I see all of the time where a buyer will advertise his/her car as being "straight." I understand the premiss, but how does one know for sure? My car is down to the shell, and I am in the process of cleaning the bottom for paint so I can re-install the subframe. My question is this: How will I know if my car is straight? I know it has been hit before, but everything lines up nicely, and the doors/trunk/hood all open and close very nicely. If by chance my car ends up being less than straight, what are my options? How far can it be off (wierd question I know, but I may have started off with a "crooked" car). I don't want the back end to look as if it is trying to pass the front end (you know what I mean) but once all of the work is done, won't it be too late to really fix a problem that may be related to the new frame rails or the new trunk pan? Am I overthinkiing this?

My understanding has always been that "straight" usually deals with the "flatness" of the body panels. Meaning that when you look down the side of the car, you dont see dents or waves.

If you have structural "crookedness" (dont think thats an actual word), that will usually be found during re-assembly, when parts are extremely difficult to put back together relatively close.

dave

Straight also applies to the consistancy of the gaps in the door, hood, trunk. Easy to see if a car has bad gaps, but if they are straight, you do not notice them. You just think how nice the car looks. Strange how that works.

I agree..... 'straightness' to me is the quality of the bodywork. Waves, dents, panel fit, etc.

I agree! For a quick example...Say you are digging in your backyard and happen upon some metal object. You could dig "straight" down to China! :D

Dano :clonk:

Boy, they sure keep the heat on you Joe.

:rolleyes:

Dano, Dano, Dano..... everyone knows you have to dig AROUND the Earths core. You can't dig 'straight' down to China!

:rolleyes:

Dano, Dano, Dano..... everyone knows you have to dig AROUND the Earths core. You can't dig 'straight' down to China!

Then I'd suggest when you find some 90 degree turns in the metal, you continue to follow it.