So I'm finally going through and doing a full resto on my coupe. I've owned the thing since '97, so it's earned a special place in my heart. I started a few years ago but decided shortly after I pulled it all apart and relegated to jack stands that I was going back to school, and so it sat.

And sat.

The exterior body is in really good shape. Just needs repaint since some dickbag decided to key the driver's side one night when it was still on the road. I'm not mad that one of my shadier acquaintances thought it a good idea to smash a beer bottle over the culprit's head one night a couple years later.

One of the big things that's bugged me about it for years was the way the body lined up on the front right. It took a hit to a curb on a wet road one time and was just never right again.

I was pretty confident that the core support was tweaked, but when I took it to the body shop they always said they could get it straightened out but never really did, despite my offers to provide a support and pay for the job if it needed it. Body work was the only thing I never really messed with, but now that I do everything myself it's time to tackle this too.

Onto the pics:









It seems pretty obvious that the best plan of action is to replace the support. My biggest concern is the alignment of the frame rails. I know that when I had a traction bar that it was a bitch to get it mounted up, so I know that the right rail is tweaked in a little:



I'm still waiting on my body repair manual from Helminc so that I can measure everything up, but I'm wondering if I should pull the support or try to have it straightened some before I cut it loose.

Another question... how should I go about repairing damage to the towers from uca contact?



I'm kind of thinking about boxing them to clear the uca's, but I think I'm going to modify the suspension so that contact is a non-issue anyway, and I'd rather have them look stock if I can.

Thirdly, whats a good way to attack this spot?



I have a feeling I'm going to have to cut the whole section out and fit and weld a new piece there. The thing that sucks is that there is no access from the back in that area, so I'm a little worried about sealing the raw weld & patch for rust prevention.

 

Your front end alignment is EXACTLY what I'm going thru right now with my car. Blew my motor and figured while it's out I should get the front end repaired and maybe paint the bay. Subscribing so I can follow whatever answers you get... I figured I'd just have to tow my car to a frame shop, but we'll see what people say.

 

I need to pick up a tram gauge so that I can get some good measurements before I pull it apart, but thats $200. Just trying to stack a little cash at the moment, so I'm currently sitting on this one.

 

Interesting, I've never seen one of those before. I'm sorta waiting to know what to do as well. I called some local body shops and most places don't have their own rack and/or didn't want to take on my project (I told them it's a race car, not a street car). But I did find one guy who is sorta local who for $100-$200 would put it on the rack and see if it was out of spec. I already ordered the replacement lower radiator support around a year ago (managed to get the last OEM one in the US) and had planned on just welding it in myself since the damage didn't seem too bad other than having that lower piece bashed up a bit. But after a recent "off" I fear the front end may be tweaked such that it'd be worth getting it looked at professionally. My garage setup isn't such that I think it'd even be something I could attempt to tackle on my own