Hello -
I thought I'd start a post here as I feel like I'm at a dead end with my car and not sure how to proceed.
A brief history:
At the end of last June, I made a mistake during a hillclimb race and drove my car into some concrete k-rail barriers located at the outside of a right handed turn. 100% my fault. I hit pretty hard on the left front. The damage to the left front included all the bolt on stuff (fender, lights, bumper etc...) some bent suspension (front cross member, a-arm, possible bent left strut) also bent both left side wheels as I ended up with the left side of the car wedged against the barriers. The left front of the tub was pushed in by the battery box/bumper shock, windshield was blown out. . . it was a pretty hard hit.
Fortunately, all the safety equipment (Roll bar, Recaro race seat, 5-point belts, HANS etc...) did it's job and I crawled out shaken, but not stirred.
Further assessment to the tub revealed: the left front fender and hood pushed back against and bent the cowl at the lower left corner of the windshield, the driver's door was pushed back against the top of the rear jamb, there is a new crack in the paint on the roof behind the sunroof opening on the left side, there is a weird wrinkle in the floor just to the left of the pedal box, some of the sheet metal in the front trunk was bent due to the forces from the Rennline 3-point strut bar I believe.
I proceeded to strip the car of the engine, gearbox and all suspension - basically everything bolted to the exterior of the tub, so I could deliver it to a shop w/a Celette bench and someone with the knowledge to use it. The closest one I could find was 5 hrs. away!
So I delivered it to them, stripped and on a dolly to minimize their time (and my bill). After a few weeks, I picked it up, brought it home and started reassembly. My goal was to start by getting it back to the point of being able to roll under it's own power with most everything reinstalled, so I could corner balance and align it - to see if everything was straight.
Well, it doesn't appear to be straight.
I should note that the doors and hood close perfectly - better than before, although the gaps are not 100% - they weren't before the crash either though. The windshield opening was tweaked in the crash out of square and while the shop realized that and made it better, it's still not perfect either as the windshield doesn't seem to fit exactly square in the opening.
My measurements indicate that the left front of the tub is about 6mm higher than the right front.
When aligning it with the old struts (that survived the crash), the LEAST amount of negative camber I could achieve on the left front was -2.0 deg. This was with the strut top positioned all the way to the outside of the adjustment range. Prior to the crash, the was about the MOST amount of negative camber I could achieve with the strut top positioned all the way to the inside of the adjustment range.
So I bought some new struts thinking (hoping) that the spindle was bent on the old ones from the crash.
This helped, but the problem persists. Now the LEAST amount of negative camber I can achieve on the left front is -1.0 deg. So the strut was bent, but something still isn't right.
So enough of the history, where does that leave me? My tub appears to still not be 100% straight.
I have chased this for a long time and it's driving me crazy. I had a really sad summer w/out my P-Car (it actually bummed me out that it bummed me out - that a material thing could make me depressed; or the lack of a functioning material thing. . . )
FINALLY! My question: How close are the tolerances of the dimensions of these cars? I have the factory workshop manual sheets and there are tolerances listed on them - often 1-2mm. 6mm doesn't seem like a lot, but my alignment settings are way off. I see photos from other projects where folks are replacing front suspension pans and other critical components while the tub is on jackstands or on a rotisserie etc... not the most structurally stable platforms for locating critical parts and pieces. I can't see how one could replace a front suspension pan with the car on a rotisserie to a 1-2mm tolerance. I think the flex alone from being suspended on the ends would put the tub out of tolerance to begin with. . .
I think that I'm probably just trying to push aside the reality that the shop I took the tub to didn't get it 100% straight on the Celette bench. My understanding is that it's basically a giant go/no-go gauge for cars. . . but ??
I've thought about trying to find a tub to swap all my (many) go-fast part to, but in a perfect world, I'd stick w/my '74. . .
OK, I'm going to stop rambling now. . .
At the very least, if you made it this far, thanks for listening.
Tom
Here are some photos of some of the areas of damage. It doesn't look THAT severe but. . .
