I recently purchased an 81 Malibu because the body was in really good shape. There's no sign of any work having been done in the last decade (except a quck weld on the skin of the door), but several things are kind of off about the car.
First of all, there is an obvious, but slight, crumple on the drivers front fender.
The header panel, headlight bezel and the bumper appear to be in good shape, but the header panel is sitting about an inch and a half too far back from the bumper. You can see where there is a crack on the top of the header panel so I'm thinking it's the piece doing all the flexing.
Drivers Side:
Compare that to the Passengers Side:
The drivers door has split and been welded, but when you open the door all the way, the inside and outside of the door kind of flex - probably what caused the outside skin of the door to split in the first place. There are two shims on the top hinge and two shims on the bottom hinge. The door opens and closes good.
Last of all, I have 26" tall 225/70R15 tires front and back, but when I turn sharp to the left, the passenger front tire rubs on the sway bar. They don't rub anywhere else or when I turn sharp to the right.
Is the tire rub because the body is not sitting square on the frame? Why did the door skin split and why does it feel like its twisting itself apart when fully opened? Did the accident that caused the little crumple in the front fender cause all of this other stuff or is none of it connected?
Sorry for long post and thanks for any insight you can provide.
First of all, there is an obvious, but slight, crumple on the drivers front fender.
The header panel, headlight bezel and the bumper appear to be in good shape, but the header panel is sitting about an inch and a half too far back from the bumper. You can see where there is a crack on the top of the header panel so I'm thinking it's the piece doing all the flexing.
Drivers Side:
Compare that to the Passengers Side:
The drivers door has split and been welded, but when you open the door all the way, the inside and outside of the door kind of flex - probably what caused the outside skin of the door to split in the first place. There are two shims on the top hinge and two shims on the bottom hinge. The door opens and closes good.
Last of all, I have 26" tall 225/70R15 tires front and back, but when I turn sharp to the left, the passenger front tire rubs on the sway bar. They don't rub anywhere else or when I turn sharp to the right.
Is the tire rub because the body is not sitting square on the frame? Why did the door skin split and why does it feel like its twisting itself apart when fully opened? Did the accident that caused the little crumple in the front fender cause all of this other stuff or is none of it connected?
Sorry for long post and thanks for any insight you can provide.
