BlackWorksInc

Though I am not planning on getting this done anytime soon, I would like to get some ideas on what would be a better option.

My 1982 RX7 was crashed in a ditch years ago and the frame has been tweaked since. Though it only seems to be in the front 2-3 feet of the car because my body panels fit nicely on the fenders. But my hood, the plate between my lights and the bumper are all crooked. The fender looks like it's being sucked under on one side and pushed out on the other.

My plan is to just chop the whole frame off from the firewall forward, get a donor car and slap on the front end with some nice heavy duty welds and reinforcement.

Now cost of welding won't be an issue, I have a friend or two that will let me use their welder.

The other reason I am thinking of this idea, is because within a year or two I am going to try and get ahold of a wrecked RX8 to swap the Renesis engine,front and rear axle, suspension. tranny, and some of the minor electrical stuff (Yes I know how big of a project that is, but its a challenge and I am always up to a challenge, but thats a story for another time) in and I figured that while I have the front end off it will be easier to fab up the motor mounts and just slide teh whole frame in place and weld it on.

A friend of mine was telling me the other day that they do a great job at body shops to straighten a frame out, is this true? I am not interested in paying too much money to get it done, I am more worried about the quality of the work.

Also just to say it, I have sentimental reasons that I want to keep this particular body, which is why I am not just going to swap the equipment over to another car.

ZeikHunter

everything ive ever heard is that it isnt a good idea. even with all that welding, it still wouldnt be as strong as it was

Midwest 7's

iTrader: (4)

just find a good body and swap eveything over. a nice shell shouldnt cost you more than $1000. i wouldnt even want to know what a body shop would charge for all that work + paint.......

BlackWorksInc

I would do that normally, but like I said this car has a lot of sentimental value to me so I want to keep it what little will be left after my Renesis conversion.

RacerX7fb

Chopping from the firewall on forward and changing the front clip is how half tube framed racecars are built or converting a chassis to right hand drive. Done right noone will be able to tell.

Frame straightening causes metal fatigue. The result will be a creaky car that won't fair very well in the event of another wreck.

BlackWorksInc

I wonder how rigid I could get a tube frame to be? Maybe I will just make a bare bones tube frame for the front and measure out the holes for body panels, Renesis, ect...

That is a very very interesting idea RacerX7fb...

emottau

As maybe the only representative of the retail automotive world, I would advise against it. Not only will it creak, change stress and flex points, and quite possibly change the driving dynamics it could be (and is by most in my biz) futhering a technology mainly used to defraud customers, lenders, and honest car lots (quit snickering, I heard that!). One could go farther and say any advancements in this tech raises a lenders risk factors, raising interest rates across the board. Already many dealerships in areas where these machines are imployed are forced to spend booku bucks on measuring machines used to detect a framed vehicle, raising overhead and eventually adding to the price of your next pre-owned car or truck. Oh, and btw, straightening machines leave marks where they contact a car's body that any decent car-guy can spot. They teach us that on the first day of class I think. :-) The good news is I am happy to sell you one that hasn't been framed...

BlackWorksInc

Hmm... I heard the same about Re framing the car so I am definently going to nix that...

Now I am interested in this racing tube frame idea...

How would it look like?