Hello, I have asked questions here before and everyone has been helpful. Now I have an unlikely one to solve, but for the sake of money I figured it could not hurt to ask those that may know.

I had an accident a few months back. Getting together the money and parts has been tough. I was hit on the side, and slammed into the wall on the freeway. Remarkably, my Fiero was minimally damaged. Everything mechanical is working fine. The passenger side of the nose hit the wall. The frame was bent in, the nose smashed, the hood cracked. The frame is now a bit crooked as well. The driver fender pushed in a bit and it cracked when I opened the door. The headlights work fine, the hood opens if I do it gently with no problem. The damage at the nose is easy to see, as it is dented in right at the corner. This is not the worst part; the worst is that the frame is slightly anlgled upward, creating a noticable tilt that pushes into the driver side slightly. The impact at about 50mph after being hit in the passenger door (which itself only sustained a crack in the outer panel) then hitting the wall was amazingly minimal. Built to last I guess.

I have the body pieces, wrong color but otherwise an exact match. My problem is affording the work. Out here in LA the highest offer to fix it by pros paint included was $3000, lowest $2000, about $1200 without paint. But I found a retired body mechanic who said he could do it all sans paint but with primer for $500, by himself and without the benefit of the machinery used in shops to straighten the frame. I paid $3200 for the car and I dont see dropping almost that much to fix it all at once as viable or even sensible.

I was a bit dubious about this old man with a cane being able to do that, but $500 seemed good to do all of the work. However, things are hard right now and I simply don't have the cash. My car is an 85 base, with 63k original miles and before the accident was about an 8 out of 10 with some minor work I put into it. I love it enough to hang onto it, and frankly can't afford a new car anyway. I plan on rebuilding the 4cyl in the future as it is a great economical car and I have it for the love of it rather than the sport of a faster one, at least for now.

My long winded question is does anyone know if and how it would be possible to straighten the frame by myself, as this older gentleman said he could do. I can replace all of the body panels, hood, etc. no problem. It is just the frame that is the issue. I am willing to put in the time and effort to do it, I just need to know if it can be done by myself. The damage sounds worse than it is, and as I said the car works fine still. Even if I choose to sell at some point it needs to be fixed.

If anyone has any suggestions or ideas I would appreciate it. I know it is a shot in the dark, and I appreciate any well meant genuine advice and help.

Thank you

Many here have used come-alongs to pull frames. I've never done it. I have used my BFH for straightening my rear bumper mount. Interested to hear other responses.
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Jonathan
23K mile '85 notchie w/ 88 cradle, '87 2.8/Getrag, Air, PW, PDL, PM - Still under construction
https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/121056.html
I'm not a mechanic but I play one in my garage - me
Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely - Lord Acton
Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not - Thomas Jefferson
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants - Thomas Jefferson

[This message has been edited by Boostdreamer (edited 06-18-2012).]

Thank you for the reply. A come along was something I considered, though I have never used one. My worry on it would be what to anchor it to. I live in an apartment in Burbank, CA and there aren't any easy access places for that. Maybe to someone elses car, like an SUV? I think the damage at the nose could be pulled out that way. The cracked bumper cover itself makes it look worse than it is, and the come along method could work. When I look at the damage it is just pushed in, not even that far, maybe 4 or 5 inches. The hit to the wall was direct to the corner, and it didn't go as far as to dent or damage the headlight or headlight frame. It did crush the hell out of the turn signal though, mostly just due to the initial impact. I don't know if the come along would work to to straighten the upward tilt, but then again I could be wrong. as I really have no idea. If I can find a cheap one I may give it a shot. If you or anyone else has a suggestion on where to get one, and what type, size, etc. that would be appreciated. Thank you very much!

pictures will help us tell you how much its gonna suck...that and we feed off of pictures.... they are our sustenance

[This message has been edited by Niterrorz (edited 06-18-2012).]

Hooking to a tree would be more solid and safer than another car or SUV.

Jonathan

I only have these two pics right now. Later this afternoon I will go and open the hood and take pics of the frame so it can be seen, and any more that may help. These two were taken the day after it happened. You can see that the nose, though badly cracked and dented, is not as bad as all that, and hopefully these pics suggest what the damage is like. I will post more later today or tonight when I get home. damage

Is it rusty?
Can you see where it is bent?

Harbor freight sells a hydraulic jack thing like the "jaws of life," that you could probably use. The problem is you really need to get it exactly right. I think that's where the expense comes in. The bigger shops have a machine to measure precisely. I really don't know about that, but I do know I drove a cab that the other driver and I concluded had been wrecked in a previous life. It was not fun to drive. It went through tires at an alarming rate, but the worst part was in rain or other slippery conditions it had a very unstable feel. At the very least I would suggest you get a very good shop to do the work. Mostly though, I'd say it's time to hang it up as far as this car goes. It sounds like it would make a good donor car for your next Fiero project. Otherwise, you should just be thankful the car is bent and not you. imho

I don't know about where you are but it is VERY hard to find reputable mechanics in my area. I've had multiple businesses lie to me and not do the work that they said they did. Same thing with my old Honda motorcycle dealership. I know I paid for a bunch of valve adjustments that were never done. Not to mention that they caught my motorcycle on fire and didn't tell me. I found out years later from the mechanic after the dealership went out of business. I also paid an alignment company twice to "pull the wheelbase" on my '95 240SX. They never got that right. Professional or not, expensive equipment or not, it is a gamble either way.

Unfortunately, it isn't enough to give a mechanic the ammount that he requests out of your hard-earned money. It seems that you have to find some way to give him an incentive to actually do the work correctly! Same thing with 4-wheel alignments. According to tales told here, you have to install cam bolts in your struts in order to get your alignment guy to take the time to get the alignment right. If not, it will be "as good as he could get it".

I was run off the road by a city school bus, I ran the bus down, the driver called his supervisor, I talked to the supervisor, etc. Later that week, the driver and the supervisor didn't know what I was talking about. Typical liars and cheats. I could tell stories about at least three other businesses but you get the picture.

The bottom line for me is that I'm gonna try to fix it until I screw it up so bad that I can't fix it. Then I'll take it to somebody else.

Jonathan

quote Originally posted by oberto: I had an accident a few months back... I was hit on the side... Out here in LA the highest offer to fix it by pros paint included was $3000, lowest $2000, about $1200 without paint. I paid $3200 for the car and I dont see dropping almost that much to fix it all at once as viable or even sensible.

If someone else hit you, why are you paying for the repairs?

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 06-18-2012).]

I had the exact same problem when I got into an accident.. driver side accident in the front.. The A pillar pushed slightly up enough to where when the door was shut and the window was up there was a 1 inch gap. I had a professional frame puller company that does ferraris do it for me for about the price you mentioned. This is not something you mess around with.. They did a great job at pulling it straight. But I had to cut the whole front end off the car and attach a new front end on the car..(much easier to do than straightening all the bent metal in the front).. Even though this car is really straight and has not driving problems at all.. there is still a panel alignment problem that Im having even after a professional good company did it.. so

How ever crappy this may sound.. spend the $1200 to get it fixed PROPERLY.. Bent frames are not something to mess around with.. car not driving straight, water leaks, wind turbulance, panels dont align properly..etc etc

[This message has been edited by gmctyphoon1992 (edited 06-18-2012).]