What have I gotten myself into?
06-12-2012, 02:21 PM
#11
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: May 2012
Location: NY
Posts: 482
I'm not saying get out now myself. I am saying have it looked at. Then decide. Is the rear of the car traveling?
At this point you can't even answer because the car isn't drivable. That is why I said it should be looked at.
I hope wherever you took the car for the oil change is helping you absorb the cost with the engine replacement.
At this point you can't even answer because the car isn't drivable. That is why I said it should be looked at.
I hope wherever you took the car for the oil change is helping you absorb the cost with the engine replacement.
06-12-2012, 03:47 PM
#12
5th Gear Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: PA
Posts: 2,243
Welcome!!
Let's see pics of the car and the frame in question.
For less then $3000 you should be able to find a running but rusty POS local car for $500-$1000 with a running I6 around your year then yank it out, clean it up, slam it back in, and get it running. It isn't that hard to take out these motors and put them back in.
Lynn
Let's see pics of the car and the frame in question.
For less then $3000 you should be able to find a running but rusty POS local car for $500-$1000 with a running I6 around your year then yank it out, clean it up, slam it back in, and get it running. It isn't that hard to take out these motors and put them back in.
Lynn
06-12-2012, 04:39 PM
#13
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Fontana, California
Posts: 1,483
Hey everyone,
Well, you guessed it... I'm new here, and new to working on a cars. I've wanted a 1965/66 mustang since I was a kid, and I just bought one for my son and I to restore/modify together.
I had the car a week and the engine blew... the old change place put the filter one wrong and it essentially blew all the oil out of the engine while on the interstate. Four weeks later and the car is in the shop about to have a remanufactures 6cyl (200 ci) installed.
As the mechanic was looking it over he noticed the frame seems to be slightly off kilter. Anyone on here have an idea what frame straightening/moderate body work and paint will cost me?
This care is also my daily driver... so yeah. Thanks for any tips guys, I don't know even know where to start now
Well, you guessed it... I'm new here, and new to working on a cars. I've wanted a 1965/66 mustang since I was a kid, and I just bought one for my son and I to restore/modify together.
I had the car a week and the engine blew... the old change place put the filter one wrong and it essentially blew all the oil out of the engine while on the interstate. Four weeks later and the car is in the shop about to have a remanufactures 6cyl (200 ci) installed.
As the mechanic was looking it over he noticed the frame seems to be slightly off kilter. Anyone on here have an idea what frame straightening/moderate body work and paint will cost me?
This care is also my daily driver... so yeah. Thanks for any tips guys, I don't know even know where to start now
-So what does slightly off kilter mean? ( is there visible tweaking to the frames (front, rear, body connections))
-Sagging springs will really make a car look bent so are the rear or front springs OK?
-Measure the height of the car on all four corners while on a level surface. Pick the same place side to side (e.g., the front and rear edges of the rocker panel. the floor to bottom of the frame rails, etc...)
06-13-2012, 06:47 AM
#14
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 11
[QUOTE=jlg2002;7967019
-So what does slightly off kilter mean? ( is there visible tweaking to the frames (front, rear, body connections))
-Sagging springs will really make a car look bent so are the rear or front springs OK?
-Measure the height of the car on all four corners while on a level surface. Pick the same place side to side (e.g., the front and rear edges of the rocker panel. the floor to bottom of the frame rails, etc...)[/QUOTE]
the front seems to be fine, but the car had been "backed into" at some point. The trunk closes fine but it rubs just a little. the guy who is fixing the engine (he owns a shop and restores these sorts of cars for a living) is the one who told me that was a frame issue. So, I don't think it's a spring issue, you can even see some pretty mangled metal under the trunk mat on one side. All in all though, it's very small amount it's off.
My plan was to trade out the suspension within the next year so I'm not too concerned about the front springs.
I should have the car back from the shop by this weekend along with some extra money from the settlement with the pol change company. I'll do the measurements and post pics this weekend.
thanks!
-So what does slightly off kilter mean? ( is there visible tweaking to the frames (front, rear, body connections))
-Sagging springs will really make a car look bent so are the rear or front springs OK?
-Measure the height of the car on all four corners while on a level surface. Pick the same place side to side (e.g., the front and rear edges of the rocker panel. the floor to bottom of the frame rails, etc...)[/QUOTE]
the front seems to be fine, but the car had been "backed into" at some point. The trunk closes fine but it rubs just a little. the guy who is fixing the engine (he owns a shop and restores these sorts of cars for a living) is the one who told me that was a frame issue. So, I don't think it's a spring issue, you can even see some pretty mangled metal under the trunk mat on one side. All in all though, it's very small amount it's off.
My plan was to trade out the suspension within the next year so I'm not too concerned about the front springs.
I should have the car back from the shop by this weekend along with some extra money from the settlement with the pol change company. I'll do the measurements and post pics this weekend.
thanks!
06-13-2012, 03:53 PM
#15
1st Gear Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Nebraska
Posts: 63
Hey everyone,
Well, you guessed it... I'm new here, and new to working on a cars. I've wanted a 1965/66 mustang since I was a kid, and I just bought one for my son and I to restore/modify together.
I had the car a week and the engine blew... the old change place put the filter one wrong and it essentially blew all the oil out of the engine while on the interstate. Four weeks later and the car is in the shop about to have a remanufactures 6cyl (200 ci) installed.
As the mechanic was looking it over he noticed the frame seems to be slightly off kilter. Anyone on here have an idea what frame straightening/moderate body work and paint will cost me?
This care is also my daily driver... so yeah. Thanks for any tips guys, I don't know even know where to start now
Well, you guessed it... I'm new here, and new to working on a cars. I've wanted a 1965/66 mustang since I was a kid, and I just bought one for my son and I to restore/modify together.
I had the car a week and the engine blew... the old change place put the filter one wrong and it essentially blew all the oil out of the engine while on the interstate. Four weeks later and the car is in the shop about to have a remanufactures 6cyl (200 ci) installed.
As the mechanic was looking it over he noticed the frame seems to be slightly off kilter. Anyone on here have an idea what frame straightening/moderate body work and paint will cost me?
This care is also my daily driver... so yeah. Thanks for any tips guys, I don't know even know where to start now
I would definitely go back to the oil change place and talk to them, I had a friend years back who had a similar event happen and they replaced his engine. I'm sure they have insurance for those kind of things, but it may take a fight to get them to admit liability.
06-14-2012, 07:32 AM
#16
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 11
With any luck I'll have the car back tomorrow and then I'll post some picture.
06-14-2012, 02:47 PM
#17
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Fontana, California
Posts: 1,483
Chuck, most mustangs have had a rear hit that bends the taillight panel which affects the trunk deck fit, and that's a relatively straight forward fix. There's only 4 frame rails on the mustang (two that run under the shock towers up front, and two that extend from just in front of the rear wheel well opening to the rear of the car that the gas tank fits in between - so I'm still having a problem visualizing what frame problem your car would have (unless its taken a side or rear impact that has visually bent a frame rail)
06-15-2012, 06:52 AM
#18
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 11
jlg2002,
I apologize for my vague description of a bent frame. I know that can mean several different things. Again, I'm still very new to all of this and I didn't consider the frame bent until the mechanic told me that was the issue. Let me describe what I see, then when I get the car back I'll post pics to go along.
1. first issue is the truck lid. when it closes it's not centered, in fact it rubs slightly agains the drivers side quarter panel.
2. the passenger side quarter panel (near the door) appears to have an ever so slight buckle in it (buckled outward, not inward... so it's like a very slight bump).
3. the gap around the driver's side door isn't uniform at the quarter panel. On the top of the door it looks ok, but the then as the line comes down the side the gap increases to about a half inch more than it should be. At the bottom the door doesn't lie flush with the quarter panel, the corner of the door sticks out between a quarter and a half inch.
4. the floor in the trunk on the drivers side has been hammered back into place. the floor and the interior of the wheel well are pretty mangled.
5. finally the rear valance and the tail light assembly is just weird. I can't really give a good description of the problem, but they just look a little off. I don't know that anything is wrong with them it's probably just that the rest of the back end is causing these two pieces to fit just a little wrong.
I'll post pics as soon as I can, but from looking online I think I could replace the driver's side frame rail, both quarters, the truck floor, and the rear valance & tail light piece for roughly $1000. Would it be better to do that or try to find a parts car thats in decent shape?
I apologize for my vague description of a bent frame. I know that can mean several different things. Again, I'm still very new to all of this and I didn't consider the frame bent until the mechanic told me that was the issue. Let me describe what I see, then when I get the car back I'll post pics to go along.
1. first issue is the truck lid. when it closes it's not centered, in fact it rubs slightly agains the drivers side quarter panel.
2. the passenger side quarter panel (near the door) appears to have an ever so slight buckle in it (buckled outward, not inward... so it's like a very slight bump).
3. the gap around the driver's side door isn't uniform at the quarter panel. On the top of the door it looks ok, but the then as the line comes down the side the gap increases to about a half inch more than it should be. At the bottom the door doesn't lie flush with the quarter panel, the corner of the door sticks out between a quarter and a half inch.
4. the floor in the trunk on the drivers side has been hammered back into place. the floor and the interior of the wheel well are pretty mangled.
5. finally the rear valance and the tail light assembly is just weird. I can't really give a good description of the problem, but they just look a little off. I don't know that anything is wrong with them it's probably just that the rest of the back end is causing these two pieces to fit just a little wrong.
I'll post pics as soon as I can, but from looking online I think I could replace the driver's side frame rail, both quarters, the truck floor, and the rear valance & tail light piece for roughly $1000. Would it be better to do that or try to find a parts car thats in decent shape?
06-15-2012, 06:53 AM
#19
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 11
one final question... I know the quarter panel fixes are labor intensive, but how much so are they? 10 hours? 30 hours? parts I can guess at, but labor is what scares me. I can figure out the wrench monkey kind of work, but I've never done any welding, or body work so I would rather farm that out.
06-15-2012, 08:30 AM
#20
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: May 2012
Location: NY
Posts: 482
Chuck, let's reevaluate once you have the pictures. It is possible that the car has had some terrible body work in the past. The only thing I can defiantly say at this point is 1/2" seems to be an awful lot to me. I am sure that you will get through this one way or another.
