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510 "frame" straightening.


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   First off, I DO UNDERSTAND the 510 is a unibody... so no, I wont be straightening a frame per say. Now, onto another long winded topic by me!

   I slid my 510 into a ditch several months back and managed to damage it quite a bit. All along the driver side. Damage as follows: front lower valance, fender, door (inside part that is painted near where the window goes up and down)  door sill, door sill pinch seam, rear quarter, and the dreaded "c " pillar. From what I've seen the bracketry that supports the quarter from behind is also damaged. The outside skin pushed so hard it pushed the metal on the inside of the car inwards. Near the vent holes for the c pilar garnish. 

    My boss came through and looked and said he could have it pulled out enough, and straightened enough to start cutting off parts in 3 hours as long as he had all the right tools. Hes very experienced in straightening cars btw. Now, he and I are both Ironworkers, and that means we dont say the word "cant". Point is this, I plan to make up my own "diy" frame puller.  I was wondering if anyone WHO has done this has any ideas. I understand that the car needs to be anchored at the body, and the "pulling arm" need to be anchored as well. Again, I have ideas, but I want more. 

    Any and all help is appreciated. Pictures are wort a thousand words as well. For those who are curious, here is a link to my build thread, which I believe has pics of the damage. It looks worse in person, but isnt TOO bad.

 

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On 10/15/2020 at 12:41 PM, Chopper Jim said:

Go to Google, pull up frame straightening tools. Lot of different ideas for you to choose from.

 

Chopper Jim

That's exactly what I've been doing. I just wanna be as cheap as possible. My only option is to do it in my almost conex sized garage. So I gotta get creative.. thanks

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If you were rebuilding you transmission, and fucked it up, well, it could take time, but you could replace it maybe even up grade it.... good as new. Chassis are hard to replace because everything is bolted to IT. It's the core of the car that holds everything together. If it's messed up, everything is for naught.

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1 hour ago, datzenmike said:

If you were rebuilding you transmission, and fucked it up, well, it could take time, but you could replace it maybe even up grade it.... good as new. Chassis are hard to replace because everything is bolted to IT. It's the core of the car that holds everything together. If it's messed up, everything is for naught.

That's why my boss is gonna jump in and help. I'm not doing this alone for that sole factor... I'm 100 percent aware this can get fucked up, and be for naught. 

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If you take your time and pay attention you can likely get an alright result as long as the damage is not extensive, if it looks like an accordion.............

 

I recently bought a porta power to straighten out my door pillar, the vehicle had been hit in the door and pushed the pillar where the upper hinge is at least an inch in which basically twisted the replacement door, the bottom back was sticking out an inch, and the upper front was in farther than it was supposed to be, this effected the door, fender and the shape of the windshield opening, it kinda wrinkled one area of the window seam where the two pieces of metal stick up and are spot welded together around the whole windshield opening, it also bent the dash on that side and the pillar was kinda twisted a little.

Here is the wrinkled windshield area.

015.JPG.d51d7e322a14e4cdefd2f2d9b716d153.JPG

 

I made stuff to support the porta power and put it in position.

016.JPG.138a405d3fa97557a0cb8fd2946e3fc1.JPG

 

I also used sticks to watch what was moving, the left side has a large stick connected to the middle of the dash where the air box is.

017.JPG.71eb5022506929dac948109b729bc3b3.JPG

 

And the right side has a small stick connected to the steering column/pedal assembly support.018.JPG.e14c30a32ed65b49c77454fc7c64f80f.JPG

 

I also had to push the upper hinge area forward just a little, it took a couple days before I was happy, but everything fits as it should now, the pillar is not brand new looking anymore, but it is hidden behind the door and fender, the windshield wrinkle mostly went away as I straightened everything.

002.JPG.efa24414a7c235620360548106a7445a.JPG

 

 

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Keep in mind that you have to think about everything that could go wrong, when I was pushing the right side pillar out the left side was also being pushed out, but I had blocks of wood/metal that spread the pressure out on the good side while I was pushing out at a specific point on the right side, that part went all right, the good left side bowed a half inch and came right back to where is was when the pressure was released, but the right moved almost a couple inches and when released it came maybe half way back, when I pushed the upper hinge point forward it pulled the top down but it cam almost all the way back, so I had to make a brace to keep the top in position and then pushed it again, it took a couple part time days before I was happy, I had to make the door fit the hole once the upper pillar hinge was in the right spot.

Your issue is a lot worse than my issue, but you have someone that knows what they are doing, I was making it up as I went.

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