Rear end damage worth fixing?

JKIDD

JKIDD

Auto Addict
I just bought an 86 (build date 6-85 but titled as 86) that was hit in the rear. Not hard but enough to buckle the 1/4 & pinch the top of the door. My question is if this is worth the effort to repair or can it be repaired. Car does have a few issues but has potential otherwise.
 

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Almost anything can be repaired, but its going to take a serious session on a frame machine, and the quarter sheet metal at a minimum is not repairable unless the bondo is slathered on thicker than cake frosting. Frame pulls by a shop that actually know what the're doing isn't cheap, so the question you need to answer is how much do you want to spend? If you were thinking about the old come-along around the tree type repair, that dog ain't gonna hunt on this. Based on the overall condition of everything else. only you can make the call if the additional investment in it is a wise one.
 
It kind of depends on depth of the damage. If you are luck you might just need to repair/replace the inner and outer wing.

Best way to fix IMHO is to take off the damaged panels one by one until you find something undamaged, then replaced with repaired or replacement panels.

How do the inner wing/wheel arches look? If you are lucky and these are straight then it's just cosmetic and maybe you could pull the majority of the damage out with a slide hammer
 
If the structure isn't bent, that definitely is salvagable. Hard to tell from the pictures.

I would try the come-a-long and tree method. It won't hurt. Probably the biggest challenge will be finding a good place to grip the panel. You may have to weld on a pull plate or two to get a grip (the old guys soldered the plates to the panels. Then heat and remove with no trace). Slow and easy. Once you get it back in position and roughed in, a little heat and shrinking will save the quarter.

If you do attempt - post pictures!
 
I can see both sides of this discussion. If you want it to be "done correctly in every way" then it might not be worth the cost for professionals to get it there. However if you just want it to look good enough and be functional enough, and can do some work yourself, then it should be manageable without a ton of expense. It all depends on your intended application in the end. Honestly not every vehicle is worth doing it right; some are fine with a cosmetic fix and go enjoy the car for what it is. After all, are you planning to show it in a concours? I think in most cases it is the owners perspective (and budget) that drives these decisions rather than the actual damage.

The body kit idea might be a good one. I bought a "parts car" for very little money because it had some aftermarket items on it that seemed worth the price, even if the car itself was too rusty to keep. But after closer inspection the rust was mostly cosmetic and the structure was sound. Still too much rust to try and restore it, but the car could make a good "outlaw" street toy or perhaps a trackday car; strip it down, add some cheap generic fender flares to replace the rotted fender lips, cut off the rusted rear valance completely, patch a couple of small holes, and it could be decent enough to beat on.
 
I at least wanted to save it from the crusher & worst case save it so it could be a track car for someone. Some parts are in great shape while others not so much. No rust behind the rear wheels which seems to be the place they like to rust. Rockers & jack point near perfect.
Rust in both doors & 1 fender. Trunk pockets just started to rust thru. Carpet is in near perfect shape for 110k. Mine is worn where my heel sits & has 65k on it. Exhaust is in better shape than mine but a PO put a Thrush type muffler on it. I do like the sound. Driver seat has a little wear but not faded. Mine was completely yellowed out in 89. Runs really good having done nothing to it. No regrets buying it & we'll see where it ends up.
 
Maybe it's just a great parts donor, or something to practice your body skills on with no expectation of success.
 
carl said:
Maybe it's just a great parts donor, or something to practice your body skills on with no expectation of success.
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This was 1 of my thoughts. Ive been itching to do some body work. Been a good 25 years since Ive done any. If I can get the 1/4 pulled back it'd be too nice to part. (at least for.the northeast). It's not like I'd ruin it, right?
 
JKIDD said:
This was 1 of my thoughts. Ive been itching to do some body work. Been a good 25 years since Ive done any. If I can get the 1/4 pulled back it'd be too nice to part. (at least for.the northeast). It's not like I'd ruin it, right?
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For $600 to $800 you can buy 4 hours time for a frame pull and straightening at a good custom body shop. (think Porsche). Then, you can do the finish work.
 
JimD said:
Get a Boig widebody kit from MWB and you will have an autocross X. 😈

@kmead had a similar issue, maybe he has some insight on what he found on his X?
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My damage was just on the surface so my experience wouldn’t be pertinent.

As rear end damage goes, that doesn’t look terrible. A pull would be the thing to do to get the door opening right and the ensure the substructure and the strut tower is aligned if affected. You may want to remove the entire quarter panel and replace it with a new one to avoid the slathering of bondo. A lot of drilling out of spot welds.

It looks repairable to me.
 
subasurf said:
Dallara conversion time.
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Cutting the entire rear body and entire front body off and replace with completly new panels along with lengthening the wheelbase and all new rear suspension and a Dallara 16 valve head etc seems extreme. Or did you mean just fat guards, in no way "Dallara"?
 
Have a look at the shop manual page that gives the body measurements. Measure the dimensions that would reveal if there are any underlying serious deformities, such as out of square from the hit on the corner, or "from vertical baseline" measurements that would indicate a bend in the middle from the hit.

If your numbers come up good, then to me that would support the bang-it-out-and-bondo approach. If your measurements reveal serious deformity, then I would be thinking parts car.
 
Steve Thomas said:
Cutting the entire rear body and entire front body off and replace with completly new panels along with lengthening the wheelbase and all new rear suspension and a Dallara 16 valve head etc seems extreme. Or did you mean just fat guards, in no way "Dallara"?
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either or
 
Some of the earlier posts seem to suggest one extreme repair or another. On one hand, you can pay a specialty shop a considerable sum to straighten the car on a frame rack, cut off the whole quarter panel and weld on another one. Or on the other hand, pile on a ton of bondo. However there is a middle ground. Do enough body work on the existing sheet metal to get it as straight as reasonable yourself, then use a nominal amount of body filler to finish it up cosmetically. And for very little money. After all this isn't a concours show car and does not need to be perfect. Following the excellent suggestion offered by @Dan Sarandrea (Phila) in post #16 will help decide what route is best.

On a side note. Body filler seems to get a unduly bad rap in general. Not that I propose slopping on three inches of it. But I have seen many repairs that used quite a lot of it, with undetectable results that lasted many decades. And a lot of "great" body shops do exactly that all the time. Even the best restorations cover the entire vehicle with it in order to sand it perfectly flat before painting. As I said earlier, it comes down to the owner's ego, intended purpose of the vehicle, and budget/time/skills.
 
Dr.Jeff said:
On a side note. Body filler seems to get a unduly bad rap in general. Not that I propose slopping on three inches of it. But I have seen many repairs that used quite a lot of it, with undetectable results that lasted many decades. And a lot of "great" body shops do exactly that all the time. Even the best restorations cover the entire vehicle with it in order to sand it perfectly flat before painting. As I said earlier, it comes down to the owner's ego, intended purpose of the vehicle, and budget/time/skskills.
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Back in 2013 I did a restoration of a 1985 horse trailer for my wife. In the process I discovered "Bondoglass". I will never, ever, use anything else for any kind of metal restoration.

This stuff, combined with glazing putty for final finishing, is the best, in my opinion. But, I'm no expert, and I'm not paying one to do my stuff for me.
 
To clarify, my question really was if anyone had dealt with the 1/4 pushing into the top of the door. It does.open & close but touches. I do believe I can get the wheel well banged. pulled & shrunk close enough but I thought I read somewhere that this kind of damage could total the car. It was definitely hit on the right rear bumper as the left looks fine.
 
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