93 Build...Finally giving in to the obsession
10-09-13, 11:53 AM
#28
I wasn't expecting to see that much damage inside the car because my rail is back about the same as yours but the only damage to anything other than the rail is some denting on the firewall. I would sell you my wreck if it wasn't the same side that was damaged. I hope to see this fixed though as it's one more FD on the road and it would be a major confidence booster for my car.
Is the frame rack they are using use lasers to dimension or is it a manual one?
Is the frame rack they are using use lasers to dimension or is it a manual one?
Last edited by Turk82; 10-09-13 at 11:56 AM. Reason: rack question
10-09-13, 01:32 PM
#30
^ +1, the amount you have to spend to have it fix can probably get you a roller. There was a completely stripped shell listed for $1,500 by St Louis not long ago, I'm sure you can find something in the same ball park and have a perfectly good body to start over.
10-09-13, 03:18 PM
#31
I've thought about junking the car and switching all the stuff over but now that i'm vested in this one...how much worse can it get? lol
I really just want to keep this one cuz of it's low mileage but that is pretty much negated by it's substantial damage. However, if it's repaired the right way, I think I'll be happy with the outcome, they can't make it worse! This is the only thing that has always bothered me about the car and it can be repaired, it's just gonna cost me, and I've budgeted for it.
The body shop that I took it to are really good and they seem confident. Looking at their binder of previous repairs, they've done a lot worse so we'll see how it all works out.
I've pretty much sourced all the replacement parts that I need from Ray, except for the strut tower, which they said they would like but they wouldn't NEED it. The only thing they really wanted was the firewall but they're going to pound it out best they can.
I had a thought of contacting the previous owner.....it quickly passed as I realized that I'm obviously a better person for closing my FS thread after finding all the garbage out.
So....
Parts that I've ordered from Ray: headlight shroud, the reinforcement behind it that attaches to the strut tower and the torque box.
Anyone know where I can get a firewall? lol
I really just want to keep this one cuz of it's low mileage but that is pretty much negated by it's substantial damage. However, if it's repaired the right way, I think I'll be happy with the outcome, they can't make it worse! This is the only thing that has always bothered me about the car and it can be repaired, it's just gonna cost me, and I've budgeted for it.
The body shop that I took it to are really good and they seem confident. Looking at their binder of previous repairs, they've done a lot worse so we'll see how it all works out.
I've pretty much sourced all the replacement parts that I need from Ray, except for the strut tower, which they said they would like but they wouldn't NEED it. The only thing they really wanted was the firewall but they're going to pound it out best they can.
I had a thought of contacting the previous owner.....it quickly passed as I realized that I'm obviously a better person for closing my FS thread after finding all the garbage out.
So....
Parts that I've ordered from Ray: headlight shroud, the reinforcement behind it that attaches to the strut tower and the torque box.
Anyone know where I can get a firewall? lol
10-09-13, 03:26 PM
#32
I wasn't expecting to see that much damage inside the car because my rail is back about the same as yours but the only damage to anything other than the rail is some denting on the firewall. I would sell you my wreck if it wasn't the same side that was damaged. I hope to see this fixed though as it's one more FD on the road and it would be a major confidence booster for my car.
Is the frame rack they are using use lasers to dimension or is it a manual one?
Is the frame rack they are using use lasers to dimension or is it a manual one?
Laser.....they hang sensors all around the underbody of the car and the laser is placed in the dead center, and measures the distance between all of the sensors.
the tolerance is anything below 4mm....I had some ranging from 14mm-20mm from where they should be in all sorts of different directions.
10-09-13, 05:33 PM
#34
Renesisfd has a front clip for me that I'm gonna pick up.....
I just need to see if I can cancel the order with Ray cuz that clip has everything I need
I want to maintain originality as much as I can....thats why I dont want to completely swapp the car, id rather do surgery and retain the vin in tact
I just need to see if I can cancel the order with Ray cuz that clip has everything I need
I want to maintain originality as much as I can....thats why I dont want to completely swapp the car, id rather do surgery and retain the vin in tact
10-09-13, 06:32 PM
#36
my options are limited....I almost regret buying this FD with the knowledge that I have now, I obviously overpaid
but yes, that is the plan, to swap the structure parts out that I need...i'm not particularly 100% comfortable with it either but if i'm going to do it, i'm going to do it right and all the way right, not half *** it, hence why i'm not doing it in my backyard, i'm having a professional shop doing it.
I have contemplated doing a whole swap thing, but if I did that, i'd have to find a roller with around the same mileage as mine because, let's be real, i'm not going to swap a 44k mile FD for a 90k one. And even then, a roller FD costs around $5k....which is more than what this work is going to cost. I'm picking up this clip for $300 with every single part that I need
Granted, I have my reservations, but repairing mine is less expensive than trying to find one exactly like it.
but yes, that is the plan, to swap the structure parts out that I need...i'm not particularly 100% comfortable with it either but if i'm going to do it, i'm going to do it right and all the way right, not half *** it, hence why i'm not doing it in my backyard, i'm having a professional shop doing it.
I have contemplated doing a whole swap thing, but if I did that, i'd have to find a roller with around the same mileage as mine because, let's be real, i'm not going to swap a 44k mile FD for a 90k one. And even then, a roller FD costs around $5k....which is more than what this work is going to cost. I'm picking up this clip for $300 with every single part that I need
Granted, I have my reservations, but repairing mine is less expensive than trying to find one exactly like it.
10-10-13, 07:19 AM
#37
I'm really in the same boat as you. I am three years into my car now and have finally uncovered the real damage. I'm still tossing around the idea of a roller and I have convinced myself that if I find a completely stripped shell I will swap everything over but at 3 years into the build I have pride in my car and if it can be repaired I will have that much more pride in it because I saved it. I say stick with your car if it can be fixed correctly. I am rooting for you.
10-10-13, 07:22 PM
#39
So since the car is in the body shop awaiting a new clip for it, I decided to work on the engine and start breaking her down:
Ended up with an almost shortblock tonight: I had to use a window scraper to get the paper gasket from the LIM off of the block....after taking it apart, i'm thinking that this might be an original engine, there's just a lot of little things that hint at it
The wiring harness is in pretty good condition but still needs to be redone:
I'm surprised there aren't any cracks on the manifold:
and the mess in my garage, not bad all things considering:
Ended up with an almost shortblock tonight: I had to use a window scraper to get the paper gasket from the LIM off of the block....after taking it apart, i'm thinking that this might be an original engine, there's just a lot of little things that hint at it
The wiring harness is in pretty good condition but still needs to be redone:
I'm surprised there aren't any cracks on the manifold:
and the mess in my garage, not bad all things considering:
10-10-13, 07:33 PM
#40
this is the current plan:
I'm picking up a clip with weekend:
when I took the pics of the clip to the body shop, they'd rather clip the car than take the parts off of the donor and put them on mine. it is much cheaper and i'll get better results that way. They will drill out through the factory welds and then weld again through them to maintain integrity.
Come to find out, this donor car was Rich's (GoodfellaFD3S).....it used to be a beautiful VR that was once a much envied car here on the forums.
There is also another concern of clipping the car. Since the VINs are all etched on the firewall, when the donor clip is attached, it obviously won't be consistent with my title and the one on the dash. So, a DMV inspector needs to come out, inspect and verify the VINs on both cars, check to make sure neither one was stolen, then authorize the work to be completed and the VIN from my old clip can be welded on to the new clip which should be attached to the car at that time.
If you're gonna do it, do it right!
I'm picking up a clip with weekend:
when I took the pics of the clip to the body shop, they'd rather clip the car than take the parts off of the donor and put them on mine. it is much cheaper and i'll get better results that way. They will drill out through the factory welds and then weld again through them to maintain integrity.
Come to find out, this donor car was Rich's (GoodfellaFD3S).....it used to be a beautiful VR that was once a much envied car here on the forums.
There is also another concern of clipping the car. Since the VINs are all etched on the firewall, when the donor clip is attached, it obviously won't be consistent with my title and the one on the dash. So, a DMV inspector needs to come out, inspect and verify the VINs on both cars, check to make sure neither one was stolen, then authorize the work to be completed and the VIN from my old clip can be welded on to the new clip which should be attached to the car at that time.
If you're gonna do it, do it right!
10-10-13, 09:07 PM
#41
^ Seems like a reasonable way to go about it. I may have to find a clip myself to salvage a frame rail off of and a headlight bucket. A guy close to me has a clip but it was unfortunately sliced apart right behind the strut tower. I want to see how yours turns out because this is one major transplant.
10-11-13, 10:55 AM
#43
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That clip looks better than yours, why not just use it as your shell?
for $300 you get a fully un-molested shell and put the accessories into it from your car?
And btw, when we're modifying cars, milage has very little to do with it... and yours won't retain any value from it anyway, so that's not a good argument...
If you want to do it because it's a challenge, that's a fine argument towards doing it, but the others have made excellent suggestions as to why you shouldn't go down this road.
Either way, good luck to you, and keep us updated!
for $300 you get a fully un-molested shell and put the accessories into it from your car?
And btw, when we're modifying cars, milage has very little to do with it... and yours won't retain any value from it anyway, so that's not a good argument...
If you want to do it because it's a challenge, that's a fine argument towards doing it, but the others have made excellent suggestions as to why you shouldn't go down this road.
Either way, good luck to you, and keep us updated!
10-13-13, 03:17 AM
#46
i'm still voting you get a good condition roller and swap all your parts into it (as if this were a democracy) 
and doesn't frame repair and VIN confirmation go on autocheck and carfax? i would think that would throw your "retaining VINs and originality" argument out the window.
and doesn't frame repair and VIN confirmation go on autocheck and carfax? i would think that would throw your "retaining VINs and originality" argument out the window.
10-13-13, 09:45 AM
#47
You have quite a project on your hands here.
"I've thought about junking the car and switching all the stuff over but now that i'm vested in this one...how much worse can it get? lol"
Not taking side here but it could get a lot worse. A good friend of mine has been a body man for probably 40 some years now. One of his famous quotes is "they are always worst then they look" When a body takes that much structural damage, the whole body is affected not just the area that was hit. If it were my car i would scrap everything usable, buy a roller and move on with it. Finding out later that other areas of the car were affected? No thanks. Yes dealing with the vin and all the other stuff is a pain but in the end i would want a solid platform to work off. Peace of mind alone. I couldn't justify patching something that extensively damaged, but that just me.
"I've thought about junking the car and switching all the stuff over but now that i'm vested in this one...how much worse can it get? lol"
Not taking side here but it could get a lot worse. A good friend of mine has been a body man for probably 40 some years now. One of his famous quotes is "they are always worst then they look" When a body takes that much structural damage, the whole body is affected not just the area that was hit. If it were my car i would scrap everything usable, buy a roller and move on with it. Finding out later that other areas of the car were affected? No thanks. Yes dealing with the vin and all the other stuff is a pain but in the end i would want a solid platform to work off. Peace of mind alone. I couldn't justify patching something that extensively damaged, but that just me.
10-13-13, 09:31 PM
#48
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Aint that a bitch, that car has a clean title?
all that money and work just so you can start build and spend even more money..
Might as well keep the car forever if your pouring that much work into it
Best of luck, can wait to see this body work
all that money and work just so you can start build and spend even more money..
Might as well keep the car forever if your pouring that much work into it
Best of luck, can wait to see this body work
10-14-13, 03:24 PM
#49
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i'm still voting you get a good condition roller and swap all your parts into it (as if this were a democracy)
and doesn't frame repair and VIN confirmation go on autocheck and carfax? i would think that would throw your "retaining VINs and originality" argument out the window.
and doesn't frame repair and VIN confirmation go on autocheck and carfax? i would think that would throw your "retaining VINs and originality" argument out the window.
. I am interested to see the progress of this swap as it seems like a ton of work.
10-15-13, 09:18 AM
#50
what a lot of you guys need to understand is that i'm in NC....hourly labor rate down here is DIRT CHEAP (compared to what i'm used to) and the work these guys perform is still really good, they have a passion for what they do.
In the cost effectiveness of this plan, it would cost me way more to get a shell and swap everything over than to junk this one. A lot of you guys don't have the $$ numbers in front of you, but I do....I've definitely thought of doing that. I've thought this through and this is the most cost effective way of doing it; and it keeps another FD on the road...
In reference to the structural integrity of the car, it will be maintained, the body shop is reinforcing it where it seems weak from the factory, if anything, it will be stronger than an original car (kinda like a broken bone heals stronger). I understand that when a car is hit, it is felt throughout the whole car regardless of where the initial impact was, and the body shop (considering that is what they do for a living) knows that as well. They are going to test the structural integrity after they build it.
I'm confident that everything will turn out just fine.
But I dropped off the car at the shop today and they are backed up like you wouldn't believe because when it rains down here in NC people loose their minds on the road. Mike (my body guy) is excited and was surprised at the quality of the clip even though the rear is trashed. He said I prolly couldn't find a better front for the price I picked it up for.
In the cost effectiveness of this plan, it would cost me way more to get a shell and swap everything over than to junk this one. A lot of you guys don't have the $$ numbers in front of you, but I do....I've definitely thought of doing that. I've thought this through and this is the most cost effective way of doing it; and it keeps another FD on the road...
In reference to the structural integrity of the car, it will be maintained, the body shop is reinforcing it where it seems weak from the factory, if anything, it will be stronger than an original car (kinda like a broken bone heals stronger). I understand that when a car is hit, it is felt throughout the whole car regardless of where the initial impact was, and the body shop (considering that is what they do for a living) knows that as well. They are going to test the structural integrity after they build it.
I'm confident that everything will turn out just fine.
But I dropped off the car at the shop today and they are backed up like you wouldn't believe because when it rains down here in NC people loose their minds on the road. Mike (my body guy) is excited and was surprised at the quality of the clip even though the rear is trashed. He said I prolly couldn't find a better front for the price I picked it up for.