The critical component is the left front wheel arch. It did what it was designed to do--crumple. That will need to be replaced, probably all the way back to the firewall. It will be expensive, but at a conservative vehicle value of $8,000 to 10,000 it will be a close call as to it being a total.

 

that rail did not crumple it pushed down but nothing is for certain until some one trams the car , and the crumple zone in these cars is built into the frame rails . i love how people push misinformation around these forums.

 

Well, there are body shops and then there are 'body shops'.

 

Wrong, There are crumple zones in the upper rail as well as all over the car. The upper rail may be able to be pulled out once the car is set up on a frame rack and measured, but that would be the only right way to tell.

Everyone's a body expert haha

 

Damn, that sucks man sorry to hear about the damage . I could have sworn I saw your car headed southbound on I-95 near Melbourne on Saturday (I was headed northbound). I flashed but it might night have been you. I think that the damage looks fixable imo. You will probably have to get the driver's side frame straightened at a minimum though.

 

In order to fix that damage you need to bring the car to a uni-body specialist who has a laser or sonar measuring system that can do a print up of what needs to be pulled and what doesn't. If the frame rail is not damaged you will need 3, 4, 5, 12 as from this pics you provided looks like all this might be damaged but not sure which is on the site posted below. Also since this is an older car the body shop you go to will not have a book on this car for measurements so go to the other link I posted foxed.ca and go to were it says 92 rx7 body shop manual and bring that along when you have the car put on a frame rack, remember the car might not have frame damage but it is a good idea to make sure that it doesn't since this is a sports car and not a civic.
Thanks
Richard

1993 Mazda RX-7 Parts - Online Mazda Parts

Foxed.ca - Mazda RX-7 Manuals

 

More pics...

 

Hi from the pics the apron looks to be bent but it is still fixable as long as the shop you use has a laser or sonar measuring system. Best thing to do is use the body shop manual that I posted in my last post and measure the car with a tape measurer. The manual will tell you were to measure from and what the measurements are. A good person to talk to is a guy on the forum named turbojeff as he has fixed wrecked fd rx7s that have had way worse damage but I definitely think that damage is very fixable. From the pics I can not tell what model fd rx7 you have but if it has a sun roof then you will have like little dents in the front of sun roof which is from the energy from the damage but I doubt you will have any damage like that.
Let me know if you need more help.
Thanks
Richard

 

I've repaired far far worse than that, to the point of un-spot welding a whole good left hand inner fender assembly and radiator support panel on a Mitsubishi and then spot welding it onto a car with more left hand side damage than yours.

And a few suspension component replacements, new battery tray and associated engine bay plastics, paint and you're good to go.

And I did that without a workshop, at the time. It then passed its structural test at the transport inspection and was successfully re-registered. However it was a Starion, and everyone knows that they suck, so I no longer have that wedgey looking piece of %$^%.

 

Dang man that stinks. Hope you find the time and resources to fix her back up.

 

900 bucks : )

It's being repaired by the Toyota body shop here in melbourne, fl.

That's labor only. They let me source the parts from Mazda, which were 250 bucks.( headlight frame and the top of the apron.

I also had to pay for a used headlight, and fender. If someone has a drivers side headlight plastic surround or cover let me know.

 

Wow sounds like you are getting it done cheap! Hopefully they put it on a frame rack and measure the frame.

 

Yeah they have a 10,000 dollar frame rack. I saw vintage porches and bmws with worse damage

 

That's actually a pretty cheap rack. :-) What measuring system do they have? That's the important part!

Just make sure to get the before and after measurements. Also make sure they weld the new outer rail on with a squeeze type resistance spot welder, plug welds work but they are ugly. That and if you ever sell the car someone will be able to tell its be in an accident otherwise.

 

will do thanx

 

good to hear she will be back on the road, wasnt that bad to begin with so im sure she'll be as good as new. good price too, and im sure you have nothing to worry about since its a dealer body shop they have everything they need to measure and get her right. after shes done you gotta make a trip down bro, everyone from back in the day has an fd now lol.

 

haha
will do man!

 

Update... what do you guys think...

 

Your fender doesnt match! :-)

It looks great! You wouldnt even know it happened. (Looking at photos)

 

Looks good enough, just some paint and forget it happened.

 

I hope so too.. I need a new set of drivers side suspension...

 

Wow good job! Now do yourself a favor, quit being a cheap *** and get yourself full coverage insurance. Don't forget to get a policy that covers the actual condition of the vehicle either.

 

AGREED!

Also, you need to get paint on that primer ASAP! Its a common misconception that primer protects bare steel... it does the opposite, it absorbs moister. The longer you go without base/clear the more chance you will have of it rusting under the primer and bubbling up later. I always laugh at people I see with primer all over their cars thinking it will stop or protect against rust!

 

oh btw the specs for all the panel gaps are in the FSM. the fender is about 4mm +/-1mm.

 

i keep clicking this thread thinking its a story about how a FD lost a race against a Semi truck............