QuestionMy wife was recently in an accident where she T-boned a mini-van with the passenger corner of her VW Jetta. I have replaced everything that was damaged: Headlights, Radiator support, Rebar, passenger fender, hood, front bumper cover. As suspected, there is unibody damage to the car. Based on rough measurements I've taken by myself, the only section that is damaged is in this picture: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v303/01TegGS/HPIM0277.jpg
You can see on the passenger side the white brace next to the radiator is bent slightly. Upon inspection the damage is confined to the first 6-10 inches of that part of the unibody (I call it the lower arm part of the unibody) and appears to only be bent down approximately 3/4-1" and outwards 1/2". My question is this, is that something that is easily repairable by going to a frame/unibody repair shop with the right machines, or is it more difficult than I suspect to have accomplished?
Sorry for such a long discription, thanks for your help.
AnswerHello Luke! Bodyshops generally charge 2.5 hours set up and measure for the frame rack, and then whatever repair labor on top of that. They also charge around 5-10 dollars more per hour for frame repair.(over the prevailing body shop labor rate in your area) Your picture is too dark and far away for me to really see what all is wrong to give you a proper assessment, but 6 hours repair is easily assessed to any frame job. You see, the damage in a unibody vehicle is never limited to the area of impact- it travels conically through the vehicle. It needs brought back to square using special stress relieving techniques, and a progression we call first in, last out. You don't go for the frame rails where the damage is obvious- you go much further back, to where twisting and bending is subtle- sometimes it's hard to see. That's what gauges and measuring is for. Anyhoo, Any and all panel alignments you have already done will be thrown off once the technician starts pulling the frame rails, so re-alignment of the entire front sheet metal, even sometimes the doors, will be necessary. You did a lot of work, you probably learned a lot- but a lot you have done is unfortunately moot. You do have the parts, and they are basically hung- I just hope you didn't weld in the radiator support to the bent frame rails. The support will need cut loose, a horrible task if the plug welds were properly done. Spot welds drill out nicely- plug welds done with a wire welder are incredibly hard to drill out. Hope this isn't too much information. Good luck to you! Bill
