How hard is it to Straighten out the Front Frame Rail and/or Core Support?

RED2001GT

Dirt-Old 20+Year Member
Mar 18, 2003
270
2
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I think that I found out WHY I've got a gap between the top part of the passenger headlight assembly unit and the front pointed part of the front fender. My car was hit on the front bumper and I got it fixed at a small local bodyshop who doesn't have any state of the art measuring equipment. They fixed my car, but when I got my car back, there was a 3" inch to 4" inch long and a 1/4 to a 1/2 centimeter wide gap between the passenger side headlight assembly unit and the front pointed part of the front right fender. The bodyshop made out like they didn't know what caused the gap. I just found out that the front rail might be pushed down a bit causing the headlight to have a gap with the front fender. If it's not the front rail that's causing the gap, then it might be the core support. The front rail and/or the core support might need to get straightened out to correct the gap problem.
I need to find out how much this will cost and to find out whether or not any paint work will be required to do this type of repair? I know that the front bumper will need to be taken off my Mustang to do the repair, but what else is involved? How much do you think that it will cost to straighten out the front rail/core support and to put the front bumper back together again? I am hoping that I can get all of this repair work done at a Maaco for under $300. What do you think?

I need someone in here to take pictures of the front rails and of the core support on their Mustang and post the pictures in here for me. I would like to know exactly what they look like.
I have a 2002 Mustang V6. It's the V6 which has this problem.
 
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we need pictures brother. post em up!

There are no pictures to post because the front frame rail and core support are all covered up and hidden by the front bumper. I am not able to get to it. The only thing which you can see is a small gap between the passenger side headlight assembly and the top pointed part of the right front fender where the headlight unit sits in. I believe that this gap is there because the front frame rail and/or the core support is out of whack.
All the bodywork that was done to my car was only really cosmetic. There was not much damage to begin with. The front bumper was taken off and repaired. There was nothing else behind the front bumper which was damaged. The only other thing that was wrong was that the bumper was pushed in about 1" inch in at the impact area/location just below the hood where the plastic part of the bumper slopes upward just underneath the hood next to the grill. This particular area where the bumper was pushed in 1" inch is the location where the impact occurred. And this was only in the area just above the top edge of the license plate. There was no other damage to the front of the car.
When the bodyshop got thru and finished doing the repairs, I got the car back with a small gap between the top part of the passenger side headlight assembly unit and the pointed part of the right front fender. The gap is only a few millimeters wide and about 3" to 4' inches in length. The headlight assembly unit is basically NOT flush inside the fender like it supposed to be causing a gap to exist.
Again, I think that the gap is the result of the right front frame rail or the core support being bent or being off a bit from the pulling adjustment that the bodyshop did on the front bumper. I was hoping that someone in here might have some idea as to how much work and how hard it would be to make the proper adjustments to the front frame rail and/or to the core support to correct the gap problem which currenlty exists between the passenger headlight assembly unit and the front pointed part of the fender where the headlight unit sits in?
 
That's what I'm going to do. This is really getting frustating. Especially when it already cost me over $700 out of my own pocket to get my car fixed. Now I have to go to find a different bodyshop that "knows" what they are doing to try to fix the first bodyshop's mess and screwup. I just hope that it will not cost me anywhere close to $700 again to do the repairs properly.
 
ok, here we go again.... what you need to do is find a shop with a computerized frame/unibody measuring system. they will charge you 1.5-2.0 hours for a set-up/measure. this wil tell them exactly what the specs are on your car. they can even print you out a copy that will show you which direction and where the structure is damaged. around here, frame time is $60/hour. some shops charge frame rate for set-up, others charge body rate. so, expect up to $150 to prepare yourself. your rates may be a little higher than in my area.
 
If your bumper was REPAIRED and not replaced I would put money on it that your frame rails and radiator support are just fine. Did they put a bumper reinforcement and absorber on it? CHECK YOUR HEADLIGHT MOUNT PANEL. undo the 4-6 plastic clips for the bumper, the 4 philips screws for the bumper and the 4 10mm nuts and pull the bumper off. Pull both headlamps out. Loosen all the 8mm bolts and you will notice you have an almost infinite range of movement within the panel. This will make or break a good repair job. Especially if you got an "aftermarket" panel.

A new ford headlight mount panel should be around 100. Check on yours for stickers. (keystone, TYC, etc) Also if they repaired your fender from the accident and a new hood, they might have repaired the fender without fitting the hood to the car. This could result in the tip of the fender being angled up, making the headlight not fit the way you want.

Typically radiator supports are not measured with a computer. Once the rails are straight. The radiator support slides into place and then the fenders are measured with a tram gauge, for length. Then cross measured for square. Trust me the mustang is made from thick sheet metal, if it was a small accident you're probably ok. If you want to spend the big bucks and get it measured and then pay MORE to get it repaired. Thats your call but try the headlight panel first. And post some pics too, would be great.

Accident pics, after repair. I dont wanna see the radiator support, just how the headlight fits.
 
UPDATE!! UPDATE!!

I went by the local bodyshop this afternoon who originally did all the bodywork and who worked on my car. They told me that the front frame rail and the fender and the core support on my Mustang were NOT damaged. They checked these things when they took everything apart and they found NO damage. I asked them if they measured everything properly and they said that they did.

They told me that the only thing which was pushed in about 1" inch from the impact of the hit and run was the area on my front bumper cover which slopes upward just underneath the hood near the middle part of the bumper exactly next to the honeycomb grill. The bodyshop technician said that the bumper cover in this particular area was pushed in about 1" inch because the header panel behind it was pushed in a little bit with the bumper cover. He adjusted the header panel by adjusting it back to its original factory position via the clips/screws that it's got on it. He told me that after he made this adjustment, the bumper cover was straight again. The bodyshop technician also said that he measured everything and that everything was the correct hieght, length and width. So from these measurements, he was sure that there was NO damage done to the front frame rail or to the fender or to the core support.
He told me that the front frame rail, the fender and the core support were not bent or damaged in any way.

He does NOT know WHY there is still a small gap between the top part of the passenger side headlight assembly unit with the very front pointed part of the right front fender. This is a mystery to him. He said that the entire repair was done properly and that there is nothing more that he can do to correct the gap problem.

From the information which I just posted here, what do you think is causing the gap?
Do you think that the headlight header panel was not adjusted correctly when the bodyshop technician tried to straighten it out in order to straighten out the bumper cover? Do you think that this is what's causing the gap?


One more question that I forgot to ask is:

Can both headlight assembly units be put on and clipped on to the header panel "WITHOUT" having the front bumper on? I figure that if both headlight units are clipped on to the header panel while the front bumper is off the car that the header panel can be adjusted to eliminate the gap that exists between the top of the headlight and the front pointed part of the fender. But I am not sure whether or not that the header panel can be adjusted while the headlight units are clipped on it? Maybe the bodyshop technician will be able to pinpoint the exact cause of the gap when both headlight assembly units are put on the car without the front bumper on. Maybe this will be the only way to see if the header panel is correctly adjusted. Will this procedure be able to correct the gap problem?
 
you can pull the two tabs up that are at the top of the headlight. then there are two proings that snap into the fender. pull forward, and the headlight comes out.
 
you can pull the two tabs up that are at the top of the headlight. then there are two proings that snap into the fender. pull forward, and the headlight comes out.

Okay.
BUT can both headlight units stay clipped on to the header panel and to both fenders with the front bumper entirely OFF the car? I am thinking that if there is a way to keep both headlight units ON the header panel while the front bumper is off the car, that the header panel can be adjusted correctly to eliminate the gap that exists between the top part of the headlight unit and the front pointed part of the front fender.
Can this be done? This is what I would like to know.
 
So what you are saying is that you can adjust the header panel ONLY with the headlight units OFF it?
And then you can put the headlight units back on the header panel to see whether or not the top part of the headlight unit where the black gasket is located is "flush" with the fender? Is this correct?
If the header panel needs further adjustment in order to make the top part of both headlight units flush with the front pointed part of both fenders, then you will have to take the headlight units OFF again and make a re-adjustment to the header panel? In other words, you would have to keep taking both headlight units off the header panel and then putting them back on the header panel each time that you make an adjustment to the header panel to try to get the top part of the headlight units to become flush with the front pointed part of the fenders? Is this correct?

And what about any "height adjustment" that might be needed on the header panel? My passenger side headlight unit has a gap in it because it sits "below" the front pointed part of the right fender. And the driver's side headlight unit sits "outwards" a few millimeters from the front pointed part of the left fender. Will the bodyshop be able to adjust the header panel height so that the right headlight unit moves "upward" in order to fill in the gap and be "flush" with the front pointed part of the right fender? And at the same time, can the header panel be adjusted so that the left headlight unit can be adjusted "inwards" towards the left fender in order to be "flush" with the left fender?
I would like to know if these 2 things can be done to the header panel to eliminate the gaps that are there now?
 
There is "length" adjustment as well as up and down (height). Heres what I would do.

Take the bumper and headlights out. loosen all the bolts so you can move it around. Once you know its loose and able to move, put the headlights back in. Adjust the headlight panel so the headlights sit how you want. Then tighten up some of the bolts near the grille so it will hold your setting. Then double check how they're fitting in there for you. Carefully pull the headlights out and tighten up the bolts under the headlights. Then reinstall the headlights and check again. If you're still satisfied pull the headlights and install the bumper!
 
There is "length" adjustment as well as up and down (height). Heres what I would do.

Take the bumper and headlights out. loosen all the bolts so you can move it around. Once you know its loose and able to move, put the headlights back in. Adjust the headlight panel so the headlights sit how you want. Then tighten up some of the bolts near the grille so it will hold your setting. Then double check how they're fitting in there for you. Carefully pull the headlights out and tighten up the bolts under the headlights. Then reinstall the headlights and check again. If you're still satisfied pull the headlights and install the bumper!

I will definitely do this. I am going to bring my Mustang to another bodyshop so they can do the headlight panel adjustment and to also get my front bumper repainted again. The right way this time.
The original bodyshop that I initially used for the repair and bodywork for the hit and run accident that happened to my Mustang screwed up the new paint job that they just did on the front bumper. They accidently scratched the bumper when they took off one of the headlight units while they were trying to fix the gap problem which they were never able to fix. They tried to fix the scratch that they made by repainting only part of the front bumper "without" taking it off the car. This was the worst thing that they did because they got orange peel paint all over inside and all across the air dam and the fog light holes. They couldn't get the orange peel out with a wetsander and with a buffing machine because the wetsander and buffer cannot fit inside the air dam and fog light crevices where there is orange peel along the bottom part of the bumper. There is currently a lot of orange peel all inside the air dam and all across the bottom part of the front bumper and inside both fog light holes. The only way to get rid of the orange peel is to take off the front bumper and to entirely resand it and repaint it.

How much do you think that this particular entire repair will cost me? Do you think it will be around $350 to $400 max for everything? I am talking about taking off the front bumper, sanding the entire bumper, and entirely repainting it and ALSO adjusting the headlight header panel to fix the headlight gap that exists there now so BOTH headlights will be "flush" inside both front fenders.
Please tell me how much that you think that this entire repair will cost.

Thanks
 
If your ***** is bent it's gonna cost you MUCHO money bro. You better save up. I wouldn't even wory bout' it. How long have you been bickering about this misaligned light for? 6 months? Just fix it if it's bothering you and move on!
 
I already told you in one of my previous posts in here. The frame rails and the core support are NOT bent or damaged. There is NO frame damage whatsoever on my car. The main cause for the headlight unit/fender gap is an improperly adjusted headlight header panel.

Now, I would like to know approximately HOW MUCH the entire bodyshop repair will cost me for sanding and repainting the entire front bumper and for adjusting the headlight header panel in order to fix the gap problem? Please don't go off the subject.
Please answer my question.

Thank You