Bent frame, am I screwed?

Qudelle · Jan 22, 2002

Discovered my camaro's frame is most likely bent. Took it to be painted and the body work they did looked great, however the "hanging" bumper and the "crooked" hood did not get fixed.

I had assumed it was a worn clamp in both areas, but was told they're fine. Then took her to a custom paint place for further work and they looked around and noticed some other strange stuff like door gaps not even, quarter panels sitting strangely...and suggested my frame is bent.

It appears to be a single corner front impact bend, based on the shifts in the hood and bumper being on opposite sides of the car.

Can anything be done with this, or am I doomed to illfitting parts, sigh.

kobuzz · Jan 22, 2002

For a front impact that bent the subframe you need to change the subframe. If everything else has been replaced you should be fine. When you change it be sure to look at the mounting points carefully and see if they were damaged.

ORENCH · Jan 22, 2002

If in fact the frame is bent, look for another one from a donor car. It's not too hard to find, at least here. One thing that is very important is to compromise the body shop. IMHO, If they say the frame is bent, then it wouldn't be hard for them to re-align your car gaps for a fair price. As soon as you replace it. Make sure they stand behind their words. Good luck...

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Our affair with Camaros is a live sentence without the possibility of parole. www.geocities.com/c68ss http://home.coqui.net/borench

[This message has been edited by ORENCH (edited 01-22-2002).]

Kyvox · Jan 22, 2002

If the car was hit hard in the front at one time, it is possible that the unibody itself is twisted. This would explain the poor fit of the doors and quarter panels. I would take the car to a frame alignment shop, and have them check the body shell to make sure that it is square.

Dutch69Camar · Jan 23, 2002

Is your subframe still out off the car? If so, you can measure it yourself pretty good. All the dimensions are in the body assembly manual, if you take your time you can say for sure if it is bent or not.
The same applies to the body dimensions, it will take some time and carefull measuring but it is very possible to do this.

Qudelle · Jan 23, 2002

Well it looks like there's hope, so thanks all!

I'd love to get her finished, even if it takes a while. She's my baby!!

http://www.geocities.com/dawnners/cammie.html

boodlefoof · Jan 23, 2002

If the front subframe is bent, is there any hope other than replacing it? I'm just curious. Can you put it on a frame puller?

68ragtop · Jan 23, 2002

Get a copy of the body manual, there's a multitude of dimensions there to measure. i'ts pretty straight forward,

Also, cross your fingers and try to get alignment pins from the subframe to the body. Do a search for alignment or subframe alignment on this forum for more info...
Good luck
John

deejaygee · Jan 23, 2002

After stripping down my front subframe, I had it sandblasted ($75) then took it to a frame repair shop. He took the big dent out of the underbelly (you know, where everyone thinks they're supposed to jack the car), took the twist out of one of the rails, reinforced the ends where the body mounts go, and checked all dimensions using the factory specs I provided. He went so far as to duplicate the sloppy assembly line welding, complete with slag and everything. It wasn't cheap, I think it cost me $350 for his work, but I am now 100% confident the subframe is perfect.

Bent frame, am I screwed?

Qudelle

kobuzz

ORENCH

Kyvox

Dutch69Camar

Qudelle

boodlefoof

68ragtop

deejaygee

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