Carsick

I bought this car from an estate sale. I wasn't able to talk to the previous owner so I didn't get any background info on the car....it looks like it took a very hard impact to the front passenger side. There is a kink in the frame just under the passenger side front body mount. The front tire sits an inch or two closer to the firewall. The rear passenger tire sits a bit rearward as well....

I would like to hear opinions on whether I should have a shop replace the kinked section under the body mount and pull the frame straight???.....or replace the whole frame?

Any rough idea of what the cost of having the frame repaired might be?
<a href="http://s74.photobucket.com/user/mrnova72/media/20150927_163802_zpsul51daay.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i255/mrnova72/20150927_163802_zpsul51daay.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20150927_163802_zpsul51daay.jpg"/></a>
<a href="http://s74.photobucket.com/user/mrnova72/media/PicsArt_1443450033247_zpsx41ejin3.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i255/mrnova72/PicsArt_1443450033247_zpsx41ejin3.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo PicsArt_1443450033247_zpsx41ejin3.jpg"/></a><a href="http://s74.photobucket.com/user/mrnova72/media/PicsArt_1443449951240_zpsxzeeex7w.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i255/mrnova72/PicsArt_1443449951240_zpsxzeeex7w.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo PicsArt_1443449951240_zpsxzeeex7w.jpg"/></a><a href="http://s74.photobucket.com/user/mrnova72/media/PicsArt_1443252223567_zpss1o9c4rz.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i255/mrnova72/PicsArt_1443252223567_zpss1o9c4rz.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo PicsArt_1443252223567_zpss1o9c4rz.jpg"/></a><a href="http://s74.photobucket.com/user/mrnova72/media/PicsArt_1443252026516_zpsqfzf6nvz.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i255/mrnova72/PicsArt_1443252026516_zpsqfzf6nvz.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo PicsArt_1443252026516_zpsqfzf6nvz.jpg"/></a>

Professur

A competent collision repair shop with a puller should be able to pull that straight in short order. Your local price may vary, and they may find more damage that you've missed. I'd check your local directory and look up reviews. At the worst, that can be cut off and a replacement from a good donor frame grafted in.

lemoldsnut

I agree with Professur, I would get it on a frame rack and get it measured. They can do that a few ways with a laser or other measuring tool. Cars often when get hit in one place will move in another place. I bet it is fixable. But you want it looked over well. Is that a crack in the frame by the hole on the right in one picture just behind the lower control arm mount?

That is what you need to look for all over. Motor and trans mounts often break in a hit and are not caught right away.

Frame work is not cheap. You are in the west and finding a frame may be a cheaper way to go. i would check all options for sure

Hope this helps
Larry

Carsick

Thanks Professur, do you think the body would need to come off to replace that section of frame?

Carsick

Yes that is a crack...I can get a frame for 500 and probably cheaper if call a few junk yards. I can get a replacement section of that part of the frame off eBay for 100..

I really don't want to take the body off...I'm guessing the frame might cost 800 but that's just a wild guess

lemoldsnut

For those prices I would do a frame in a second. It would end up being a much more correct and dependable repair then a section.

Professur

You have one HUGE advantage over us northerners ... you know there's no road salt thinning the frame to tissue. Pulling the frame is usually done with the body on unless it's in the way. A body-off really isn't that huge a deal for a well equipped shop ... but it's a lot more than just fixing one bent frame horn. This far north it would be a much stronger consideration. I'd look up the local car clubs and see what kind of reviews they can offer for local speed shops and see what those speed shops think of the various collision repair outfits. The more people you talk to, the better your odds. It's worth keeping a frame swap as a backup. No harm in asking after availability and pricing for all options.

Carsick

I was contemplating taking the body off (cinder blocks and a couple 4x4's) and having the frame as a roller go to a collision shop. I figured I could save a few bucks that way and it would give me a chance to get the under carriage looking good....

jfb

ditto have it examined by a great shop but do not forget that this a old frame and the age could have taken a toll on it, have a back up plan just in case. frame rot could be in there. I am not there so make sure they are competent and have a good rep.

oldcutlass

To be honest, it would be cheaper to find a frame for what the frame shop will charge to do a graft, if they would even do it at all. Most don't want the liability. It may be able to be straightened but another frame would be the way to go.

Carsick

Sounds like a lot of good advice. So I should be looking for a find a solid roller 68-72 Chevelle skylark Cutlass...anything else that would fit ?

I would just need to swap in the boxed rear control arms and the rear end and I'd be good to go..? Everything else should be the same right?

wr1970

Frames are pulled normally done with the body on.The Professur mentioned it and he is correct. I welded my cracks before having frame stretched. Cracks need to be addressed. I don't know how anyone seen that crack because i didn't. Maybe they have a better zoom.

wr1970

Oh i see it it is in the lightning hole. That isn't no problem so was mine.I just welded it. I didn't use not certified welder and it held good. As a matter of fact i put the whole car together then had the frame stretched. My frame was busted at the cross member. That was done at a weld shop/ body shop but he said it needed to be cradled to fix the hole. I blew him off on his advice and fixed that myself as he wouldn't weld it.I have seen enough damaged frames repaired in much worse shop before.

oldcutlass

The problem in frame repair now a days is finding someone competent and willing to weld on one. The frame shops I've seen will not weld anymore.

coppercutlass

You seem to forget modern trucks still have full frames. I had to section in a frame on a 2500 gmc not too long ago. Big rig shops also do frame repair .

RetroRanger

svnt442 has a frame for sale for $200 in the classified ads he is in cali

coppercutlass

For 200 bucks thats a deal. Its a solid week of prep work to swap the frame it will take a big chunk of the weekend and then a few months to button up lol as you will find more things to do. I fixed my frame last year along with a big list of other things to boot.

Trust me it its safer than it looks lol.

Carsick

I'll try to find svnt442's post, 200 bucks is a steal...

I like that copper cutlass...

Carsick

Will a 69 skylark fram work? I found a complete car minus the suspension for 500...svnt442 is too far away.

svnt442

Yes sir, it will. Skylark, Chevelle, Tempest (GTO) and Cutlass (442) are all interchangeable.

And mine sold today.

wr1970

Why not just weld the crack then go have the frame straightened. The frame straightening shouldn't be no more than $500. In 2001 mine cost $200.00 to have the frame pulled. The cross member was $100 and i fixed the lightening hole. The welding maybe at most $100 depends on who does it any welder can do it doesn't have to be a frame shop.I added in inflation for your car.Go get a estimate.

Professur

Please don't do this. That is exactly the single worst way to use a cinderblock. All the weight is over the web. Mason's break blocks along the web with a strike from the edge of a trowel... that's how weak that part is. If you have to use cinderblock, use them upright in the position they were built to be used. But don't have to. Buy proper jack stands. Jack stands are cheap. Jack stands are cheaper than coffins.

Koda

If you MUST use something, chunk a railroad tie over a cinder block.

coppercutlass

Proff did you notice how I have th engine hoist stil on the car in the front ???? I'm well aware of how birtle the cinder blocks are. Which is why we left the engine hoist 's 2 of em still attached as a fail safe. We didn't really need to work under the car as much of the work was along the frame rails but I also did not fully trust cinder blocks so I just put a little tension on the hoist and if some thing did happen it would not be a shock load.

Professur

I think we've had this conversation. To the experienced eye it's obvious there's more going on, as the blocks are between the wheels. You couldn't just roll the chassis out from underneath the body as is. Yes, you did have other layers of safety ... but your pic, viewed just as it is, shows a shell held up by cinder blocks lying on their side. Anyone seeing that and emulating it may not have the extra protection you added. Frankly, just seeing that for me is like standing on the glass floor overlook in those tourist sky towers ... even if I know it's safe, it gives me the heebie jeebies. I've seen, and you have as well, too many reports of deaths because of failure to properly support a vehicle.

coppercutlass

Your safety concern is welcomed. We could have made it wider but for our needs it was sufficient work space.

Olds442redberet

IMO: Get the Skylark frame

67442nut

Convertible or hardtop?
Frames are different.
Convertible frame is boxed. Can be used with a hardtop body.
Shouldn't use an "unboxed" hardtop frame with a convertible.
Also, a good convertible frame will be considerably more expensive.

Olds442redberet

I have a hardtop frame in Alabama.

oldcutlass

I wonder what the OP ended up doing?

Olds442redberet

It's been a couple months now so I hope he found what he needed and is getting his car put back together.