Those who have repaired cars in accidents

While I was home over spring break I was able to take a closer look at the focus that was totaled in december, and Dad and I are thinking about putting it back on the road. Sister needs a newer car and Im not ready to part out yet.

The impact took out the bumper and support, crinkled the frame rail on the drivers side and floor. From everything I can see the car is repairable and I would like to do so. I think it was totaled because the shop was dragging their feet on fixing the car and they were going to get stuck with paying for my rental. My question is does anyone have experience replacing the 'frame rail' that goes from the rear subframe to the bumper mount? I can fix the floor, bumper, and hatch but this would be a new job for me to tackle and I need help sourcing the part. The suspension points are all still intact, and the car drives straight.

chain to truck. drive truck away fast about 20 times. worked for a bent front rail on my cousin's POS sentra.

in all seriousness - is it bent by anything suspension mounting or otherwise important things or is it all in areas that the car still drives nice and straight?

Make friends with a body guy that has access to a frame machine on weekends. You'll want to pull that out as much as possible before cutting and welding new stuff in. Also invest in a body book and tram gauge to get all the dimensions right. Thats the difference between looking right and being right....and if the car is ever rear ended again with your sister in it, you want it to BE right.

Maybe take a community college autobody class (or well a few). That will be a huge job to make perfect. If it still drives fine, then just do the best you can and use it, there is no reason to scrap a car that still works. lol

A good fame machine operator should be able to pull that. If you strip it clean so all they have to do is pull it you should be able to get that in good order in a days worth of pulling.

Like Dean said. Even if you have to replace one rail, you need to pull it straight first. A good frame guy, you won't have to replace anything other than the exterior parts. Long term, this really is something you want to do correctly. Hack it back together, forget about it, sell car, new owner gets rearended, breaks back, you work for the rest of your life to pay legal bills....

I didn't realize that it was better to pull everything out with the mangled rail still attached. I was thinking about cutting the rail away, then straightening the floor and then attaching a new rail section. I do want to do it right if someone in the family is going to be using the car, just in case an accident were to ever happen again. And I still need it to pass a stricter pennslvania inspection to go from salvage to reconstructed. I spoke with someone who does the 'enhanced' inspections and he commented that as long as the hatch seals and the rail has been corrected it should be passable. But cosmetically I could care less.

Have it pulled first. Since it is behind the suspension you may not need to replace the rail. A good frame guy can do some amazing things

Everyone is telling you correct info. And I deal with this for a living. Pay the couple hundred it will cost to have a shop properly pull that back into spec. You'll be surprised how much of the trunk floor damage will disappear when they do that, for one thing. It has to be pulled first, then the rail cut and sectioned. I don't have my estimating computer up and running as I write this, but I'd want to know how that rail is sold. Can it be bought as just the rear section, or do you have to buy the entire rail up through the floorpan and cut it? The latter will be much more expensive. It does not look like a difficult fix, but trying to do that at the driveway mechanic level will take you forever and it won't ever get right.

For PA, I understand its a PITA, take pictures of everything along the process to document what is going on with the car. You have to write a couple page report so to speak to be considered for the reconstructed title, including when the accident happened, and what detailed steps you undertook to repair the car.

Call your local fast tags and ask them, they can usually talk you through the process easier, as they will be the ones most likely preparing the paperwork.

Andrew

Streetwiseguy wrote: Hack it back together, forget about it, sell car, new owner gets rearended, breaks back, you work for the rest of your life to pay legal bills....

that might be a stretch. at least in our state, when you buy a car it's your car. including anything wrong with it. not to say the person responsible for the halfassery is any less of a bastard.

I'd say there's a chance the rail wouldn't even need replaced. Probably need some welding, but nothing crazy.

Ditto what has been said already. Plus, it least it was hit in the back. A hard impact on the front to a FWD car can be murder to get right. My 2nd Civic, a hatchback, was hit at some point in the same place as your Focus. The biggest giveaway after it was fixed was the slight mis-match of paint (not all that noticeable when the car was cleaned/polished) and a tiny sliver of paint on the side windows from less than perfect masking. Otherwise, no driveability issues.