Don’t know where else to vent

CarMichael Angelo · Sep 4, 2020

Well it’s obvious that they flattened the pinch weld, and I’m sure that the rear torque box is going to show evidence of improper placement, but I just don’t understand how the top seam joint would move without any other single piece of the rocker or floor deforming along the length of it. Especially now that there are SF connectors into the equation.
Its simple to see,..put a piece of thin wall tubing and pull it hard enough to bend. The one side buckles, and the other side stretches...both fatigue points are clearly visible.

revhead347 · Sep 4, 2020

kiddiccarus said:
I am actually planning to weld in "Obvious" locations that will be for Lift Placement on both Mustangs as my projects move forward, anyone with a welder should consider the same thing. There will be times when someone other than ourselves will be lifting the car, so its a little more insurance in the end.

I have an even better solution. I don't let anyone put my car on a lift unless it's absolutely necessary. My pinch welds look like a worn out ******* from letting people do it in the past. I learned my lesson when I was in college flinging tires and doing oil chances. You get 6/10ths for four tires, and 4/10ths for an oil chance, and the lift is placed fast and dirty. My bays didn't even have 2 post lifts, I had that single piston that came out of the floor, and you had to reach under the car to find the arms. We didn't have any adapters or pads for our lifts. I wasn't doing the job for the money, and never messed one up, but I saw some guys in there that were going so fast they bent stuff all the time.

To the OP, I would have a quote done by a body shop. I don't know what to tell you, that is just awful. However, there is a distinct chance that body is not worth fixing.

Kurt

General karthief · Sep 4, 2020

revhead347 said:
there is a distinct chance that body is not worth fixing.

Kurt

I don't agree.

Noobz347 · Sep 4, 2020

Once it's put on the machine, it's straight.

Weld, here, here, and there.

The welds were flattened. Insurance, small claims court, or both. Sometimes sub-frame connectors have to be removed either for the machine or because being put on the machine, indicates that the welded sub-frame connectors were/are part of the issue.

We recently had a discussion in another thread about how simple these cars are to check for and straighten on 'The Machine" (dun-dun-duhnn).

Just to be clear, I only know of one instance where sub-frame connectors had to be removed because the installation was botched.

revhead347 · Sep 4, 2020

I hope you guys are right.

Kurt

Davedacarpainter · Sep 6, 2020

Honestly, besides the obvious flattened pinch weld and torque box tweaking, there’s no way that should have caused the other problems you’ve got now.

I’m thinking they had a near catastrophic incident and were probably pretty happy that this was all the damage you had.

Then came the big problem. What they should have done is to relay this snafu to you and explained how they were going to do their best to make it right again.

That doesn’t seem to have been their choice. They decided to act like nothing happened and would see if you noticed. They were probably thrilled when you drove off without having seen the problem. Now they can say that something happened to the car after you took it.

Small claims court probably won’t help you, sorry to say brother.

Bright side, these things can be fixed.

You also now know the character of this guy you trusted your car to.

Do NOT let this small incident drive you into depression. Do NOT! You know your buddy wouldn’t want you to feel that way over something out of your control. The car is your totem to that friendship, it’s not the friendship. It’s there to remind you of a friendship that you’re likely to never have again with anybody else. Keep and relish that relationship, it’ll be with you every minute for the rest of your life.
No one else can touch it.

Damage to the car sucks, and your treatment by this unethical business really sucks. But they, in no way possible, effect the good of the past.

Screw ‘em, drive on and make it good again.

Mstng93SSP · Sep 6, 2020

I agree with Dave 100%. I bet this car fell (at least partially) off the lift.

Steel1 · Sep 6, 2020

Totally agree that this car most likely slipped off the lift.
When I got my 93GT the pinch welds were mushed from improper jacking but I had none of the other body issued the op is seeing.
I have since straightened pinch welds and installed jacking rails , which were a more useful mod than I even expected.

revhead347 · Sep 7, 2020

Don't bring it to Georgia for repairs. I assure you no one can fix a 25 year old car here. But that's another story.

Kurt

Foxslider · Sep 7, 2020

Wow. Thats terrible. Obviously something went majorly wrong, ya it slipped off lift. Or they jacked it from there, crumbled, then moved it.
But the fact they didnt say nothing and try to make it right is super fcked.

Man.. smh.

Johngunter · Sep 8, 2020

ThinBlue502 said:
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....

I am so sorry to hear this,just do us all a favor go down with your head straight because we know how you probably want to go and just clean shop,keep us posted please sir

ThinBlue502 · Sep 8, 2020

kiddiccarus said:
My .02 here from one who served also. I am sure that your battle buddy there would understand. You are looking into what happened, you have taken action with confronting the situation at the shop and reaching out here for help. You may take a step back and once you are ready, you are going to turn a wrench on it and get it back into working order. It will have scars, but we all do. It will see more injury, we all will. You will look back and smile that YOU took back control and pressed on as we soldiers all do.

That Avatar to the left is the White Falcon, Simple Google search will fill in the rest. The spirit that resides in this particular Mustang is one of moving forward. From what you have shared already about it shows the care you have always had for him and this joint symbol of camaraderie you shared. I would usually throw in a joke here about that Misguided Child flag but not in this case. I may joke with you about at some later time. Here, I see a Brother who needs to see another who has traversed that same mental minefield in losing a man who means more than words can say. I carry a few tags with me (physically and mentally) of fallen who I brought home other than I ever wanted to.

When you get right in your head again. Don't think of this situation as a failure because of what some asshat did. It is in fact an opportunity once again to get you hands on the Mustang and work in a meaningful manner. If possible, maybe you will bring another into the fold here (like the daughter you spoke of) and share some stories of the good times you had with Capt. Ron.

We are never "Former".
We are never "Forgotten".
We are Soldiers.
We Drive On

You Have Love out here my Brother In Arms.

I was not in a place to reply at the time, but this was one of the last posts I read before checking out for a minute. I could never find any words that would do justice to what it did for me. It meant everything.
You’re right, Ron would understand, he always did.

To everyone else that contributed their opinion and kind words. Thank you.

I sincerely apologize to anyone who cared enough to read this and then I disappeared for a couple days.

So...
A friend of a friend heard about what happened to my car. He owns a body shop not far from me. He asked me to bring it by Saturday and he would take a look, no charge, no obligation to let him work on it. I almost didn’t, but my friend that referred him is a car guy I trust and I was feeling fairly desperate He called me yesterday afternoon and said he had straightened the body lines out, smoothed out the pinch welds, got the door sills level and even banged out the torque boxes a bit. He told me the floor pan was still crack free, the frame was straight and there seemed to be no structural damage. He said he thought it looked as if perhaps it partially slipped off the lift because the driver side torque box was damaged more than the passenger side. Regardless, I’ll never know what really happened.
When I picked the car up, it looked like nothing had even happened. The sun was shining down on it, it was all cleaned up, and I was overcome with emotion. I asked what I owed, ready to pay absolutely anything he asked. He told me his brother had given his life in combat in 2009 and after what had been done to me, it didn’t feel right taking my money. I had brought $500 because that’s what my deductible is, any more and I would have just claimed it. He refused to take it. He said he didn’t use any supplies, just time and effort. The whole thing was so overwhelming. To have gone from the lowest of lows, to one of the most humbling events of my life was a lot to take.
My Mustang is back in the garage. I still have the issue with the noisy axle, but I’ll probably just buy a built rear end and swap out one for the other. At least it’s safe, at home and only slightly worse for the wear, I guess.

Oh and FWIW, insurance basically told me I was **** if the shop didn’t want to pay and I couldn’t prove they did the damage. That was definitely a shock.

Lastly, the money shot. I couldn’t get the passenger side to show up. It was much less pronounced and hard to get to show up in a pic.

Rdub6 · Sep 8, 2020

Awesome! Good to hear good things happen to good people!!
You and your partner stay safe out there!!

ThinBlue502 · Sep 8, 2020

Rdub6 said:
Awesome! Good to hear good things happen to good people!!
You and your partner stay safe out there!!

Yessir, will do. For the record, this is not typical of my kind of luck. I kind of feel like I’m still waiting for the other shoe to drop, but I know that’s just me still being in shock from the whole thing, good and bad. I haven’t gotten emotional over that kind of in a long time. Maybe it’s just where I’m at right now. Crazy how things work out though.

General karthief · Sep 8, 2020

I almost cried, no !!!!
Pm me the address of that shop, I'll send him a free membership application. Oh, and I''ll throw in my Stangnet.com sticker. And a Christmas card!!!

Foxslider · Sep 8, 2020

Thats badass. Good to hear.

kiddiccarus · Sep 8, 2020

I am super glad this turned out like it did. The Mustang is back in a good place and so are you.

elarm1 · Sep 8, 2020

Great to hear. There are definitely good AND bad people out here just be aware and watch your 6. I would take my car to the new shop if it ever needed anything. Howabout letting them fix the rear end issue.... it'd be a good way to pay it back

bird_dog0347 · Sep 8, 2020

Man, this one really hit home... just reading through this and literally out of no where there's a dust storm inside my house making me all teary-eyed. So happy the other shop made it right man. I've still got my best friend's ZX-10R after he took his life, and I don't trust a single sole on this planet to ride it or work on it for this very reason. Think I'll go out to the garage and have a beer with the bike now, it's been a while... I suggest you do the same with your car.

Steel1 · Sep 8, 2020

The world needs more people like that body shop owner that helped you out !
Happy to hear how it turned out, take a deep breath now .

Don’t know where else to vent

CarMichael Angelo

my rearend will smell so minty fresh,

revhead347

Apparently my ex-husband made that mistake.

General karthief

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

Noobz347

Stangnet Facilities Maint Tech... Er... Janitor

revhead347

Apparently my ex-husband made that mistake.

Davedacarpainter

Chicks can make things hard if they’re inspired...

Mstng93SSP

You have a nice rear end there Dave.

Steel1

Mustang Master

revhead347

Apparently my ex-husband made that mistake.

Foxslider

im not that much of a idiot

Johngunter

Member

ThinBlue502

Rdub6

So while I wait to figure out my rear end issues

ThinBlue502

General karthief

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

Foxslider

im not that much of a idiot

kiddiccarus

The first widely accepted Tranny

elarm1

bird_dog0347

still married haven't seen testicles in years

Steel1

Mustang Master

Similar threads

Don’t know where else to vent

my rearend will smell so minty fresh,

Apparently my ex-husband made that mistake.

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

Stangnet Facilities Maint Tech... Er... Janitor

Apparently my ex-husband made that mistake.

Chicks can make things hard if they’re inspired...

You have a nice rear end there Dave.

Mustang Master

Apparently my ex-husband made that mistake.

im not that much of a idiot

Member

So while I wait to figure out my rear end issues

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

im not that much of a idiot

The first widely accepted Tranny

still married haven't seen testicles in years

Mustang Master

Similar threads

Privacy & Transparency

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