[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index] [New Search]

[T3] Body Straightening (long post)


Howdy all.
    I spent the day pulling the engine from my square. While I was at it, I
took a closer look at the undersides and rear fenderwells. As I sort of
suspected, it appears as though this car has been rear-ended at some point.
The rear end sheet metal is pretty much straight and undamaged, but the rear
bumper that came with the car is "V" shaped, almost like someone backed up
hard into a tree or steel post.  The pass. rear fender is buckled through
the wheel arch, both inner fenders have buckled, the inner rear apron where
the intake bellows attaches is warped out of true, the pass side bumper
mount is bent pretty substantially, and both rear engine mounts miss the
engine crossbar by 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch. The hatch closes properly and
there aren't any gaps where it meets the body, and there isn't any other
buckling in the roof or other body panels that I can see. My question: could
a body shop put one of our cars on their frame rack and straighten out this
sort of damage? Has anyone had any experience having their car repaired in
this manner? Especially in or around Austin, TX? I don't think that
drivability would suffer if this is not repaired, except that the engine
doesn't line up with the mounts properly, and from the outside you can't
tell except for the buckled fender. I guess I know now why this car was used
as an engine donor, but with an initial purchase price of only $50, I can
see spending a little money to straighten it out. Thanks for your advice.

Terry Cost
1970 Square "Project Bentsquare"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org


[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index] [New Search]