Hi!
Im at the moment finishing up the engine bay and stuff to get the car ready for some trackday action this summer..
As i was cleaning the engine bay i noticed that the front "bar" (the tube going from left subframe to the right) was bent!
It is probably bent because some stupid ppl have jacked the car on the tube..
Is the car/subframe all fucked up now?
PLEASE help!

Sindre

 

a pic maybe?

 

Pictures:
Here im pressing it down on the left side. It is not bent at the middle, the "edge" is more to the left (as the picture shows).

 

ouch.... I am inclinded to think that may cause the tires to dogtrack a bit...

 

hammer it back down or drive it like that. Nothing drastic there.

Who the f**k would jack up the car with that thing?? lol You need o find them and smack them.

Nah, the frame ends aren't even tweaked by the loks of it. The bar itself has just stretched from the weight. I got 10 forum bucks that says if you put it on an alignment rack it'd still be in spec.

 

LoL, ******* stupid.. but still, i dont wanna spend alot of money on a fucked up chassie :S
I dont think it would help to hammer it back down either :S

 

Well how's the rest of the car? Rusty/non existent rockers? screwed up lower rails?

I'd get in that car and drive the pants off of it, that litle tweak isn't going to affect much of anything besides asthetics. Perhaps if you crash tested that car vs. one with an un-molested lower rad support bar the un-molested one may perform 0.02% better. But that won't give you any trouble.

EDIT: Only trouble you might have is bolting the oil cooler in place unless you straighten the bar out.

 

The car is "free" from rust and the lower rails are in good shape.. It is actually a quite good chassie, beside from that lower support...
I was going to build a roll-cage, paint the enginebay and do alot with it (and rape it @ trackdays)...
If it wont effect the drivability i dont care.. You wont see that bar anyway with a FMIC etc..

 

No that little tweak won't affect the driveability of the car. I'd just tap it back down as close as possible without mashing the tube any worse than it already is.......you should be fine

 

Okey Ill try to take some measurements tomorrow to see if its all aligned...
Dont think its possible to tap it bak down, but its worth a try

 

Bfh!!!

 

Hint:

2x4 and a big *** hammer. Stand it up on the rail and start pounding. Work from the outside in to go with the rule. "Last in, first out". If anything, you'll get enough out of it that the oil cooler mounts should line up....unless the brackets on the cooler were bent as result.

good luck man.

 

If the weight of the car only bent it that much, isn't it conceivable that a big hammer isn't going to be enough? I'm not ******* you classicauto... you obviously know way more about autobody **** than me.. but, I was thinking he might need to heat it up as well.

 

like he said, get a 2x4 and a big hammer. I would get a 2 foot or so piece of wood and lie it down across it perpendicular. That way to have more surface area to whack and area that is being hit. That way less chance of it bending the pipe flat (as in the bad way).

 

Not that I know much about fixing this stuff, but jacking up a car is also a constant weight/force being applied. Hitting it with a hammer is a large amount of force quickly.

 

probably fine, that tube looks alot more substantial than it really is, you'll realize this when you try bend it back or if you ever cut one up.

 

Okey, thanks guys! Im gonna take some measurements tonight to see if the engine bay is still okey.. if it is im not gonna do so mutch about it.. Maybe ill try with a 2"4 and a hammer :=) But heating it up etc is no point, it just messes up the heat-treating and it gets weaker..

Sindre

 

Unless the oil cooler was still bolted on when they did it. Then the only problem would be if he ever got a new oil cooler.

 

junk it and give me the sway bar

 

It's just a hollow bar if I remember and I've seen track cars before that have taken em out. Of course they're built with all kinds of different reinforcement but still. My point is the car is probly ok lol.

 

One of the 7's I bought didn't have it... it was in a front end collision that totaled the car. I held up the one off my other car, and it didn't fit. front end was pinched together JUST a little...might want to atleast get one from a friend or something just to hold up and see if your car is still straight. But yea. your car is probably fine.

 

You could go to a unibody shop and have them bend the frame back.