Mustang collision

[just_dig]

Hi folks, I'm new to this forum and have a couple of questions.
My daughter wrecked her 67 mustang a week ago last night. She lost control on an ice covered bridge and then played pinball with the gaurdrails on both sides of the road. Thank God she's ok!

She had a pretty hard impact front left into a cement footer before proceeding down the guardrail. It folded up the wheel and seems to have some pretty extensive damage to the unibody. The spot welds on the bracket right down the side of the shock tower has torn loose and everything is smashed toward the engine on that side.

My only real question is can the unibody be straightened in a body shop?
This was her dream car and we've been working to restore for a year now. She wanted to drive it to prom this year and I'm just looking to see if it's possible and how costly the straightening might be if possible. I can post some pics if the forum supports it.

Thanks for any help, Mark

[Len]

Tell here we send our sympathy.

Mark
ANYTHING is repairable, it's always a matter of time and money. A good body shop can put that car on a bench and make that unibody better than when the car was new. The trick will be to find the right shop in your area.

There's no way of telling what it will cost but you can bet that it's going to be over $5K and, if it's bent all the way around, it's probably going to be over $10K. Only the shop doing the work will be able to give you an accurate estimate before they start.

[John68]

Mark,

They now sell (I think Shermann) complete front sides for 64.5-66 and 67-68 Mustangs. The complete side includes the frame rail, and the shock tower, with the front and rear aprons already spot welded to it. all you'd have to do is remove the entire frame rail and rad support and replace with spot welds or plug welds. piece of cake fix... wish they would have had them available years ago.

[myMustang]

Ouch! :eek: I'd probably buy the compete aprons/towers/rails that John is reffering to and a new radiator core support and core support crossmember. Also buy new floor extensions to attach to the back of the framerails.

Build a jig and build your new front clip from the new parts. Weld the VINs into the new parts, then have the car straigtened on a frame machine. When the rest of the car is straight, remove the front clip and replace.

If the firewall is wrinkled, things might get more complicated, but I'd bet clipping it would help tremendously in fixing the damage.

Stay far far away from repop doors or fenders unless you can get Dynacorn or maybe Golden Legion. Matt at Ponderosa Mustang in Flordia knows his repop sheetmetal inside and out and won't sell crappy repops.

Try www.vintage-mustang.com if you need any more info
HTH
--Kyle