Frame damage, core support, panel alignment: need help

[spray2020]

Long story short, I have a 89' two tone coupe salvaged that I am trying to save and restore over time. The original owner of the car got in a accident (thats all I know), and the driver front fender and headlight were replaced. The whole front end doesn't align, the pop up driver light rubs on the hood and I can tell someone tried fixing it sort of but its off.

The headlight and bumper on the driverside seem to be pushed in, upwards and to the left. The hood doesn't sit right, but looks to be pretty straight. There are big gaps around the pass. headlight. But when I look at the rad support, it visually doesnt really look pushed in any direction, it looks straight. Door to fender gap is big on the driverside, and tight on the passengerside, which also must mean the car was hit hard I guess. The frame rail has a slight buckle in it right below the airbox. Pics:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v347/it066yen/14591643_1223866027670803_7885641208562828694_n.jp g (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/it066yen/media/14591643_1223866027670803_7885641208562828694_n.jp g.html)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v347/it066yen/14492361_1223866061004133_5356179148093407680_n.jp g (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/it066yen/media/14492361_1223866061004133_5356179148093407680_n.jp g.html)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v347/it066yen/14572208_1223866024337470_696295195344404383_n.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/it066yen/media/14572208_1223866024337470_696295195344404383_n.jpg .html)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v347/it066yen/14519828_1223866001004139_2549914375893730893_n.jp g (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/it066yen/media/14519828_1223866001004139_2549914375893730893_n.jp g.html)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v347/it066yen/IMG_5198.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/it066yen/media/IMG_5198.jpg.html)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v347/it066yen/IMG_5197.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/it066yen/media/IMG_5197.jpg.html)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v347/it066yen/IMG_5196.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/it066yen/media/IMG_5196.jpg.html)

After owning the car for over a year I finally decided that it was time to go get it straightened out. Most body shops I took the car to wouldn't even quote it because it is too old. Then the expensive shops told me they would have to straighten the frame and replace the core support and it would run me $2500 plus. So I took it to a small shop that someone recommended me and the guy tried fixing it, but did it the half ass way - tried pulling from the tow hook and ended up separating the sheet metal in that area. Guy was an A$$hole and I just didn't want to go back and deal with him again Pic:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v347/it066yen/IMG_5194.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/it066yen/media/IMG_5194.jpg.html)

I decided to take some measurements myself. I measured under the car, the two diagonal measurements that go under the engine, both of them were within an inch of 54", point to point. Then I did engine bay measurements, some of those were off by about an inch or so:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v347/it066yen/IMG_5195.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/it066yen/media/IMG_5195.jpg.html)

Some engine bay pics showing how the core support looks straight (yet I know something is off):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v347/it066yen/DSC_0002%201.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/it066yen/media/DSC_0002%201.jpg.html)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v347/it066yen/DSC_0004_1.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/it066yen/media/DSC_0004_1.jpg.html)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v347/it066yen/DSC_0006_1.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/it066yen/media/DSC_0006_1.jpg.html)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v347/it066yen/DSC_0005_1.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/it066yen/media/DSC_0005_1.jpg.html)

Lastly, after playing around with the panels, I noticed that if I unbolted the hood latch and unbolted the driverside hood hinge the hood comes down and sits pretty nicely around the pass side headlight, yet it is sitting up high on top of the driver pop up light- which is pushed in and up:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v347/it066yen/IMG_5199.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/it066yen/media/IMG_5199.jpg.html)

I'm looking for help, and or suggestions on how I can salvage this damage. I want to keep the car, as I am not trying to race it or anything. I know that commonly these cars are used for drifting, and get hit frequently. How are those cars fixed if they dont have a tube front?

[RHD*bro]

It's fixable just depends on how much u are willing to spend to have it fixed the correct way and it's not cheap

[jedi03]

just move to tube front and call it good!

[spray2020]

It's fixable just depends on how much u are willing to spend to have it fixed the correct way and it's not cheap

For right now, id like to just "cosmetically" fix it, and then later fix the frame / core support. Is that possible? As ghetto as it sounds to hammer it back into position? Guessing it may beat up the core support even more

just move to tube front and call it good!

I actually thought about this, but I think it would be a pain since my car still has all the stock stuff that would need mounting tabs- might look kind of funny like that

[KAT-PWR]

You just have to play with it. I hit a deer and with prybars, hammers, engine hoist and chain I was able to get it acceptable
Just do it. Your shit is barely tweaked

[RHD*bro]

Just alighn the front end to look presentable till u get it fixed right

[jedi03]

buddy just chopped his...was a bit of work but looks factory till you open the hood...tons of space now!!!

[derass]

You can see the some of the accident damage in this photo: how the stop welds on the frame rail have been torn apart.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v347/it066yen/IMG_5194.jpg

If you didn't know this already, the FSM has chassis alignment measurements to compare with your own. The right way to fix the misalignment is to take the car to a body shop, have them put it on a rack and pull it straight. It's not going to be cheap, but that's what it's going to take to restore it properly.

[spray2020]

buddy just chopped his...was a bit of work but looks factory till you open the hood...tons of space now!!!

haha, yeah I now see with my fenders off that it is all mostly sheetmetal holding the panels in place. Im gonna try hammering it for now.

You can see the some of the accident damage in this photo: how the stop welds on the frame rail have been torn apart.

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v347/it066yen/IMG_5194.jpgG]

If you didn't know this already, the FSM has chassis alignment measurements to compare with your own. The right way to fix the misalignment is to take the car to a body shop, have them put it on a rack and pull it straight. It's not going to be cheap, but that's what it's going to take to restore it properly.

That photo is not the damage from the accident, that is the damage one body shop did by trying to pull by the tow hook and ended up separating the sheet metal and welds :mad: they then quit and gave me my money back. The car was hit from that side.

yes, I have the measurements- I took my engine bay measurements based on those.