Time for a new Supra?

[SupraDude117]

I don't want to give up on my baby... I crashed her a few days ago and put up a bunch of pictures in the picture post area. I've got all the sheet metal off and the front bumper... The bumper made it okay but the parts holding the bumper didn't fare the crash too well... Here are some pictures...

Here you can see the contortion of the drivers side bumper. The drivers side quarter pannel was toast... part of it is still on the car in this picture.
http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0RwAAAJcU9dPAjeXBcTv6MdQGdurNf7IbntDwIbU0oXQheHyR2 0LQde*vJvYgmb*9pJHT8WGcgVpEPnt1q2J8mHEySRyRzgaup3R xtUiRis4/Supra%20055.jpg?dc=4675455349696251287

Here if you look closely you can see the difference between the passender side and drivers side front frame attachement that holds the bumper in place with 3 really huge bolts on each side. 19 mm's I believe
http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0RwDTApgUMNTAjeXBcTv6MYIfpIxPvbD3ebpZIvB6Ym2z8UB2U gQhwrZyH1tAblZI6yCv8fdvfgx4j7WqnaXKQlfMcDO88xxsGgQ v225VT*I/Supra%20056.jpg?dc=4675455349702512395

A different angle on that bent peice of the drivers side frame...
http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0RwAAAJkUa9TAjeXBcTv6MVmL5Z!MNKgrmoPNJCDIAMBeQePw1 !NiZV1YWlbc5A0DogdEPiJ0P9x4DOpCkEfSlB6n5LMIFvNUZk6 TplaVg78/Supra%20057.jpg?dc=4675455349708006771

The far end bumper mount in this picture is fine (passenger side) the closer one however is off by a fair ammount...
http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0RwDiApoUptTAjeXBcTv6MZMuSf0wvtA8g8UXBbQfQnRx7a29T vkcT*yHHMWl9wqBFu8TSaVjVl5!lFZAX1XVpkXoQNOT*EZawU8 u80xU87M/Supra%20058.jpg?dc=4675455349712556255

So guys! Any ideas? I can get a lot of new parts from the junk yard. like a new bumper, quarter panels, turn signal, and such, but I can't replace that slightly bent up peice of frame... I don't want to toss my Supra out if I can fix this with some heat and a hammer or something. Help me!

-DJ

[CJSREDPRA]

Yep, I was afraid of this...

The area where the front bumper mounts attach to the frame/unibody got pushed in. This is going to be a very difficult DIY fix, it's something that a body shop would have to tackle w/ a machine that would straighten it out. Not sure if hammers & pounding will fix it, the metal in this area is pretty tough & beefed up.

Here's something you may not want to hear, can you get someone from a body shop to take a look at this & get a estimate "just to straighten out this area alone"????

I have no doubt that the rest of the stuff you pulled off can easily be fixed & brought back to new, I'm just worried about this stuff that happens to be attached to the unibody.

Anyone else have better suggestions than mine?? (please??). :pray:

FYI, I did make a trip out to Northwest Auto Wrecking today & looked at the two 85 SDR's that are out there!!! Both don't have any front impact damage, but the one that has been there awhile is in better shape for a front clip. The one that they just recently picked up is so/so.

[SupraDude117]

:( alright, I'll see about getting an estimate on fixing that area... I noticed today that the radiator fan rubs the fan shroud/gaurd whatever you call it a little bit... you can just barely feel it rubbing past on every blade... this means that the Radiator support has been pushed back a little as well... *sighs and crosses his fingers*

-DJ

[Angkistrodon]

You have to put that on a frame machine. Although i don't do pulls myself I've wriiten enough estimates to give you a rough price. Roughly now, figure 2 hours set-up at 50.00 per hour and 3-5 hours pull time plus extras. At the VERY least 500-700 dollars. Thats a bitch of a price.

[DannyG]

Mines been hit on the right fender, right door and hit good once in the left quarter panel (I will attempt to replace it one day) and still the body is aligned.

Does it still drive straight? Either way, maybe call some body shops and see how much for a frame straightening, or to straighten that piece in particular. If you could, bring these pics you just posted to the shop's before towing it and see if its a reasonable estimate. And since you're doing the rest of the labor on body parts, maybe you can determine if its worth a fix for the money :idea: hmm, $500-700?

Its just my opinion only, I'm not a pro in this, and its another reason I think you should talk to a shop first before heating to bend anything. Just for the safety of the metal still being durable enough to not bust or bend again while you're performance driving. Body shops specialize in this sort of thing, and I've seen much worse bent frames the body shops can still fix. So fixable?, I think certainly yes. But the cost? Maybe you can determine after an estimate of a mild frame straightning. Doesn't look severe at all compared to others I've seen w/ the frame severely twisted. Just my .02 cents. hth

[ma615mgte]

you seem pretty good so far w/ pulling it apart.. do MOST of it you can, get the body to a shop to have that unibody pulled out! SYS... save your supra! remember.. she's your baby! :wink:

[SupraFiend]

alot of shops are going to want to put the new fenders on themsleves to make sure it all lines up. If the rest of the car is cherry its worth fixing. The damage looks fairly localized and once fixed shouldn't interfere with the tracking of the car. If the damage is so bad that its affected other areas of the car then the crash area its probably not worth it but from what i can see here its not too bad. I'd say cough up the dough for the frame straigteing and tell them you want to do as much of it yourself as you can. Don't even try to hammer it out, you'll never get it right.

[pdupler]

Or you could try the redneck method (and I say that only with a little tongue-in-cheek because I've done it, or at least participated in it, and it worked). I had a Mustang that the front alignment was a little "off" from a previous accident that had been repaired poorly and couldn't be aligned. An aquaintence who rebuilds late model wrecks and sells them with salvage titles had set four short telephone poles on either side of his driveway, 6' deep in concrete. We measured it all out and decided the top of the right shock tower needed pulled 3/4". Set up chains, a couple of braces and a hydraulic cylinder and straightened it right up. Of course by the time you've set four telephone poles in concrete, purchased a 100 feet or more of chain, some 4" steel tubing for braces, and a hydraulic body shop kit from Harbor Freight, you could have bought yourself another Supra. Not to mention, what are the neighbors gonna say about those poles in the front yard? :roll:

Seriously, I'd do like the previous posts say and get an estimate. If you can put your Supra back on the road for less than you could purchase one in similar condition as yours was before, then do it. Otherwise donate its organs so that others might live on.

Phil D.

[DannyG]

"Sorry to jump on this thread like this, but its related somewhat :oops: "

This is crazy, but right now I'm watching the TLC channel, this new show called RIDES is on. And they bought this classic 67' Fastback Mustang, saying the 68' from doors up is identical and about to swap this sucker :shock: Took the shop 2 weeks to show prep this 68" unibody. They had to do this since they noticed the last unibody fix was a horrible job from the last body shop and knew the power they're puttin' in it is too much to handle. Looks like for every fabrication, its almost costs em' at least another part to fabricate.

They put the new supercharged motor in first before the fenders, and instead of chop tops, they chop the hoods. So after this, they had to adjust the motor mounts down 2 inches because of the supercharger :shocked!: Looks impossible to the average body man :shock:

Bad a$$ hot rod fabricators just plasma cut the whole unibody off in 10 minutes. But of course they say its a BIG :twisted: NO NO.

$125,000 Shop project by Rad Rides. Guys my age and younger, one from the school I plan to attend in Laramie :x Ahh, I'm jealous :crazyeye: I want to do something like that one day on a MKII, some day :pray:

[Junkie]

Ouch!!! Definately needs a good tug.I don't remember all the shops in Kirkland,but call Toyota of Kirkland,ask for Rick in parts.He should be abvle to hook you up with a Friendly,and good,shop close too you.

There is one,right behind The Carb Connection,about another bock down the at road.Just can't remmeber their name :?

Probably looking at $500 if they can pull it,if it needs to be replaced "doesn't look like it",Closer to $1000.

Chris has the lowdown on the bolt on's,I'll look at Nix and see what we might have to help.If the shop decides they need to cut and spice,and if you go that route,call me.I'll get the best price you can find on the cut :wink:

[SupraDude117]

My school's Auto Body teachers says it looks pretty bad but I think it could be much worse. The actual bend in the frame occurs just behind the bumper mount. I think it would be an easy fix if I could get him to set up a date and time that I could get my car in there. They have a Honda Civic straightening his frame out and I watched him pulling the passenger side bumper mount on his frame out to the right. I've also thought about bolting a 10 foot 2X4 to the drivers side tow hook (for bending leverage...)and then heating the bend. it's about a 30 degree bend and everything behind the bend point is straight as an arrow. I can see that buy moving it down the radiator support will also move forward which is very good news. The radiator fan is just scraping by the fan shroud right now but it still touches it nonetheless... If the Auto Body teacher can help me out within the next week I will get a special trip permit from the DMV and drive the Supra up to the body shop at my school. I'll get to do it myself, have profesional aid at my side, and it will be for free :)

-DJ

[SupraFiend]

ok, but make sure you get the measurements right. If you look in the back of the FSRM, and only the FSRM (only place I've ever seen it), it has diagrames of the frame and various measurements from reference points. These measurements are what frame shops use to get it right, it will never look 100 percent if you just eyeball it.

[CJSREDPRA]

DJ,

Go back to the tread in the pictures forum & click on the link that I posted from the TSRM. That page also has the measurments on it.

[Angkistrodon]

These folks are 100% right!!!!!!!!!! Make sure you have the proper frame specs before you hook any chains to it. You think its fukked up now......wait till you try to pull it without specs!!!!!