Ford Service Dept. Damaged My Mustang BIGTIME!

[Ron Jeremy]

I really do have a very good relationship with my dealer. I have my own Ford mechanic at the dealership who ALWAYS works on my Mustangs and who I trust. He is one of the senior ASE certified mechanics at the dealership. Whenever he works on my Mustangs he is very meticulous. The damage was not done by him. It was done by another mechanic at the same dealership when I brought in my Mustang for them to take out a nail in my right rear tire. The service guy had one of the young inexperienced mechanics fix my tire because my own mechanic was ties up doing a big repair job. Plus, I didn't make an appointment to let my mechanic do the repair. I walked into the service department in a rush for them to fix the tire because I needed to drive my car and couldn't wait. I also didn't want to let the tire go completely flat.

I am going to bring my Mustang in on Monday morning to Ford and have them take a look at all the damage and see what they can do to fix it properly. If they can very carefully hammer it back into place and correctly primer and paint it, I will be happy. What I am afraid of is that they might do a sloppy job repairing something like this because it is located under the car. I don't want there to be any overspray anywhere on any other parts underneath the car which are not associated with the location of the repair. I will tell them myself that I want them to be very meticulous about the way that they do the repair. I am pretty sure that I will have to bring my Mustang to the body shop which my Ford dealer uses. They are a private body shop located in my area and they are not owned by the Ford dealer. I don't know whether or not this body shop has a good reputation, but I do not have my own body shop. I wouldn't know who to go to here in my area. There are so many body shops here that I don't know who is good and who is bad. So, I think that it would be in my best interest to use the local private body shop in my area which the Ford dealer uses for all their body work repairs on their own vehicles. I don't know of any body shops or anybody out here who can refer to me a body shop which is reputable that does superior quality work.

 

[Wikkdgt]

I actually bent my front driver side pinch weld. I didn't use the factory jack, but used a floor jack in the same spot the manual states to place the scissor jack. Mine bent outward due to the weight of the vehicle and because I used the wrong jack. When it bent outwards it also pushed out my rocker panel about a 1/4 of an inch. Big time eyesore. Anyways I had to bend it back with some pliers and then removed the bent plastic pushpin that holds the panel on and replaced it with a nut and bolt. Now you can never tell it even happened. I won't put the floor jack there anymore. I get a 2x4 block and put it on the floor jack and push it further under the car to find my jack point. No problems anymore.

 

[Ron Jeremy]

The exact same thing happened to the pinch weld seam on the right rear side of my Mustang right in front of the right rear tire tread. The painted plastic rocker panel moulding on that side is also bent outwards together with the pinch weld seam. There are many black plastic clips that hold the painted plastic rocker panel in place which are tacked on the to the pinch weld seam underneath across the rocker panel. My rocker panel moulding does not look like it's pushed outwards. I have to take a closer look at it when it's daylight outside to see if I have the same problem as you do. The passenger side pinch weld seam is also damaged, but it is flattened upwards into the rocker panel in about a 4" to 6" inch area. But the painted plastic rocker panel moulding looks like it's undamaged. It is pushed outwards right at the location where it is clipped on to the pinch weld seam where the black clips are attached to it.

I am not sure, but I think that if my car goes into the body shop that the bodyshop technician will have to take off the plastic painted rocker panel moulding OFF the car in order to fix the badly bent pinch weld seam on the passenger side. I hope that they also put a brand new black clip on one location of the plastic rocker panel moulding. The black clip that looks like a tack is the only clip which is bent outwards. All the other black clips on the plastic rocker panel moulding seem to be intact. I don't want the technician to do a mickey mouse repair job and just bang out the bent pinch weld seam without first taking of the right side plastic rocker panel moulding. Plus he has to probably repaint the pinch weld seam after bending it back into shape. I don't want to get overspray on the rocker panel moulding while the pinch weld seam is being repainted.

 

[Bone Racing]

wow...good job ford

 

[drb81]

I hate to say it too but a FLM dealer bodyshop will just bend the pinchweld back to vertical with nothing but a pair of seam clamp style pliers and give it some quick paint. a bent pinch weld is not a huge issue

 

[Ron Jeremy]

I just want them to fix the bent pinch weld seam correctly. That's all. They will have to bend the one that's on the passenger side back into shape and paint it. They will have to take the painted plastic rocker panel moulding off to fix it because the plastic rocker panel moulding is also damaged. The moulding is bent outwards together with the pinch seam and one of the clips on the moulding is ready to come off because it angles outward and the pinch seam is pushing it out. I am not sure whether they have to put a brand new rocker panel moulding on and repaint it or if the original rocker panel moulding is no good anymore from being bent outwards. I am not sure if they can re-clip the original one back on without it being warped and getting loose. I will have to address this to the Ford dealer when I see them on Monday.

I don't know about the damaged pinch weld seam on the driver's side though. That one is crushed upwards into the rocker panel. The damaged area is about 4" to 6" inches in length. How are they going to pull that pinch weld downwards and back into shape again? It's crushed upwards and is shriveled up? Does anyone in here know?

 

[Ron Jeremy]

Anybody?

 

[Ron Jeremy]

Does Anybody in Here Know?

Do they bang it out the damage or do they bend it out or do they pull it out? What types of tools and machines are involved in fixing this type of damage? Will my vehicle have to be up on a special type of lift while the bodyshop is repairing the damaged pinch weld seams underneath the rocker panels? If so, what type of lift? I am curious to find out the answers to these questions because I want to be sure that the bodyshop will use the correct procedure to repair the damage on my Mustang. Thanks.

 

[billyfe390]

Any number of dollys or hammers will do it. All they have to do is bend it down and paint it. They probablky wont take the ground effects off because it is not neccessary. Just relax and dont worry about it remember it is under the car in a place where nobody will see it. It is best to let them do their thing and dont try to tell them how to do it.

 

[mrvax]

Ron, Ford will probably deny doing any damage, but I have an idea for you to try.

A few years ago I used to oil paint and streched and made my own canvas and frames.
I used a tool available at art supply stores that could grab the canvas over a large 3" area while streched it for stapling.

It's metal and heavy duty. I think you could grab and bend about 3" of that seem at a time. Give it a try and PM me how it worked out. Good luck.


Side view:

 

[cybore]

The seams are currently painted the color of the car. The bent and crushed seams on my car currently have paint damage to them. . . . I am afraid of overspray all over the place under my car and on the side of my car. There are cables, an exhaust system, and some other metal and rubber parts under the car ( like rubber floorpan grommets, metal cables and rubber hoses). I don't want them to get oversprayed with paint and look bad. If there will be any paintwork done to the undercarraige, it must be done correctly and neatly.

I can't help it. I've got to say it. I never thought a guy like Ron Jeremy would be concerned with 'overspray'.

 

[jadesville]

I can't help it. I've got to say it. I never thought a guy like Ron Jeremy would be concerned with 'overspray'.

Ron, Ford will probably deny doing any damage, but I have an idea for you to try.

A few years ago I used to oil paint and streched and made my own canvas and frames.
I used a tool available at art supply stores that could grab the canvas over a large 3" area while streched it for stapling.

It's metal and heavy duty. I think you could grab and bend about 3" of that seem at a time. Give it a try and PM me how it worked out. Good luck.

They would have them at michaels wouldnt they? i have a relative looking for something like that

 

[Beau]

Ron, Ford will probably deny doing any damage, but I have an idea for you to try.

A few years ago I used to oil paint and streched and made my own canvas and frames.
I used a tool available at art supply stores that could grab the canvas over a large 3" area while streched it for stapling.

It's metal and heavy duty. I think you could grab and bend about 3" of that seem at a time. Give it a try and PM me how it worked out. Good luck.


Side view:

i used a part almost exactly like that when a similar thing happened to my car. it worked just fine

 

[Ron Jeremy]

What do you call that particular tool? And where can I get it? There is a national franchise arts and crafts department store in my area that sells canvases and tubes of oil paint for oil painters. Do you think that they would also sell this tool that you are talking about?

On Monday I am bringing my Mustang to Ford so they can look at the damage and tell me what they are going to do to fix it.

I think that I will also need a brand new plastic passenger side moulding. The current one is flexed and bent outwards together with the pinch weld seam. It is clipped on to the pinch weld seam by black plastic clips that look like tacks. I am not sure whether the current plastic rocker panel moulding will stay flush once the pinch weld seam is repaired. It might pop the plastic clip off from being flexed outwards and not regain its original straight shape again. It might not stay on the rocker panel and bulge outwards becaue of the flexing that has occurred. If the part of the plastic rocker panel is not parallel with the pinch weld seam, it will need to be changed with a brand new one.

 

[mustangman2000]

Ron,
I hate to sound like a jerk, but I think you are making a mountian out of a mole hill. You thread title stated that Ford damaged your Mustang BIGTIME. Relax dude, it happens all the time! I'll bet 90% of Mustang's seams are bent. Your car is not ruined.

 

[Ron Jeremy]

I've mellowed out and calmed down since I found the damage.

 

[billyfe390]

I've mellowed out and calmed down since I found the damage.

God I hope so.

 

[Ron Jeremy]

I've got GOOD NEWS! Ford will fix and repair my Mustang at their expense.
I brought my Mustang into Ford Service today and they put it up on the lift to assess the damage that they done to my car. Form the looks of it, the pinch weld seam on the right rear section of the car is badly bent outwards. And the plastic painted rocker panel that's attached to the pinch weld seam has flexed outwards together with the bent pinch weld seam.

Plus, the pinch weld seam on the driver's side on the front left section of the car is crushed. On top of that, the bottom part of the left plastic fender wheel well covering next to the pinch weld seam is misaligned and pushed downwards towards the ground. It looks like it also got damaged from when the technician put my car incorrectly up on the lift.

I am going to bring my Mustang to a private bodyshop next Monday for them to fix all this mentioned damage. This private bodyshop is the one that my Ford dealer uses for all the bodywork for their own vehicles. They are a very small shop. This particular bodyshop specializes in repairing Fords. I have done some asking around and I am being told that they do meticulous and excellent quality work. They are going to fix the pinch weld seams and repaint them. They are also probably going to order a brand new passenger side plastic rocker panel moulding. The current one has flexed too much and might not have a tight fit onto the pinch weld seam once the pinch weld seam is bent back into it's original position and repaired.

They will also repair the driver's side pinch weld seam that's crushed. And they are going to repair the botom part of the plastic fender wheel well covering which is misaligned and out of place. This is a small separate wheel well peice that's attached to the regular large wheel well inside the front left fender. They may have to replace this piece as well if the bodyshop technician detects that it's torn on the inside where it clips/bolts on to the pich weld seam.

The bodyshop will also have to spray some thick rustproofing material on the bottom left rear corner of the rear wheel well right above the pinch weld seam. There is some black rustproofing material that's peeling from this area above the pinch weld seam which needs to be fixed.

And lastly, the Ford dealer is going to give me a free loaner car to use while my Mustang is in the bodyshop being fixed.

They said that the body work which is needed to be done to my Mustang will take only 2 days to do. My Mustang will be ready in only 2 days from the day that I am going to bring it into the bodyshop. I would like to know if you people in here think that 2 days is a sufficient amount of time for the bodyshop to do all the work that's required which I mentioned above to fix all the damage to my Mustang? Do you think that 2 days is a RUSH JOB? Do you think that 2 days is too quick to be repairing my Mustang with the current damage that it has to it? I would like to know your opinion about this. Thanks.

 

[Beau]

i would think that a good skilled body guy could do the job in 2 days provided they have the necessary parts. just closely inspect the car when you get it back i guess

 

[Ron Jeremy]

My personal Ford mechanic is going to personally go to the bodyshop to show the bodyshop technician all the areas where there is damage on my car. He wants to make sure that the bodyshop doesn't miss anything. He wants the bodyshop to be thorough with all the repairs and body work.

I'm going to buy my mechanic a very nice gift for his quality service after my Mustang is repaired. I just hope that everything goes okay and that my car will look just like it did when it came out of the factory after they do all the bodywork repairs to it. I'm hoping for the best.