My buddy has a stock 97 LX with 283k on it which was involved in a front end collision - not his fault. No airbags deployed, but his insurance totaled it. He's not mechanical, I am, and seeing the pics I thought the damage looks repairable. So we start tearing into it and I get the radiator support off and put a square against the front crossmember and frame rail. It appears that the frame, beginning somewhere around the motor mounts, is pushed towards the passenger side by an inch or slightly more. I can't tell where exactly the bend starts but I'd guess at the suspension/frame connection point.
The LX is in pretty good shape over all. It's from Indy so there is more rust underneath than I'm used to, but the body is in good shape - no dents, all the molding present, etc. It was his daily driver until this happened. I've roughly priced out the repair (before discovering the frame bend) to be about $4500 in parts and needed maintenance. If I have to take it to a frame shop I think that'll take me well over $5k which was my max number. The goal was to make it back into a daily driver with the ability to take it off road occasionally - more camping type stuff than wheeling. The salvage/rebuilt title is not a huge concern to us. But the possibility of it never tracking straight or chewing up tires is making me hesitate to throw any money at it at all.
What would you guys do? Do you think it's worth putting money in to fixing the frame? Should I pull the engine and get the hydraulic rams from Harbor Freight and just get it close enough?
The LX is in pretty good shape over all. It's from Indy so there is more rust underneath than I'm used to, but the body is in good shape - no dents, all the molding present, etc. It was his daily driver until this happened. I've roughly priced out the repair (before discovering the frame bend) to be about $4500 in parts and needed maintenance. If I have to take it to a frame shop I think that'll take me well over $5k which was my max number. The goal was to make it back into a daily driver with the ability to take it off road occasionally - more camping type stuff than wheeling. The salvage/rebuilt title is not a huge concern to us. But the possibility of it never tracking straight or chewing up tires is making me hesitate to throw any money at it at all.
What would you guys do? Do you think it's worth putting money in to fixing the frame? Should I pull the engine and get the hydraulic rams from Harbor Freight and just get it close enough?