Am I screwed :(??

[Rob_In_MN]

So, I finally got the car home that I bought this winter.  Got to pulling all the crap out of in and it looks like the car was cut apart at one point.

So, I measured from hub to hub on each side and they different by 1/2 an inch.  A friend of mine was telling me that if they're not spot on I'm pretty much looking at anything up to and including cutting the car apart again.  That's way beyond my skill level.

Did I waste my money?  Any other things I can check to confirm whether or not it's straight enough to use?

[Bullitt-]

When my car was only 6 years old I was getting a front end alignment & the mechanic told me one side was off about 1/2 inch. There was nothing to be done at that point except for him to do the best he could. I never experienced anything I could attribute to the problem. IF you want it fixed a Frame Machine could probably work out that much & true everything wheel wise. 

[Chryco Psycho]

the car will not track straight although the alignment can help , the easiest fix would be to shim the front leaf spring mount on one side to correct it as much as possible

[Super Blue 72]

 Goofy idea....I would be curious if the problem could be corrected by shifting the rear end some on the leaf springs?   Is that what you were talking about, Chryco?

It's been a while since I've done any alignments but the angle the rear axle makes to the centerline of the car (lenthwise) is called the Thrust angle.  If the rear axle is not perpendicular to the centerline (90 degrees) then the car will not go straight down the street, aka "dog legging". 

When you do an alignment, the Thrust angle is the first thing you check as the front end alignment and geometry is based on the relation of the rear axle to the front end in a RWD vehicle.  That's what makes the car go straight down the road.

You measured from hub to hub, make sure the rear axle isn't shifted forward or backward on the leafsprings.  Make sure it's not the components hooked up to the frame that are out of whack rather than the frame itself.

Can you take some measurements using locations on the frame instead of the hub areas?  How are the door gaps, etc.?  If the frame was off that much wouldn't the panels have some gap issues?

I wouldn't cut the car apart again, IMO....

[Rob_In_MN]

The doors don't fit right either, but I thought that was due the hinges being shot.  I'm really leaning towards parting it out.  The floor is worse then I thought.  I just think the car can be made right.  I can post some pics of it.  Maybe someone can bring it back, but I think it's beyond my skill level.  I've only done a little bodywork on my thunderbird and that's it.

I got this car, and an 1970 parts car for 2k, so I would think I can get my money out of them.  I think I'm going to start looking around for another 72 (believe it or not, my favorite styling year).  I'll probably post something in the "cars wanted" section. 

Rob

[MEK-Dangerfield]

Rob,
  What makes you think the car was cut apart at one time? Weld marks on the frame or something? Super Blue 72's suggestion is interesting. There is a little node, or spike on each rear leaf spring that must fit up into a hole welded on to the axle. I find it hard to believe someone would screw that up, but you never know.  The tell-tale sign would be one rear wheel sitting further back in the wheel well than the other. It's a long shot. Can you post pics? It definitely sounds like you got a car that you can get the money back out of if you decide to part it out.

  Mike

[Bullitt-]

Just a thought, my dad hit a bad hole in his '63 Dart & knocked the rear end out of whack. It wasn't so bad you could tell just by looking but it ran just a little bit askew.

[Oldschool]

Before we throw out the baby in the bathwater here, why don't you make triple sure that the car WAS cut in half.  If it was not, then maybe there are some adjustments that can be made and get it make close enough to line up and drive.  It may never be perfect, but I've seen new cars that weren't perfect.  Get with a couple of professionals you trust that can properly analyze the problem and then go from there.......       ....Oldschool

[Rob_In_MN]

Well... I had a guy who's job it was to restore cars for years.  he pointed out where it had been cut.  How I managed to miss it I'm not sure (might have had somethign to do with it being half buried in snow...  Anyway, I've come to terms with it.  I'll use the parts I can off of it and then see what's what. 

I am going to put the one good fender i have back on this weekend and line that up with the hood and see if I can get the doors to line up and all that fun stuff.  If they do it will a) surprise me and b) make me reevaluate my decision to part it out.

[Super Blue 72]

Definately don't part it out unless it's the absolute only option.  Like you said, see what you can do to make things line up/look right. 

1/2 isn't too bad.  Sorry if I missed this in the posts somewhere but has this car been up on an alignment rack yet?  Is the alignment out of whack so much that it can't be brought into spec?

I've never done an alignment on one of these cars nor am I familiar with the front end geometry but does the front upper control arms have some adjustment/compensation for the caster angle?  I know that you can only adjust so much but every little bit helps. 

I've played with some GM front ends  way long time ago and there were shims that you could tinker with and with the right combination you could get the upper control arm/upper ball joint to move forward, thus changing the caster angle and subsequently the wheel base from hub to hub.  Not much but it might help.