
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 533
Likes: 1
From: South East AZ
damn, so there really isnt away that i can just bang the **** out of it till its straight again? and actually the hood hinges are straight, there is broken fibergalss on the back most part of the passenger side of the hood on the corner. but ya and i dont have alot of money to work with, i was just gunna do it here and there as i come into some when i can and eventually get it done, but i was factoring in a couple thousand myself for the body panels, and for a shop to install them and paint the car. well ***** 
what would i do?
buy a new hood bumper and fender.
1. start first with the hood and make it line up with the undamaged side of the car
2. once the hood is aligned try to get the fender to line up.
aligning the fender may be tricky, you may need to drill new holes in that damaged sub frame and using new bolts
3. align front bumper. the headlight may need to be adjusted, that you can probably use a hammer for
your main problem is going to be getting that headlight to line up with the hood and the fender and bumper. i would imagine a full day on the headlight alone, and a day to get everything else lined up correctly
it can be done cheap and look good, just not correctly and you will be able to tell once you pop the hood
it was not a wise choice to trade, high mileage ls1's are less likely to break. the low mileage cars tend to be weekend cars, that are driven hard and put away wet. especially on a wrecked car......... when buying an fbody the previous owner is more of a decidiing factor than the mileage is, atleast for me
buy a new hood bumper and fender.
1. start first with the hood and make it line up with the undamaged side of the car
2. once the hood is aligned try to get the fender to line up.
aligning the fender may be tricky, you may need to drill new holes in that damaged sub frame and using new bolts
3. align front bumper. the headlight may need to be adjusted, that you can probably use a hammer for
your main problem is going to be getting that headlight to line up with the hood and the fender and bumper. i would imagine a full day on the headlight alone, and a day to get everything else lined up correctly
it can be done cheap and look good, just not correctly and you will be able to tell once you pop the hood
it was not a wise choice to trade, high mileage ls1's are less likely to break. the low mileage cars tend to be weekend cars, that are driven hard and put away wet. especially on a wrecked car......... when buying an fbody the previous owner is more of a decidiing factor than the mileage is, atleast for me
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 533
Likes: 1
From: South East AZ
what would i do?
buy a new hood bumper and fender.
1. start first with the hood and make it line up with the undamaged side of the car
2. once the hood is aligned try to get the fender to line up.
aligning the fender may be tricky, you may need to drill new holes in that damaged sub frame and using new bolts
3. align front bumper. the headlight may need to be adjusted, that you can probably use a hammer for
your main problem is going to be getting that headlight to line up with the hood and the fender and bumper. i would imagine a full day on the headlight alone, and a day to get everything else lined up correctly
it can be done cheap and look good, just not correctly and you will be able to tell once you pop the hood
it was not a wise choice to trade, high mileage ls1's are less likely to break. the low mileage cars tend to be weekend cars, that are driven hard and put away wet. especially on a wrecked car......... when buying an fbody the previous owner is more of a decidiing factor than the mileage is, atleast for me
buy a new hood bumper and fender.
1. start first with the hood and make it line up with the undamaged side of the car
2. once the hood is aligned try to get the fender to line up.
aligning the fender may be tricky, you may need to drill new holes in that damaged sub frame and using new bolts
3. align front bumper. the headlight may need to be adjusted, that you can probably use a hammer for
your main problem is going to be getting that headlight to line up with the hood and the fender and bumper. i would imagine a full day on the headlight alone, and a day to get everything else lined up correctly
it can be done cheap and look good, just not correctly and you will be able to tell once you pop the hood
it was not a wise choice to trade, high mileage ls1's are less likely to break. the low mileage cars tend to be weekend cars, that are driven hard and put away wet. especially on a wrecked car......... when buying an fbody the previous owner is more of a decidiing factor than the mileage is, atleast for me
well it definately wont be a show car but i do want it to look good from the out side, it is going to be a purpose built/ street car. the rest of the car is straight thanks to the strut tower brace a double diamond subframe connectors. and thanks for pointing that out about the high mileage ones vs. the low mileage ones. i dont know if you care about the background on the car but the guy i got it from was the second owner of the car, he got it from an old man about 5 years ago while he was in highschool, so i imagine the guy is prolly 24 or 25, and seeing that it has such low miles it prolly was a weekend car but one factor that i was glad to get out from under my highmilage one was that the tranny was having a hard time going into reverse, i had to jiggle the shifter and pull on it kinda hard at the same time in order for it to go in, so the stock t-56 didnt have much more life in it and i dont have that kind of money to rebuild it. but i thank you very much for your in put and advise, it was alot better then that other guys just telling me im f-d
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TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 701
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From: chicago
well im around cars all day long dude, so i dont have "people skills" i have car skills and in my line of work its no bullshit at all
and 2nd why you would listen to someone like that who obviously has no exoperience at all in body work and does not know what he`s talking about at all!!!
do you not see the upper frame rail?? do you not see that its beyond any type of repair, ok do you not see that, i can see from the shitty pics that the car is swayed over and needs to be clamped on a frame rack and pulled back and squared out before any parts can be put on that car
if you do what this numb nuts told you you will be fighting your self and fighting and fighting becasue nothing was pulled and nothing was replaced, that car is swayed over i see it, and it looks like the lower frame rail is twisted too, dude frame rails have to have to be pulled and squared out before anything can be done
you need the upper rail replaced, lower rail pulled and repaired, core support pulled and repaired, possible lower aprons are tweaked too and would need to be repaired also
once that front end is pulled and made squared and its measured then you can replace that right upper rail, then you fit the fender/hood/headlights/ bumper, so on and so on dude like i said your car is fucked up, and it needs allot allot of labor and parts and money to get it right again
now i sat here and typed out the truth who you going to believe a 20yr journeyman or some kid who works at jiffy lube
and 2nd why you would listen to someone like that who obviously has no exoperience at all in body work and does not know what he`s talking about at all!!!
do you not see the upper frame rail?? do you not see that its beyond any type of repair, ok do you not see that, i can see from the shitty pics that the car is swayed over and needs to be clamped on a frame rack and pulled back and squared out before any parts can be put on that car
if you do what this numb nuts told you you will be fighting your self and fighting and fighting becasue nothing was pulled and nothing was replaced, that car is swayed over i see it, and it looks like the lower frame rail is twisted too, dude frame rails have to have to be pulled and squared out before anything can be done
you need the upper rail replaced, lower rail pulled and repaired, core support pulled and repaired, possible lower aprons are tweaked too and would need to be repaired also
once that front end is pulled and made squared and its measured then you can replace that right upper rail, then you fit the fender/hood/headlights/ bumper, so on and so on dude like i said your car is fucked up, and it needs allot allot of labor and parts and money to get it right again
now i sat here and typed out the truth who you going to believe a 20yr journeyman or some kid who works at jiffy lube
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Verdad Gallardo well im around cars all day long dude, so i dont have "people skills" i have car skills and in my line of work its no bullshit at all
and 2nd why you would listen to someone like that who obviously has no exoperience at all in body work and does not know what he`s talking about at all!!!
and 2nd why you would listen to someone like that who obviously has no exoperience at all in body work and does not know what he`s talking about at all!!!
im still learning the trade as i have been in it since i graduated highschool (3 years now)
Well the good news is it makes a perfect drag car cause while you are tearing down everything to repair the damaged front, which there is a significant amount. You can just take out bumper support strip down some of those inner fender pieces and just get a fiberglass front and call it a day.
You will get a lot of people saying you are screwed cause well you more or less are, there is the right way to do something and that way costs money, you can do it the other way which is tito the backyard body guy and he will charge you in corona's and chiclets (or bobby lee the trailer park special olympiad he charges in sexual favores with his cousin and budweiser) either way they will screw it up.
If you want your car to look right, regardless of show quality, the right way costs money, and you need to tear down the car to check the k-member for shifting caused by frame damage and all the other little intricacies that go along with that much damage.
You will get a lot of people saying you are screwed cause well you more or less are, there is the right way to do something and that way costs money, you can do it the other way which is tito the backyard body guy and he will charge you in corona's and chiclets (or bobby lee the trailer park special olympiad he charges in sexual favores with his cousin and budweiser) either way they will screw it up.
If you want your car to look right, regardless of show quality, the right way costs money, and you need to tear down the car to check the k-member for shifting caused by frame damage and all the other little intricacies that go along with that much damage.
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Apr 2008
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From: chicago
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 533
Likes: 1
From: South East AZ
well i do apologize bdyman, i had no idea that you were more or less an expert in this field. after reading your reply on pretty much your background of autobody work i have to say i do believe you more, i took you as a guy who knew a guy that took his car into a shop and had this much work done to it, but now knowing that you yourself are telling me the extensive work that needs to be done then i will pay more attention to your advise and again i apologize. and to hlaalu, no i traded my 2000 with minor mods for this one which has all these mods in my sig and more which it wont let me fit. now tell me bdyman, how long would you say this would take me to repair, you already told me the price, and is it road worthy for the time being as long as there isnt alot of punishment on the car till i do get it done? and yes i do want it to be functional and right, but not jerry rigged iether.
if you do what this numb nuts told you you will be fighting your self and fighting and fighting becasue nothing was pulled and nothing was replaced, that car is swayed over i see it, and it looks like the lower frame rail is twisted too, dude frame rails have to have to be pulled and squared out before anything can be done
to the op, if you really are trying to be a bodyman now is the time. maybe you can get the body shop teacher to let you use the frame machine. however even with a frame machine you would still be cutting a good upper frame rail off a junkyard car to replace the damaged one on your own
i didnt realize you had a salvage title, your going to need to have it back to factory standards to get it road worthy again.
Last edited by chrysler kid; Nov 12, 2009 at 07:57 PM.
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 533
Likes: 1
From: South East AZ
lets review the other response you gave. you mocked him and told him he was fucked. you cant even tell if the shock tower assembled has been damaged, or if the subframe has been moved over without pictures under the hood. best case scenario the damage was contained to that upper frame rail, and the subframe closest to the towers is still intact. but even to check that it needs to be on the frame machine
to the op, if you really are trying to be a bodyman now is the time. maybe you can get the body shop teacher to let you use the frame machine. however even with a frame machine you would still be cutting a good upper frame rail off a junkyard car to replace the damaged one on your own
i didnt realize you had a salvage title, your going to need to have it back to factory standards to get it road worthy again.
to the op, if you really are trying to be a bodyman now is the time. maybe you can get the body shop teacher to let you use the frame machine. however even with a frame machine you would still be cutting a good upper frame rail off a junkyard car to replace the damaged one on your own
i didnt realize you had a salvage title, your going to need to have it back to factory standards to get it road worthy again.
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 701
Likes: 0
From: chicago
lets review the other response you gave. you mocked him and told him he was fucked. you cant even tell if the shock tower assembled has been damaged, or if the subframe has been moved over without pictures under the hood. best case scenario the damage was contained to that upper frame rail, and the subframe closest to the towers is still intact. but even to check that it needs to be on the frame machine
to the op, if you really are trying to be a bodyman now is the time. maybe you can get the body shop teacher to let you use the frame machine. however even with a frame machine you would still be cutting a good upper frame rail off a junkyard car to replace the damaged one on your own
i didnt realize you had a salvage title, your going to need to have it back to factory standards to get it road worthy again.
to the op, if you really are trying to be a bodyman now is the time. maybe you can get the body shop teacher to let you use the frame machine. however even with a frame machine you would still be cutting a good upper frame rail off a junkyard car to replace the damaged one on your own
i didnt realize you had a salvage title, your going to need to have it back to factory standards to get it road worthy again.
dude being in the trade for 20yrs fixing cars for that long of time i see hits like this daily, so i know from my own experience what is damaged and what needs to be fixed and HOW IT NEEDs TO BE FIXED
again your responses are clueless 100% jibberish, non sense to the infinity power, i can tell by your repsonse that you are not in the automotive field and its ok not to be if your a desk jockey thats cool but let the REAL techs on this site try to help him out ok?? thanks
dude trust me on this a car hit like that the damage is not contained to just the upper frame rail, im 100% sure it took the core support and pushed it over, along with the lower apron, and like i said the lower frame rail as well dude cars are designed to crumple, kink on impact, every car on the road has wrinkle zones crumple zones,
when its hit the metal does its job, so when a car is hit from the side like yours was, ya gotta reemeber everything is welded together and everything moves together too, especially on a front end, the lower rails, then the aporns weld to that, then the coresupport welds to that then the upper rails wedl to that, its a big puzzle,
so maybe the shop was thinking oh ok one of the rails is kinked or damaged, well doesnt mean the front end is pushed over,
dude i t will take 3,000 to get this car road worthy again, all the labor, all the parts, and i could get it done in about 3 weeks if everything goes right which it never does, parts come in wrong or on back order who knows! its allways something in body work
just to bad your to far out i would love to fix it for ya