Cuting front frame rail advise

[pyrothehitman]

I am pretty good with just about everything i put my mind to, I will pull the fenders and bumper and hood off this weekend and assess the situation a little better.

but thank you very much for the info. i will def make a log if I decide to go through with it.

[nitrofarm]

Just dont take to much apart

You can have the engine/trans out in a little over 2 hrs.Its easy,but the exhaust might fight you depending on corrosion.If you have a hoist,floor jack & jack stands (tall ones). Get the car as high in the air as possible. Then you can go down with the assembly instead of up.The advantage to this is not having to mess with axles & tranny fluid. The key is leaving the suspension alone. All you have to do is remove the cinch bolt on the steering knuckle. And seperate the LCA/Ball joint from the knuckle.Then pull the knuckle out far enough to get the axle out of the hub. You can even leave the tie rods connected to the spindle.Going down is much easier than pulling up.You even leave the tranny mounts attached to the trans xmember.If you are worried abou vaccum lines,just label them with a piece of tape & sharpie.You dont have to remove the rad to pull the assembly. But becaue you are going to anyway.I would do this to prevent any mishap/puncture to the rad.
Good luck you can do it. Its way easier than the GM that you worked on!
Edit- FYI pulling the engine/trans is not neccesary to replace the rad supports.Get the car on jack stands level.Loosen all eng/trans mounts.jack up eng/trans assembly @ .5". Replace rad supports one at a time. Pulling the eng/tran is overkill imo.

[pyrothehitman]

thanx nitrofarm, I only understood half of what you said...ahahahah I have an engine hoist, jack stands, and a 3 ton jack. If I have to pull the engine, i might as well swap it with a b6

[pyrothehitman]

Here are some pics of the damage.

This is a front shot of the beastiva (is that name taken yet here?)..lol
you can see the crookedness of the bumper and lights..i probably should have left the hood down so you could see it better.


Here is a pic of the top alignment. zipties on the grill, 3 square nuts as a ghetto spacer for the headlamp housing frame. That radiator support frame behind that light frame should run right next to that light frame.


Here it goes with everything taken off.


inside:


outside:

[pyrothehitman]

here is the fender before i took it off....you can see how far the frame is off as it doesnt even screw into the frame:

[pyrothehitman]

I am going to the JY tomorrow to scout for options.

Do you guys think this will be an easy fix or a PITA?

[Damkid]

That'll be a real PITA to fix properly

[pyrothehitman]

That'll be a real PITA to fix properly

As long as I dont have to pull the engine out, I think I can handle it.
It appears to be only that corner that is messed up, everything else looks like it would plum if a new corner was welded on.

you thin i gotta drop the engine and tranny to work on that corner?

[pyrothehitman]

BTW why does my headlamp look like it has a chevy bowtie?...lol

[Damkid]

Personally, I'd pull the engine/trans to fix it, I'd probably get a donor car and cut out all the damage, cut out the same points on the donor car to replace to the damage, and for that id want an empty engine bay to make it easier to work on and see how far the damage goes

[pyrothehitman]

good point thanx bro

[kellen302]

nice color on the festy man

[pyrothehitman]

LOL^^^ no need to make fun, i just got her less than a week ago (^_^) Give it a few months and she will be sexy again.

[nitrofarm]

The motor isnt in the way.The Batt,Rad,overflow tank,wiper tank & misc wiring are in the way.Pull that stuff out & go to town. A body man wouldn't pull the motor/trans to repair that imo. Support the motor/trans from the bottom if your worried about flexing the subframe.Weld in a temp brace if your worried @ flex. But pulling the motor on that Beastiva seems like over engineering. But thats just my two cents. Do what works for you my friend.Hopefully you understood half of what I said

[Damkid]

I figure I'm far from a body guy, that's why I'd pull the engine lol but it only takes me 1-1/2 hours to pull it... Even my V6 festiva lol