Repairing the Top Rail +

[Richard S]

This is in regards to the 90 convert I saved from the crusher. The PO made some miserable attempts to fix the damage to the left front of the car. The top rail is bent down, and the bracket to which the headlight motor is attached is bent as is some sheet metal within the headlight pod. I am most concerned about the top rail. I have driven the car and it does not crab down the road or cause odd wear on the tires so I don't think the frame or suspension components are bent. I am wondering whether it is preferable to try to "jack up" the top rail to where it is bent down, or just weld in a straight one. The first solution is obviously cheaper, but does it have any real chance of success. Note the various holes drilled in a ridiculous effort to get the headligt to allign [it sort of did with a bunch of spacers between the headlight assembly and the rail].

[Don B.]

Thats a tuff one. My wife's reatta's front was push in I brought it to a body shop an they charge me $500 to straighten it. No paint or welding,I did that.

They have to put it on a jig and pull it back to spec.

In your case there is no place for the opposite force to be anchored. If you use the bumper, that could bend.

Chain, come-a-long and a tree, if you pull up at the lowest part of the bend, the car's weight will be the opposite force. Don't be surprised if you have to jump on the car for more weight.

[Guest alex_houston]

I removed the whole top portion of the core support on the Riviatta. Welded in a used replacement from a Caddy.

Very little welding with torch and you can't tell the difference. No spot welder required. Very simple proceedure. A little grinding to get the old supports off and a little prying and ripping where you ground the metal thin.

I have a spare core support here from A Rivi real cheap but I suspect shipping would be cost prohibative. I might even have a spare headlight support that your photo shows all bent up if you can't find one closer to you.

[Guest Greg Ross]

Richard,

How about an alignment check?

If the Rad. Support has to be jacked up as I understand your photos, then the right and left had sides of that bulkhead just need to be tied down to something as an anchor below. That's what the body shop would do, their rack would be the fixed anchor and they would apply force against it, if that makes any sense.

I recall a memorable day when the 3800 and manual tranny sitting on the sub-frame were being pulled up into the body. I had a clash between the end cover of the tranny and the inner body box frame that runs from the firewall out to the bulkhead you're working on. We lowered the power pack, I got myself perched over the front end from the drivers' side, and applied several good heave smacks with a 15 lb sledge hammer to the area in question. The car always goes thru an alignment with only minor adjustments.

If it doesn't move, get a bigger hammer.

[Guest palosfv3]

Please get the appropriate GM collision repair service manual before doing any repairs to this structure . The structural members of this car are made from HSS and UHS steels. Very specific repair criteria must be followed for proper SRS operation as well as fitment and collision energy management. These cars are not using the design technology used on many of the vehicles discussed in these forums. DO NOT WELD ANYTHING ON THIS CAR WITH AN TORCH. MIG welding techniques are area specific. This car has a structural dimesion tolerance of 3mm on any given dimension on the car. Repairs of this nature are not for the average restorer and should be entrusted to a qualified technician. I dont mean to discourage anyone . As later model cars catch the interest of those who loved old cars ,this will be a major issue in the restoration and service efforts to keep the cars on the road.

Additional info can be found at

http://www.i-car.com/pdf/program_support/advantage/1989/janfeb89.pdf

http://www.i-car.com/pdf/program_support/advantage/1991/marapr91.pdf

http://www.tech-cor.net/bulletins.asp

The information you need should be on these sites.

Hopefully they haven't been pulled because of age.Read thru the I-Car site. The info is in the basic training class.

[Richard S]

OK. So I now discovered that the reason the dogbone mount did not align with the engine is that the top rail is not only bent down, but as might be expected from a front end collision, rearwards also. As the top rail goes rearward, the dogbone wants to go toward the drivers side of the engine. Lining up a good one, it is off about 1/2".

Hairbrained ideas #3 & 4: Looking at the rail from the bottom of the car, it would now appear that straightening it up top to bottom using a jack from the bottom is problematic. However it might be done by "jacking" up the car from above using a chain around the rail where it is bent using a cherry picker. I am wondering if engine power in reverse could be used to pull it forward?

[Ronnie]

If it is a nice car you want to keep, I would find a body shop in your area that has a frame straightening machine that you drive the car up on.

The frame machine has massive binding posts under the car and huge, thick steel, adjustable arms on each corner about 5 feet tall for attaching a variety of hardware designed to push and pull metal parts into place in a controlled manner. A local body shop near where I live has one and I was really impressed with what it could do without any muscle power needed. It is all hydraulic power. They specialize in rebuilding cars that have been in wrecks with major damage.

I would think using brute force and the cars power to move sheet metal parts around will result more problems to deal with.

If the car is worth fixing spend a few bucks more and let the pros straighten it out.