Twisted Barracuda... Should I make a jig?

[Caleb]

I've never restored a car before and need advice. My project car has been wrecked and has a kink on the hump in the floorboard over the driveshaft, the driver side door does not line up properly, and there is a crack in the rear roof pillar. I can build a jig if y'all think that would help me. I will try to attach pictures.
Thanks in advance,
Caleb

[hanksemenec]

I'll have to watch this thread. My son has Tom Watts's 70 Cuda daily driver and it has sustained rear and front damage. Repairs were done through time but the drivers side front rail was hit hard. When we installed new K member it required 1/4" shim between the rail and back of the K member. The shock tower also broke. Looks like the body shop tried to pull the frame back into the right place.

It is hard to set up for rail replacement since we do not have good points to measure from. The passenger side seems to be OK.

[Caleb]

I hope someone has good info for you too Hank. I am looking to make this a daily driver too (weather permitting). My brother and I are building her and I have a long history with this car. I'm sooo excited. Good luck!

[hanksemenec]

Looks like our drivers side damage. Is the twist in the floor around the  torsion bar cross member?

Front fender lines up OK to the door in the rear sags.

[BFM_Cuda]

Looks like someone installed the drivers side quarter panel wrong and messed up the door gap. 

The "crack" in the roof pillar is the normal seam between the roof skin and quarter panel. No issues there unless the metal is actually separated there.

[Caleb]

The wrinkle is behind the crossmember. There is a strange looking wrinkle in the floorboard from the factory. It looks like the wreck just exaggerated it and made the wrinkle sharper. It may not even be a big deal, but I want to fix it now it is still bare. I have some of the parts that were removed because they were damaged in the wreck. It seems that the car hit something in the front right fender. I can't tell if the front clip has been replaced because I don't have much experience. Here is a picture of the winkle I'm talking about...

[Caleb]

Looks like someone installed the drivers side quarter panel wrong and messed up the door gap. 

The "crack" in the roof pillar is the normal seam between the roof skin and quarter panel. No issues there unless the metal is actually separated there.

Thank you so much for the information. I suspected that the crack may be part of the factory seam, but I thought it was higher...and it doesn't look like a seam to my admittedly inexperienced eye. As for the fenders being installed wrong that is a very good possibility. It had a lot of bodywork done at a reputable automotive school...but It was done by students. That's why I blasted the body filler off that corner and the top. I wanted to inspect their work.

What can I do to help you guys give me good advice? More pictures, a better description, perhaps some measurements? I found the frame dimensions on another thread in this forum. I'll build anything I gotta build to do it right.

[gzig5]

Ask around locally for a shop with a frame machine that knows how to use it.  They can put the car up on it, evaluate it, and pull it straight for you if it needs it.  An evaluation should be about $150.  Not saying you can't put together a jig and measure it yourself but if you haven't done that before, I'd be hesitant.  If it is bent, it will probably need some pulling to straighten it out, not just panel replacement.
My car took a shot in the passenger side that was repaired poorly, but when I took it to the frame shop the guy said it was straight, just looked like hell.

[jimynick]

Gzig5 is right. Find a shop that has decent equipment and, more importantly, knows how to use it. You've got the right idea in that the car needs to be measured first and you can rst assured that there's been some $hit work done to make it semi-fit while leaving the crunch in there. The floor pans of these cars are rather flimsy and in mine, when it got hit in the rt frt, it ripped several spot welds where the rail was welded into the floor. You need an 'artist", a guy who can make required hook ups as and where needed to pull the kink out of your floor rather that stretching the whole car trying to. He's out there and it's your job to find him. Go to several good shops and speak to the owner and bodymen if possible. It's usually a fairly tight community and someone will know that "Bob" is the guy you're looking for. THEN, go see "Bob" and show/tell him your problem and see if you can pique his interest into doing the repair. Sometimes the old "yeah, I guess nobody could repair something like that" might work. They do have egos. Good luck 

[Caleb]

Y'all are awesome. Thanks so much for the good advice. I'll keep posting updates on my progress on straightening my car out on this post. It'll be slow though as I don't think I'll be able to work on it as much add I'd like. It's actually in Ohio right now (I'm in North Carolina), but I get a week off work every month and my brother will be working on it some in my absence. I must say though...I am very big on doing things myself as I'm hilariously broke and my brother and I are both quite handy in the shop. I also understand that it's hard to beat a man at his own game... and $150 sounds very reasonable for the peace of mind that comes from having a professional look at it. I'll look around for sure. I'm gonna try to get up there in a few weeks and at least make an attempt at evaluating it now that I have the factory measurements though. Thanks again guys. Having a resource like this really makes this job a lot less intimidating.

[gzig5]

Seems like a lot of messed up E-bodies coming out of Ohio, including mine. 
If a internet search doesn't pop up a shop, I found the shop I used by asking around at a local car show.  Local classic car clubs could be a good source for recommendations.  Swap meets would be another place as well as body shops.  They usually know who has what capability.

[torredcuda]

Ask around locally for a shop with a frame machine that knows how to use it.  They can put the car up on it, evaluate it, and pull it straight for you if it needs it.  An evaluation should be about $150.  Not saying you can't put together a jig and measure it yourself but if you haven't done that before, I'd be hesitant.  If it is bent, it will probably need some pulling to straighten it out, not just panel replacement.
My car took a shot in the passenger side that was repaired poorly, but when I took it to the frame shop the guy said it was straight, just looked like hell.

  Putting it on a jig may show that something is off but how will you fix it? Way better to take it to a professional shop and have them measure the frame and straighten if needed.

[cuda hunter]

have a shop straighten it, then put it on a jig for your metal replacements.   

[JS29]

  With @cuda hunter. That crack in the quarter panel maybe stress related. there is a small brace behind the quarter window, If the spot welds didn't hold, It can cause a crack. the factory seam is higher than the crack.  Chief E-Z liner makes the best frame pulling system and laser measuring would be a must. If a shop has that kind of equipment, that would tell me they are equipped to do heavy collision damage. 

[edison1970]

There is a diagram in the factory manual that gives you points to measure if your frame is out of whack. I did mine since it was a race car at one point and had some twisting to it. If it is truly out of factory specifications,  then I would bring it to a body shop and put it on the frame machine.