Body repair question

Forgetting the fact I am going to the dark side with a V6, I have run into a problem I sort of knew I had.

When we bought our 73, 7 years ago we knew it had been in a crash with right front damage and roll over. The car was very poorly repaired and had not been driven since 1975 and only had 7600 miles on it. Part of the deal was that the car had to be checked on a body alignment machine before we bought. I paid $500.00 for the inspection which told me the body was straight and as per the factory specs.

The V6 has not fit as it should with a lot of body interference around the passenger side foot well and firewall.

The long and short is I measured from the centre line of the front and rear axles and find the right side 7/8 of an inch closer together. The folks that did the frame check are out of business. I am going to have the car inspected but I have a question.

If it cannot be straightened, keep in mind how long it has been out of kilter, can a front end from a donor car be grafted to mine. My structure has no rust in the rockers etc because of lack of use and indoor storage. I have access to a couple of early 70 B donor cars.

What I need to know is worse case if the car cannot be straightened is changing the front clip something a reasonable amateur with brute strength and ignorance can do? Is the proper way to use the complete stub frame sections right back to the first cross member? Can that be removed cutting spot welds and seems? What about the inner fender panel on the passenger side which are wrinkled?

Money is very tight so I need to prepare.

Thanks for the help. Norm P

You can do it but it would be a lot of work. For the cost, if you have bent frame rails, order those new and install them. You should be able to get your car pulled though.

Norm, I wou;ld think for the car to be that much out you may be able to see where the damage is and possibly get it pulled. Could it maybe be the front suspension although that crossmember is pretty solid. I've done two V6 swaps on a 73 and 74 and the cylinder head is close on the passenger side,but it should clear.

John

I think this type of repair should be left to a properly skilled professional or look for a good donor body, which may not be an insurmountable taks as they are to be had with some diligence and patience. But before you jump to conclusions on your own perceived frame rail misalignment would it perhaps be prudent to duplicate your measuring technique on another,undamaged, body as a comparison? Got any photos?

Brad

Measure the body/frame both straight and diagonals.

The suspension itself could be just bent.

How did you get the front wheels straight to measure the wheelbase?

Before we had robots with measuring devices, we used plumb bobs.

A bit fiddly, but put car on flat floor and find some body /frame holes or attachments (like rear spring front bolt and drop a plumb bob down from it and mark with chalk on floor.

Do at least 4 points so you have a diagonal, (as many more as you can do that are identical on both sides is good ) then move car away and measure chalk marks.

Also check the distance from rear spring front bolt to axle housing to make sure centre bolt aint moved or busted.