driver side frame repair
Thread Starter
3rd Gear
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
From: halifax NC
driver side frame repair
i have 2000 C5 convertible just recently got hit on the driver side, the door and glass and a little of the rocker panel needs to be replaced, but the body shop i took it too says that the frame is bent a little and it can't be repaired, i am not believeing this!!! can anybody help me????
Pro
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 635
Likes: 0
From: Mc Farland Wisconsin
Anything can be repaired, just going to cost an arm and a leg. It might need a section, but ive seen the corvette frame sections and if its in the middle of the car, (from the sounds of it it is) the section is pretty much the whole middle. Going to definetly be pricey, as you would have to lift the body off to get access to the top of the rail and section that rail in that you get either used or new if still available.
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 165
Likes: 0
From: Des Plaines Il
Frame
Well.......... just went thru a winter rebuild. My frame was bent at the front end. thank God everything went well. My advice is old school but looking at this wonderful new tecnologly things can be great. If you find a frame shop that deals with this sort of problem, its very easy for them. The computer dials in the correct points and the machine does everything (almost) else. Your point of impact is very different then mine, but as i have seen can be repaired to the point that you wont know it happened. Ins. cash available? After i put the car back together and before we made a trip to the alignment shop it drove straight hands off at 80mph, if this helps, Bob.
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 4,933
Likes: 30
From: San Rafael CA
I'd find another body shop ... the GM Service Manuals contain information on repairing the frame, including key dimensional data that is used to ensure the frame is "straight" when the work is done.
Pro
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 635
Likes: 0
From: Mc Farland Wisconsin
Having worked in a body shop for quite some time and doing many manyframe pulls and frame sections, i can assure you that the machine doesnt even come close to doing everything. If a vehicle, vette or not, is hit on the side of a rail, and there is a buckle in it, you can pretty much count on it being impossible to repair without at least cutting a section out of a rail, this piece you cut out can be a simple square from the front, because you have to get hooks, etc. into the frame rail to pull it, and now you typically have a distorted frame rail, you can dolly it back into position, might need some heat for that, and then burn your chunk that you took out back in. Or you can get a new section and make it look nice. A front hit would be a different story, you can clamp onto the front rebar and yank it over, down, wherever it has to go. Alls the computer is going to tell you is how close you are to being within factory spec. The clamping and where to pull from is your own thinking, some shops are better than others....
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Racer
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 274
Likes: 0
From: Schaumburg IL
It depends on where it was hit. My car was hit in the pass corner. The whole front end was pushed over an inch. The body shop I took it to was old school and did not use computers to bring it back. The cold pulled the frame back to .1" of factory specs. You CANNOT tell the car was hit. We also found out the car was hit once before. We found wood shims glued between the frame and fender. Now it's perfect.
Hope it turns out.
Hope it turns out.