I know it's going to vary place to place, but what is a good price on average for having my Firebird thrown up on a rack and straightened to factory specs?? I can visually see the frame is tweaked a little (like a gap in the t-tops on one side) and would like to the frame straightened to stock specs before making it into a race car.

 

uhh there is no good price for that, you need a frame machine. Bodyshops have them, but it won't be cheap.

I can't give you a rough estimate, every shop works differently.

 

Cost is all going to depend on how bad the frame is and how many different ways they have to pull it. If you're seeing a gap in the t-tops, it's going to have to be bent pretty bad.

 

FP, Your car doesn't have a frame, it's a unit body. As far as straightening it, we charge $60 an hour in my part of Ohio. Gaps in a T- top area doesn't necessarily mean you have unit body damage. Further more, A T-top car wouldn't be the best choice for a race car ( Too flexxy ) unless you were to install at least a 10 point cage or a full tube chassis.

 

^Unibody.

 

I bet mine is tweaked also. It was supposedly straightened after an accident before the sub-frame connectors were welded on. But now, the passenger side Adj LCA is nearly 2 inches shorter than the driver's side to get the tires even in the wheel well.

 

damn!!

 

Unibody, unit body, it's the same thing, where do you think the acronym "Unibody" came from?

 

When my car was in an accident awhile back, I am pretty sure they had to do some frame work (among other things). Total cost for all the work they did was like 4-5 grand. The original estimate was like 1200 or something when they thought all the damage was cosmetic... So most of the cost came from the frame damage. In other words, it probably won't be cheap.

 

well it all depends if the car came to me 100% assembled and i have to remove parts just to pull it, then thats body labor at 48 an hour
then the time to clamp and or chain the car down is a 1 1/2 set up time, at 100 a hour
yes where i work frame time is 100 a hour
then there is set up time for the computerized measure system which is a 1.0

if your seeing gaps at the t tops that right there would tell me to walk away, the unibody could be to twisted to save, im guessing your car was totaled, and or deemed a "structual total"

but lets not say that is the case, sometimes we could spend 2 hours other times its 2 days of pulling, thinking, up and down up and down on the rack, and when your almost 20yrs in going up and down i cant even move in the morning, my hands feel like they have been hit with a hammer....................anyways................. ................

where i work and the other past shops we would tell customers its a by the hour work if it goes more then 8 hours then we have to stop to let the customer know and if they want to pay the money

it will add up fast and it will be costly plus what if you have to section in a new rail, core support, lower apron repair, upper rails, strut towers, all the parts and all the labor
even if just a race car we have to fix it correctly so it goes straight and doesnt dog track

i dunno to me lets see a pic and go from there

 

Let me give u a new thought unibody cars have frames incorporated in the structure. Depending on the yr model, some firebirds were full frame back in the day, late models r unibody.what do u think the square box behind the rebar is? These can be repaired along as the frame rail isnt kinked to far to the fire wall. Body shops will put a frame rail in front or rear if the insursnce co and i-car allow. From the repairman side its a loser, because the tech gets beat on the labor. There is mechanical time for the engine, but if u never done one, look at the ticket. A genesis is bout the best tool for the job. U can check the rail before u start welding it in for proper specs.does away with total sheet metal alignment, then having to disassemble it all over again. Motorhead

 

I can find $1,000-$1,500 rollers all day long.. No sense in throwing money at repairing it when they are readily available..

 

Undoubtly your car has been hit hard in the side. If its shorter on wheel to wheel measurements. The correct pull for side hits is out in the middle and forward and rear straight back on each end. This situation is called a u. Again a genesis measuring system will come in handy. This repair will not be cheap. But with no doubt your car will never track properly nor will you ever be able to keep tires on it. When u turn sharp either direction this car hops and screces, right.

 

I bet this information would have more useful 5 years ago when the OP asked..... I'm pretty sure he has moved on.

 

^^lol. sure hope he didn't wait around*

 

F-bodies have always been unibody cars. 1st and 2nd gens both had subframes in front.

Nice thread resurrection though.