What's bent on my car?

[Ribbedroof]

Bumper shocks are pressurized and oil filled..it's possible that due to age, it may have "stuck" when pushed in. Best bet would be to try bumping it with a 3 pound hammer on the plate where it attaches to the bumper reinforcement.

The door split because there is a large unsupported area at the front, and the inner and outer panel are just spotwelded. The design of the G body allows a lot of flexing there, especially if people are careless about opening the door all the way carlessly, or wind catching it, etc. Yours is an extreme case, but I've seen lots of them with lesser damage from the same thing.

There should be no shims on the door hinges. Something is not right, and I'm going to bet that the pillar and/or hinges are bent from the above. Shims are a shortcut that will aggravate the situation over time, usually causing the shell to crack around the shims due to insufficient surface contact area.

 

[el_sonoma]

From what I can see in the pics, it looks to me like these are three separate deals.
The front bumper looks pushed in on the right, so this might bring the left side out a bit.
The header panel and fender are pushed in obviously, if you take off the headlight door, the header is probably damaged.
The front door was maybe bent by backing up with the door open, hence the shims and splitting. The panels should be welded up if they haven't been already.
The tire rubbing I don't think is related, I think there are stops that can be adjusted, unless it's excessive.
Just my opinion. Ron

 

[Cutlass3800]

That's funny - I thought the bumper fit was perfect on the passenger side and too far out on the drivers side. It never even occurred to me that the passenger side was pushed in. I will measure both bumper shocks tomorrow. The bumper that on is there now is straight so I think I'll try dropping the bumper and hammering on the bumper shock itself.

After reading the responses, I double checked the drivers door and I had it totally wrong. The shims I saw in the door jamb were for the fender and were not on the door hinges. 😳

Before painting, I was going to remove the door handles and locks so I'll make preparations to have the spot welds inside the door redone at that time too. The two halves of the drivers door have definitely developed some separation.

What about the tire rub though? I don't think my tires are oversized (are they?) so that rubbing on the sway bar is indicative of a problem right? In thinking about it a bit more, I realize that the body position on the frame wouldn't have anything to do with it since the tire isn't rubbing on the body and the steering/suspension is all connected to the frame. The rims came with the car, but are fairly new. They aren't multi-fit rims so what are the chances that they're offset? I will look through the service manual for information on steering adjustment stops.

Thanks for all the information and advice guys!

 

[custom442]

The door looks fine to me. It doesn't look like structural damage at all. Either someone was trying to fill/cover up rust or someone made an oops with a saw when trying to remove some trim. Who knows. Sand down around it and check for new metal/bondo work. Also check the door from the inside (take door panels off) for any big rust spots or what could've caused someone to weld up that spot.

"the inside and outside of the door kind of flex"
...I don't quite understand. Is it rusty inside the door? or could it be braced from the inside?

Bumper stuff is easy, take the front end apart and line everything up with a hammer, reinstall.

Tire rub you'd have to check, just have someone turn the wheel and crawl under, maybe the wheels need a little spacer.

 

[shotgun]

There is alot going on with the front end of that car.

What do the p/s gaps look like?

Spend an afternoon with a tape measure and a factory frame diagram.

With a friend and some string you can get a good idea of how square the car is.

I'll bet the car is tweeked on the P/S front corner.

I would not spend a dime on the car until you know you are building on a good foundation.

 

[custom442]

I would not spend a dime on the car until you know you are building on a good foundation.

Ya, it could be something much worse than bumper shocks

 

[Cutlass3800]

I would not spend a dime on the car until you know you are building on a good foundation.

I crawled under the car at lunch break today and measured the bumper shocks - they are both the same length. Both looked as though they might have been compressed at one time, but it's hard to say for sure. What's interesting is that on the drivers side, there are two metal spacer plates between the bumper shock and the bumper. There are no spacer plates on the passenger side. If I took out those plates or just put one on each shock mount, the drivers side of the bumper would probably sit even with the passenger side.

I'll do some of the frame measurements this weekend and see if it's all cosmetic or if something is seriously wrong. If it is serious, somebody knew what they were doing in hiding it because all the panel gaps look good and everything opens and closes well.

 

[el_sonoma]

I really find it hard to believe the frame is bent.
The shims you have found are factory installed probably. You can remove then if you like .
It's hard to analyze from pics, but maybe the left front damage is farther back than suspected.

 

[81_2dr_bu]

the shims for bumper should be one on each side ,,, i have read where people drill holes in the bumper shocks and release the oil then compress them and finally weld them its done for a bumper tuck with fiberglass bumpers would work with metal bumpers the other idea you could always shim the bumper shock to bring it out wont obviously fix bent areas but will look reasonable G/L

 

[TBRtat2]

imo check the sway bar to see if it is centered in the frame. it may be shifted to the pasenger side.