Hello everyone,

I have a 1951 Super 88 i recently picked up. Once I got the car on the stands I noticed the front crossmember was bent. Kind of looks like this was forklifted out of the mud. The grill support member is beat up, it looks like they wrapped a chain around it on one side. There is one shim under the pivot shaft mounts of the lower control arm. There was another post that mentioned the same shims on the lower control arm pivot shaft: https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...pacers-130235/ but it looks like no answer ever came through. It was good to see a healthy looking front crossmember needing shims too.

I am pretty nervous about this and I feel like this is a turning point for the project. I do have an opportunity to grab a front crossmember and the grill support member out of another frame. As you can see this car is a ways from being road worthy. It would be sad to finally get to the driving part and have the car be un-alignable. This will be a frame-off job though... Any help is much appreciated. Thanks for your time!

 

You may be able to heat that area up and straighten it, it looks more cosmetic than a structural issue. An alignment will reveal any problems.

 

I'm in agreement with the above. You might have a alignment shop look at it and see how much it is pulled out before you start replacing parts. You may not need the cross member replaced and that shaft could probably be straightened in a press if the shop would do it(some won't for legal reasons even though it was often done back in the day a lot) ... Tedd

 

I agree with the other comments. Be careful with those stands. Three footed are less stable than four footed.
Many bent parts can be straightened.

 

Thank you all for your responses and reassurance. Hopefully I can bend it back straight again. Ill circle back on this thread when I get to that point.

Thanks for your concern guys. I couldnt find many square jack stands with a pull pin, I just dont trust the latches. The three footed stands are rated 3 tons a piece with a pull pin lock. As long as I orient the front stands pointing at the front bumper and the rear stand pointing at the back bumper, they are just as stable as squares. I did the good ole linebacker test and the car didnt budge. All of the square jack stands can still roll forward, pretty unlikely but you guys know these cars are heavy. Im not super thrilled about the flat pads though.