Why not to buy a Salvaged Car

[SVX92-97]

Well, its been almost three years since I bought the red 96 Lsi with a salvaged title from the infamous loser Buck Jones aka Geno Marchetti Jones. As you recall at the time I mistakenly bought this vehicle on ebay, the seller stated that it had one time salvage history, but that it now had a clear title. Well we all know that couldnt be further from the truth. Thanks to SVX-FF, Steve Smilewicz (hope I spelled that right) and his Dad, I was able to get a clear Maryland Title, which I then registered in July of 07 and got a clear Connecticut Title. Anyway, my car has been down at Svxfiles house the last three weeks getting some routine maintenance done, and Tom brought to my attention the hack job that was done on the pass. side frame rail that was repaired from the accident the car was involved in MD, in 2003. I had never seen the repair, and assumed it was fine, since the car drove and handled fine. Take a look at the photos of the pass. side frame rail where it was snot welded and rusty. I have been talking to Tom the last few days and he and or Jerry (subi-crosser) are going to shore it up as best as possible. I was talking to a local body shop person whom Ive known for 10 years, and owns his own body shop. Before he opened up his own place he worked for Subaru dismantler, and all they did was take subies apart and put them back together. He goes on to say that the right way fo fix it, would be to replace the whole frame rail all the way back to the firewall, but this would cost thousands of dollars (which I dont have). Thats what you would have to do in CT, and Im sure in most states if it had to pass inspection. As I said earlier, I registered the Car in CT in July of 2007, and in June of 2006 I got a clear MD title (no rebuild) thanks to SVX-FF's Dad, otherwise I would have had to spend thousands back then in order to register it in CT. I just can believe the rotten people that are out there like Buck Jones doing crooked stuff everyday. I just wanted to share this with everyone who has followed this story from way back. We put about 10k miles on the car since last summer and it drives and handles very well. Thanks Tom for bringing it to my attention. Here are the gory photos.

[LetItSnow]

I watched three of the four "SAW" movies, but this really ooks me out!

[lechnoid]

Wow, I was able make cleaner welds when I was in the 9th grade!

[redlightningsvx]

Those welds look like chicken $h!t. I bought mine with a salvage title and found out somebody hacked up putting the pass side rocker on. thw welds were rusting from the inside because they never etched primed them and the rocker never lines up with the body plug hole so they duck taped them. I cleaned up and rewelded the welds, etch primed them,primed them,sealed, them.They also never put any of the floor sound dampening back in too which pissed me off because I have to buy some and install it. Anyways for your situation Find someone who can use a frame machine and a welder and it should only take about 4-5 hours to fix this. Easiest way is to pull the motor and do it. Good luck getting this taken care of.

[It's Just Eric]

the proper way to repair that involves ALOT of time. your friend is right, the rail should be taken back right to the firewall. Under no circumstances is it a 4 hour repair

[crazyhorse]

IF everything is straight, one could scab on some 1/8" plate, and be stronger than stock. Grind down the original welds, weld each piece to the base metal, then to each other.

This is by no means the proper way to do it, but it's one way to make the current repair permanent.

[redlightningsvx]

Originally Posted by It's Just Eric

the proper way to repair that involves ALOT of time. your friend is right, the rail should be taken back right to the firewall. Under no circumstances is it a 4 hour repair

We just did an 08 Tribeca frame rail all the way back in about 4-5 with the motor out at work.

[SVX92-97]

Thanks for all your suggestions guys. Tom said everything appeared straight, even the distance between the wheels. Like I said, if I had the money, I would take the rail all the way back to the firewall. Im gonna have to settle for cheaper easier way and just have it shored up better. The car handles perfectly, and tires are wearing normal. Im very grateful to Tom for bringing it to my attention. Thanks again OT.

[It's Just Eric]

a frame rail job, sure, it CAN spend 4 hours on the frame rack. you can pull a rail in 4 hours, no problem, and you could "repalace the rail" in that time too.. but to complete the entire job...uninstall and renstall the engine, subframe, ac recharged, remove and reinstall fenders, wheels, suspenson components...cut out the old rail and damn near everything attached to it,weld the new one in place, etch the welds, paint the rail, and reassemble everything....

Unless you had like, 11 guys and a time maachine, I dont think thats happening in 4 hours


So...to answer your question, if it isnt causing any other issues, the only thing to worry about would be A: rust on the welds and B: structural integrity in an accident. If the first bit bugs you, just take a wire brush to the area, pick up some self etching primer (Some car parts stores actually carry it)...dust a few light coats on, and spray some undercoating over it

[Evil One]

Holy ****!!!
Butt welded without a scab plate?!?!
I have seen/done some hasty crap work on throwaway cars but damn... you ALWAYS scab over **** like that even when doing it on the quick/cheap.


Jim

[redlightningsvx]

Originally Posted by It's Just Eric

a frame rail job, sure, it CAN spend 4 hours on the frame rack. you can pull a rail in 4 hours, no problem, and you could "repalace the rail" in that time too.. but to complete the entire job...uninstall and renstall the engine, subframe, ac recharged, remove and reinstall fenders, wheels, suspenson components...cut out the old rail and damn near everything attached to it,weld the new one in place, etch the welds, paint the rail, and reassemble everything....

Unless you had like, 11 guys and a time maachine, I dont think thats happening in 4 hours


So...to answer your question, if it isnt causing any other issues, the only thing to worry about would be A: rust on the welds and B: structural integrity in an accident. If the first bit bugs you, just take a wire brush to the area, pick up some self etching primer (Some car parts stores actually carry it)...dust a few light coats on, and spray some undercoating over it

Yea I know what your saying but I seen them put it on the frame machine, measure it, puull it, cut off and re weld in new one, measure it again, and paint in that time. The whole process of body parts and other things take longer iI agree but just the rail itself isn't that long. The guys I work with have 30+ years in this and do it fast and good. I'm sure if you know someone who could pull the motor and subframe and such for cheap that taking the body panels off yourself would save some cash.

[SSSVX]

Congrats to your discovery,
But it's better to know now rather than sorry later,
these suck, have to more careful to buy a r-title next time
svx still handles great even with this problem?
good luck for the fix

[subi-crosser]

Originally Posted by redlightningsvx

Yea I know what your saying but I seen them put it on the frame machine, measure it, puull it, cut off and re weld in new one, measure it again, and paint in that time. The whole process of body parts and other things take longer iI agree but just the rail itself isn't that long. The guys I work with have 30+ years in this and do it fast and good. I'm sure if you know someone who could pull the motor and subframe and such for cheap that taking the body panels off yourself would save some cash.

We measured it all ways and found 1/8 inch differance front to rear and 1/4 inch going diag.. This is within tolarance.

I have been 'clipping' street rods with great success for 25 years and doing frame repairs since '78'.
There was a state inspector that used to send me a lot of frame work. He would re-check them for a while. I replaced the rear floor,frame rails and spring mounts on a Camaro that he sent up. The guy took it back and Ray grabbed the paperwork and started writing. The guy asked if he was going to LOOK at it?? Ray said, " You took it where I sent you,didn't you?" He said "Yes", Ray told him that he didn't NEED to check it then...

The method I recomend on this car will involve opening up the bottom of the frame and seeing what is INSIDE, make the necessary repairs and 'fish plating' the outside with 1/8 inch using 'stitch' welds.
The plates will be cut in a diamond shape and extend several inches past the butt welds.
The engine will stay in and it will be stronger there than any other part of the frame.
This is how it is done on 'shorty' dump trucks and mobile home 'Toaders'. ( I have build some of those too)
The worse job I ever saw was a 69 Benz. It had the afore mentioned chicken droppings and the tin parts were SCREWED and tar was smeared on it!!
Second worse was a Jeep. PICS
Note aluminum flashing and tar hiding rusted spring mount!! I repaired this one in feb of this year

[zukiru]

so don't buy a salvage car unless Jerry is available to work on it!

[subeman90]

I hate to see hack jobs but I will say it could be worse and I have owned worse frames in my life. "it will buff right out"