2G How bad is this? Frame Rail Bent

[Bland-Biscuit]

A previous owner crunched the front frame rail on the driver side. The front of the drip rail on the driver side is bent too. I don't see any other damage, so I am assuming it was a jack or hoist accident. The passenger side looks pretty good, maybe with a slight indentation, but the driver side looks like this:

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I have zero experience with bodywork, so I'm hoping these pictures are adequate. It will probably be a while before I can get the car into the body shop on account of all the deferred maintenance the previous owner left me, .

Does this look repairable? Is it worth worrying about?

 

[turbolover10]

From what I can tell that is very minimal and should have no effect on anything. Like you said probably from jacks or lift, more cosmetic than anything.

 

[NWHTanK]

That isn't a frame rail but more of a floor support.

 

[Dericsh]

No worries, doesn’t affect anything and doesn’t look bad at all compared to some ive seen.

 

[Mech Addict]

My 1g has about that much damage on both center frame rails. I’ve had the seats and carpet out, and there is a little bulge in the floor pan, but not too bad. Seems to drive fine, nonetheless. As I redid my interior, I left the tar sound deadening off the front cabin. So I might fix it at some point, but many priorities before that. Two ways I considered was drilling some holes in the rail and pulling it, or cutting open the floor and pounding it. Either way requires somw welding, and runs the risk of future rust issues, since access ultimately is kind of trapped inside the rail. I’m no body repair man, so perhaps there is a better way.

 

[jed344]

Nothing to worry about and very common to see on these cars.

 

[Mech Addict]

My take, as well. Some p/o was having fun! A testament to the hardiness and capability of the design.

 

[TerminalTalon]

If it aligns correctly you should be fine.

 

[Bland-Biscuit]

Thanks everyone, for the replies.

 

[Widgmaster]

Some times little things like this bug the hell out of us when the rest of the car is perfect .

 

[spyderdrifter]

I got the same problem. From outside, the car is perfect (minus paint), no dents, dings, or blemishes. Look under the car and the same floor pan channels are dicked up plus the floor pan on the back sides of both front wheel wells are dented into the cabin. It's not something most would notice unless you've owned these cars for a long time and can tell there's a bit less foot space.