Figured out why my Cuda's front bumper was an inch lower on the drivers side.

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RSie

Idiot In Training
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I thought the bumper brackets were bent. Not so. Don't know about that patch, but whoever never pulled that wrinkle out to make it straight. Frame rail is junk anyway, getting replaced.
Another clue why my '69 has a '68 front end and hood.

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Also glad to see you getting it under way, it will be well worth the effort!
 
Check the frame rail real good. If the bend is forward of the control arm mounts you can probably just splice in a front piece. Much less work that way.
 
You would be surprised just how few spot welds hold the frame rails in these cars! I changed the left front rail on my buddies '69 Valiant in my garage in a couple of weekends. It isn't hard to do at all. Once you have the old one out the new one kind of drops into place. The factory tolerance measurements are + or - 1/4" in all directions. (Add those numbers up and it's easy to see why Dougs and TTI headers don't fit every car exactly the same). Once you are happy with the rail placement its just a matter of plug welding the welds you drilled out.

When we found the bad rail in his car the look of disappointment on his face was staggering to say the least. I looked at him and said "It looks like we are going to learn how to change a unibody frame rail. If the drunken auto workers could build it on a moving assembly line I'm sure two sober guys can replace it on a hoist in my garage." and we did. Keep in mind neither one of us had done any body work at that point. Since then we replaced the floor pans, repaired the left rear frame rail, did a spring relocation and installed spring sliders on that car.

I'm just saying any of us can do whatever we set our mind to. Keep your eye on the prize and enjoy learning as you go.
 
Check the frame rail real good. If the bend is forward of the control arm mounts you can probably just splice in a front piece. Much less work that way.
Wish it was that easy! The rail is shot, this is looking through the floor (and through the rail!). Torsion support and floor are junk. Other rail has holes in the top of the rail by the UCA mounts. Both inner fenders are junk on the bottom.
I have a complete inner tub, radiator support, rails, torsion cross member, inner fenders from a Dart that's going in as a unit.

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You would be surprised just how few spot welds hold the frame rails in these cars! I changed the left front rail on my buddies '69 Valiant in my garage in a couple of weekends. It isn't hard to do at all. Once you have the old one out the new one kind of drops into place. The factory tolerance measurements are + or - 1/4" in all directions. (Add those numbers up and it's easy to see why Dougs and TTI headers don't fit every car exactly the same). Once you are happy with the rail placement its just a matter of plug welding the welds you drilled out.

When we found the bad rail in his car the look of disappointment on his face was staggering to say the least. I looked at him and said "It looks like we are going to learn how to change a unibody frame rail. If the drunken auto workers could build it on a moving assembly line I'm sure two sober guys can replace it on a hoist in my garage." and we did. Keep in mind neither one of us had done any body work at that point. Since then we replaced the floor pans, repaired the left rear frame rail, did a spring relocation and installed spring sliders on that car.

I'm just saying any of us can do whatever we set our mind to. Keep your eye on the prize and enjoy learning as you go.
I have a complete inner tub from a Dart that's going in it. I parted that out last summer for this. I spent all last summer with a spot weld cutter, so I know how these things go together, and it is kind of amazing! My father-in-law, who helped out from time to time.."you mean that '68 Charger I had, was just held together with a bunch of spot welds?!?" Even more when we dropped the k-frame, and he saw the whole suspension, brakes, engine was held on place by 4 bolts, lol.
I got a welder a month or 2 back, just need to get a gas bottle for it, and do some practicing. I'm in the same boat you were, I've worked on cars my whole life, enough to keep them running, but never anything like this. For now, I'm looking at it as a learning experience.. just to kind of keep the pressure off to 'make it look like new and get it running tomorrow' thing.
Hearing your story gives me encouragement (which I get a lot on here, which is great!). Thanks man!
 
I
Hearing your story gives me encouragement (which I get a lot on here, which is great!). Thanks man!

No problem. If you decide to tackle that repair. Square and level that car. Anchor it down so it does not move out of square and level. Make a plan and move through that plan in a logical order. If I were repairing that I would probably go after the torsion bar cross member first and work my way out from there. I would probably build stands to set it on, tack weld those stands to the car and anchor those stands to my floor.

I am NOT a body man. There may very well be someone here who knows exactly how to do this. If someone has better advice , I'd love to hear it too. Like anything, thinking it through will make it easier and help build concordance. Good luck.
 
No problem. If you decide to tackle that repair. Square and level that car. Anchor it down so it does not move out of square and level. Make a plan and move through that plan in a logical order. If I were repairing that I would probably go after the torsion bar cross member first and work my way out from there. I would probably build stands to set it on, tack weld those stands to the car and anchor those stands to my floor.

I am NOT a body man. There may very well be someone here who knows exactly how to do this. If someone has better advice , I'd love to hear it too. Like anything, thinking it through will make it easier and help build concordance. Good luck.
Thinking it through is all I can afford right now, lol. I've been soaking up info on here, and there's a ton of it, and people to help out that have been there and done that.. this site is a goldmine to me. I've got a plan, and slowly building up the pieces to make it a reality. Time=money... but that's hard to deal with at times. It'll get there.. just have to not get frustrated when it's not going as fast as I want it to. I just have to remember it's been sitting in my garage for the last 10 years, with me doing nothing.. what's another year?
 
Thinking it through is all I can afford right now,
It took me 10 years of trying to get my '65 valiant. The gentleman who had it held it for me that long. Every time I would see him around town (I live in a small town. Very small) he would ask if I was ready to buy it. I always had to tell him "No. I just had a daughter. No, I just had a son, No I had to put a roof on our house. No My wife wanted a new kitchen". You get the idea. I was very fortunate that he held on to it that long (who does that)? He said all along. "No problem. I was a young man with a family at one time. It's not going anywhere".
When I finely did get it home I found bad floors. That is the only rust on it. I had the confidence to replace them after doing them and the frame rail on my buddies '69. I Work on it as I have time and money. Both are hard to come by (kids are expensive pets) LOL. Between running the auto repair shop I work at, a wife that works 12 hr swing shifts, and two kids in baseball and soft ball, time is hard to come by. Just keep your eye on the prize and enjoy your time working on it. Once working on it becomes a chore, it will never get done.
 
It took me 10 years of trying to get my '65 valiant. The gentleman who had it held it for me that long. Every time I would see him around town (I live in a small town. Very small) he would ask if I was ready to buy it. I always had to tell him "No. I just had a daughter. No, I just had a son, No I had to put a roof on our house. No My wife wanted a new kitchen". You get the idea. I was very fortunate that he held on to it that long (who does that)? He said all along. "No problem. I was a young man with a family at one time. It's not going anywhere".
When I finely did get it home I found bad floors. That is the only rust on it. I had the confidence to replace them after doing them and the frame rail on my buddies '69. I Work on it as I have time and money. Both are hard to come by (kids are expensive pets) LOL. Between running the auto repair shop I work at, a wife that works 12 hr swing shifts, and two kids in baseball and soft ball, time is hard to come by. Just keep your eye on the prize and enjoy your time working on it. Once working on it becomes a chore, it will never get done.
"kids are expensive pets". Try a kid that falls in love with hockey when he's 6 sometime, lol. We went one whole winter on a Quik-Trip credit card, food and all. 10 years of no time off on weekends, and endless driving. Was worth it though! I get to watch him as a senior this year :)
 
"kids are expensive pets". Try a kid that falls in love with hockey when he's 6 sometime, lol. We went one whole winter on a Quik-Trip credit card, food and all. 10 years of no time off on weekends, and endless driving. Was worth it though! I get to watch him as a senior this year :)

I'm a hockey nut! Having a 6 year old boy has me thinking twice about how much I love hockey! :D
 
I'm a hockey nut! Having a 6 year old boy has me thinking twice about how much I love hockey! :D
You might regret it at times if he gets into it.. but you'll love it overall. That said, don't push him into it.. seen too many of those kids, and it never ends well. My wife and I had never seen a hockey game, we ttok the kid to the local rink for a free 'learn to skate' session. His first time around the rink, when he fell, he was pushing the helpers off him when he was trying to get up, and pulling himself up on the boards. He was hooked. We learned a lot about hockey! And it was a blast, money be damned! He's now a 5' 10" goon/grinder :)
 
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