2G Bent frame/unibody rails. Can this car be saved?

[Joe Gekko]

I've attached a picture of the unibody reinforcement that runs directly under the driver's seat. As you can see, it's nowhere near straight, and it's so bent up that there is a mound inside the car in the driver's floorboard. I have to assume that some body either drove the car up onto something or tried to jack it up from the floorboard at some point in it's life. There is another stoved in section of railing on the passenger side, behind the front passenger seat, but it's nowhere near this bad and doesn't seem to have affected the floorboards inside the car.

Is there any way to repair this kind of damage, and flatten out the floorboard again? The only thing I can think of would be to cut out the bent rail, hammer down the floorboard, and weld in a section of reinforcement.

Anybody have any experience with this sort of thing? How did you fix it? Or is this it time for a part-out?

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[Terrj]

95 talon tsi and i have the same issue, its a dsm thing i guess

 

[mitsumikey]

My body guys made quick work of replacing mine but more due to rust. I did have some dents pulled closer to the front where they left them alone

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[Teezy]

My body guys made quick work of replacing mine but more due to rust. I did have some dents pulled closer to the front where they left them alone

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What would something like that cost?

 

[mitsumikey]

What would something like that cost?

This has been some fkin nuts expensive labour. That bit of it probably wasn't a big deal compared with what they've done with the rockers, firewall and strut towers. I tore it down tho and I ll build it back up again. Gotta pay to play they say. 60 an hr there a few hundred hours in now. (Canadian)

 

[mitsumikey]

I think the fab for the metal bending was under 100 pretty simple forming and measurement

 

[pksystems]

Um, from the pics, yours looked undamaged. Hopefully you didn't make them too strong. I believe they are supposed to crumple in a collision.

 

[mitsumikey]

Um, from the pics, yours looked undamaged. Hopefully you didn't make them too strong. I believe they are supposed to crumple in a collision.

I have been considering that fact, but its not done yet, still need to fab up line brakets ect. There were some Swiss cheese rust holes going on so they figured with the rust inside too better off replacing them and I agree. Not sure they need a built in crumple zone yet, we ll see. Definately stiffened the chassis up a fair bit but there should be enough crumple spots I haven't forgot about that

 

[Joe Gekko]

My body guys made quick work of replacing mine but more due to rust. I did have some dents pulled closer to the front where they left them alone

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Wow, I would love to get my 2 DSMs stripped down and on a rotisserie like that. These cars are getting old enough that it doesn't seem like a totally ridiculous plan for restorations or resto-mods...

 

[mitsumikey]

Wow, I would love to get my 2 DSMs stripped down and on a rotisserie like that. These cars are getting old enough that it doesn't seem like a totally ridiculous plan for restorations or resto-mods...

This was my first car and I ve had it 10 years now. I thought of it as preventative maintenance, probably did this just in the nick of time to save the chassis too! these things are getting harder to find. especially a true proper VIN GSX. And the community is already encountering lots of discontinued parts and that scares me. Gotta preserve all we can! Its a pricey ordeal though haha

 

[Dreamboat]

Hmm... Don't mean to bring this back to life, but I began to take apart this 99 RS I bought, and when I peeped the undercarriage I saw the same exact shape on my rails. Looked like it hit a speed bump or jumped on a curb. I went around looking for replacements and found OEM's for $65, but 'm wondering now if that's the way they come from the factory? It's literally identical to yours. I should grab some shots and post it later. Again I apologize for resurrecting this thread.

 

[Joe Gekko]

Haha, it's not factory but it's such a common issue it might as well be. This spot in the floor is just very prone to bending if people jack up the car there (and since it looks like a reinforced spot, a lot of people try it).