Hey all. I had my Mustang at the mechanic last week for a noise from the rear. This mechanic has always been honest with me and done really good work at reasonable prices. He’s a Ford guy, and in previous times he has worked on this car, he has shown it great respect. However, this last visit he told me he thought the axle needed an entire rebuild and the price he quoted was way beyond the estimate I had in my head. This was after taking 5 days longer than he said he would. Unusual, but whatever. I quickly decided I could buy a built axle and install it myself for much, much less. I tell him I’ll have to think on it and I’ll take the car home for now.
This car still has original paint minus the hood and deck lid and is in absolutely minty condition. No rust, dings, dents, scratches, you get the picture. However, I quickly noticed when I get out of the car in my garage that the door sill at the floor doesn’t look right. I can see the difference in paint color that it has moved about 1/16” back. I open the passenger door and gasp. The floor sill is about a 1/2” back and pulled away where the 2 seams meet. I go grab my creeper and on my way back I can see my trunk lid has two spots about 1” in length where I can see bare metal from the trunk rubbing against the body when I got my pack out of the trunk and closed it. Looking closer, the whole trunk lid is closing about 1/8” lower than it should. I look underneath the car and I literally shed a single tear.
My previously straight torque boxes are CRUSHED. This car is so minty the pinch welds have never been bent. Until now. Clearly the car was put on a post style lift improperly. I could have lived with that alone, but all of it together nearly pushes me to the edge of insanity. I purchased this car from my best friend’s family after he took his own life. Combat induced PTSD was too much for him to bear. We went to school together, we both enlisted in separate branches of the military around the same time, and we both got out on forced medical around the same time. Working on this car together was therapy for us in a lot of ways. A swimming pool of beer was drank between us with the car as the only witness. We spilled blood together on this car. A perfect, rare survivor and an embodiment of the only man I’ve ever loved that wasn’t blood to me. The mechanic wanted me to bring it back tomorrow, but I have other obligations so I’m supposed to take it back Friday. I really don’t even know what to do. My heart is breaking so I feel like I can’t think clearly right now. I couldn’t get clear pictures of the torque boxes. Other pics included. My daughter cried, I almost lost it in front of her.
How bad is this? Can lifting the car from the torque boxes as a lift point cause that much damage or did something else happen? All thoughts welcome, please. Rant over. Beer incoming. My precious....no.....God no....