My '83 has frame damage! Is it totalled?

[rustblueguy]

Hey folks, a month back I had the pleasure of sliding down a very steep and icy hill here in Spokane, WA and had to ditch hard into a tall curb to avoid sliding into busy cross traffic below. The good news is i stopped, and didn't hurt myself or anyone else. Bad news is i heard what sounded like shattering glass/metal. Limped it a mile to a body shop who told me the "frame" is bent 2" in on the right wheel side. (btw, I don't know next to nothing about frame repair).
They quoted me at $500 to pull it out and align the front end, and $300 more if the suspension thing is bent.
Also, the wheel is bent (amazingly, the tire is still full!), and possibly the suspension assembly thing too.
My main issue is i don't have that much extra cash (i work pt at a bakery, and am a full time student). My quandary is i had wanted to really fix up my beloved Tercel. I literally just finished replacing the timing belt tensioner and the whole plastic timing cover, and next i was about to replace some leaking axle seals, and install new suspension all around. I hate to just junk the car!
Main Question:
Does anyone in the Spokane area have a frame shop/frame puller thing, or know someone who can fix the frame for less than $500- like maybe half that?
Honestly, this is the last thing i thought i'd have to worry about fixing, and adding it onto the other (relatively minor) Tercel work that needs to be done, i am considering just getting rid of the car.
Any help/advice is much appreciated.

[Petros]

Sorry to hear that, sounds like studded snow tires might have been a wise investment.

That Tercel is still worth fixing, and you likely can do it yourself for much less. You just need a "come-along" hand winch, perhaps a large jack, a few steel cables. find something solid to tie the frame to with the cables (tree, bumper of a large heavy truck, telephone pole, very large concrete block, etc.) and than pull on it in the correct direction with the come-along to make it go straight. That is all a frame shop does. The whole trick is to make sure you understand which way to pull it. As long as nothing is torn or buckled you will be good.

I have also attached a cable (with blocks of wood and heavy padding on the car end) to the bumper of a large truck and pulled on the car to straighten it. Sometimes it takes a couple of good "jerks" to pull it out all the way (I am always good for one anyway). The FSM has a body section that gives important measurements to check for the frame being straight, make sure you check it out.

Any parts that need to be replaced you can get from the local wrecking yard cheap, not hard to replace most of the suspension yourself. You just need a jack and some hand tools, a pry bar is also useful. Some frame shops will remove the suspension parts before they start pulling on the frame. Not usually necessary.

YOu can do this with some help, not that hard, you just need to be creative, and take it slow, and check the measurements so you do not go too far.

Good luck.

[Lil Beast]

Well I'm about a 2 hours drive from you got everything you might need, but I don't make It thru the border . If you can still drive it up here I'll be glad to help for cheap, Petros gave you pretty good instructions on how to do it, wouldn't be able to explain better, don't know how well equipped you are in tools but you don't need much more than a basic tool box(hammer, little ratchet kit, pry bar(anything long and strong enough works) , and a good come along), if so it's your cheapest bet fairly simple to do , you should not spend more than a day maybe two depending on what's to be done. Maybe post some pics of the damage so we can inclined you better on the subject. If you don't have tools at all, maybe find someone to do it for cheap, but 500 is more than enough to buy what you need to do it than you still have some tools for future.

[takza]

I've done this kind of work on the cheap. You do need something solid to pull on...I once used a 6x6 fence post to pull from...to the point that the other side of the car was almost off the ground. HOW? By carefully placing a 4x4 near where the chain or cable is pulling from on the stationary object...that way you are mostly pulling against the 4x4 and not much on the stationary object. Need to be sure the 4x4 is on a solid part of the frame and have the pressure well distributed so you don't bend the wrong area....usually near or on the xmember is best. You might need to over pull it some due to springback. It takes a good bit more pull to get things back into shape than you might expect.

[LittleRed4wd]

Does your car pull to one side when you drive it? I got lucky when my old T4's frame got bent (well as lucky as you can be with a bent frame) and the car drove normally except for the fact the wheel was always turned to the left to compensate for the frame that was pushed to the right. It drove totally straight and was perfect to drive until I got my other car going. So that could be an option for you if you can't get it fixed right away, though I'd get a new rim if yours is bent.

[tobiastercel]

If you need any help I am just up on the southhill near the super1.
I don't have much of a shop but i would be glad to help you do some troubleshooting.
Interestingly enough, my last tercel had that exact same problem (same side and same amount) soo strange

anyway I also have a set of stock wheels as well
let me know if you want to stop by

[celtglen]

W/o pics it is hard to tell what a 2" bend in the frame looks like or what is actually damaged.

If you don't know there is a crossmember on the frame which is the hold down place for the steering rack (and other things like bushings whatall). They are VERY hard to come by but you can take it OUT to be welded quite well IF it is in decent enough shape for a weld shop.

See if you can get the car hoisted on a rack high enough to take some digi pictures (with flash) and post them here. I had my front end completely repaired last Sept and it wasn't all that bad.

CG
83-84 (Nov 83) 2WD automatic. 309+k miles and running fine.