how bad is this frame damage?

So im doing a ground up ITS RX7 build and i picked up a running 88 rx7 to start with.. the owner was not aware of any substantial accidents the car may have been involved with and at a glance it looked pretty good. Now that I have stripped it down i noticed what looks like a kink in the frame rail. Its on the passenger side and is right beyond where the front of the subframe bolts up. I dont see any substantial damage on the exterior of the frame but im not very knowledgeable about how these things get repaired etc. Take a look at the picks and tell me if i should scrap this tub or if its fixable.. are there particular measurements that i can take? I want this to be an immaculate build! so dont want to start with a flawed tub.

Thanks!

That doesn't look that bad to me.. Maybe the pictures are not doing it justice?

Kind of looks like it was jacked up on that rail rather than hit.

I would not be concerned.

Hell, that looks straight compared to the frame rails on my Z! I know I wouldn't be concerned at all.

Well thats good to hear... i was under the impression that even small imperfections like that could be evidence of fairly big impacts. Maybe im just paranoid!

Thanks for the input.

It does not look like much to me, and its ahead of the area thats stressed most by suspension loading, but if you are concerned, ask your local body shops for the best unibody/frame repair guy in the area, and have him inspect it. It will cost you a buck or two, but peace of mind is a nice thing to have.

well first of all, dont have any "Big Impacts"!

Thats nothing. You should have seen the damage I fixed on the ZX.

rsx858 said:

Well thats good to hear... i was under the impression that even small imperfections like that could be evidence of fairly big impacts. Maybe im just paranoid!

Thanks for the input.

Click to expand...

..Matt,

... It has been my experience that damage like this comes from an impact from another vehicle from the right across the front.
... I own and operate a body and frame shop and see this type of damage quite often.

... The best way to describe this damage is.

... Your car was probably involved in a minor accident where the driver (of your car)pulled into the path of another car that was approaching from the right. And was hit across the front from right to left.

...Best check..... Take a tape measure and cross measure ( in an X pattern) the bottom of the front frame section. It could be off just a little but it is an easy fix.

I have a 2nd gen IT-S car that is completely race ready minus running gear. Has splitter complete suspention set of 15x7 bbs wheels with hoosiers etc. If interested give me a call (919)608-3444 c. Pepe.