Sob dealer

ONLYTONY

ONLYTONY

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Just got the grill and plate frame back in the 95. While pulling the jack stands I found quite a problem. It's bad enough I have an anti freeze leak, a exhaust leak, and then I found this (see pic ) It seems the dealers 20 year mechanic is not that good. To me it seems like one of the arms of the lift was'nt in the right place. I think this will hurt the structure of the car. Lets hear from you real auto body men so I can have lots of knowledge when I go back on Thursday.(Tommorows DR day ) I took the pictures in a hurry I was a little upset. Oh yea the grill came out nice. I think I'm going to start with the general mgr.They did this to my car and never said a word SOB'S Thanks TONYyyy

Lift dam.jpg


lift dam2.jpg


LIFT dam3.jpg


LIFT dam 4.jpg
 
did you talk to the dealer about the problem? They obviously need to take care of the cost of getting it fixed.
 
Thats not from a lift, that car has nailed a curb or something hard in the road.
Lifts don't create that kind of force, and it looks like its been lifted several times by the pinch weld
 
pinch weld

I've been lifting at the front of the pinch weld for 14 years but always in the same place just to change tires. It seems they would have screwed up more stuff hitting a curb, but anythings possible with these idiots
 
that sucks but its not gonna hurt the structure or strength of your car its jsut a little sheet metal
 
I can't tell what I'm looking at in the 2nd pic (and I'm on my phone), but some time spent with a stud welder and a few hammers and dollies and it would look pretty good again. Id go at the pinch weld with a pair of sheet metal seamer pliers, grab em and just tug the pinch welds back in place. Do it all the time on Mustangs.

Edit nevermind. I see what I'm lookin at in the 2nd one. Yeah if it bugged ya that bad, take the carpet up and beat the schnozz out of it. Looks like passenger front area if I had to guess?
 
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That IS from an improper placed lift pad..same exact damage was done to my old Thunderbird when I brought it into pep boys once to have them change the end links..got it back and the pinch weld was all crushed in that spot..IF you're going to lift it from those spots you're supposed to lift it from the farthest forward and farthest back part of the pinch weld in the area where the tire jack goes (this area usually has double thick sheet metal to add rigidity) otherwise any other spot is weak and won't support the weight of the car and usually bends..looks like they put the lift pad too far in and it crushed part of the floor and bent that seam outward. Like someone else said its purely cosmetic though..shouldn't weaken anything. I'd still be pissed though, but what can they do to fix it..Id watch what they do if they say thy will fix it..I guarantee they will attempt to pull the dent out and wrench on that pinch weld to get it back into place and end up f*cking it up even worse.
 
Ok

I've had this 95 for 14 years and it's never seen a dealer. Last car 74 T-BRD 21years never seen a dealer. Keep your health and keep fixing them yourself.
Youth is wasted on the young and money is wasted on the old :D
 
OnlyTony, sorry to break it to you...but that car has been jacked up incorrectly with a floor jack, by the pinch welds time and time again. Most mechanic shops always use lifts.

You have two areas of damage in those pictures. The lower part of floor/unibody... the wide rectangular non structual pieces with the oval rubber grommets and the thin pinch welds (the flanges) that hang down about 3/4".

The pinch welds being smashed or chewed up has no affect on structual integrity at all. The unibody thats smashed up with the long gouges will not affect anything much either and cannot be fixed by hammering down from inside the vehicle, you will still have the visual damage.

Unless your doing heavy auto crossing and using those points for subframe connectors, which on the mark viii you dont or entering your car in a magazine where they take pictures of the undercarriage...it doesnt matter. There is nothing wrong with your car, its only visual.


Sometimes installing subframe connectors require beating pinch welds or other under sheetmetal up flat enough with a hammer to install the subframe connectors, anyway. As mentioned though, this is not the case on the mark viii, on a mark vii because its built like a foxbody you do have to beat up some sheet metal to install the subframe connectors...i've got done it on both mark vii's and viii's and am very familiar with the undercarriage of both.

You can not damage the pinch welds like that on a lift, it happens from improper jack use.

Unless when the dealer put the grill on it was on the ground (not on lift) and the guy was using a floor jack without looking, and lifted the car up and down over and over the dealer is not responsible at all, in any means, whatsoever.

You cannot damage the sheet metal like that on a lift unless it slipped off, even then that type of damage is doubtful, it looks like you hit something in the road. If you were to use a lift on that spot it would push up the entire area, similar to how it did but minus the gouges.

You never, ever, ever use these areas to lift the car. You use the structual part of the unibody where the metal lines are in that one picture. Located further in, close the the exhaust. Much beefier and designed to lift the car. Those areas shown, are not. That is why they are damaged...Improper lifting.

If you jack up on the pinchwelds ONE time with a lift or a jack on the pinch weld it will damage it. They are not designed to lift the vehicle UNLESS you are using the factory jack with the U shaped connector OR have a adapter on your lift or floor jack, again, with the U shaped adapter then you can lift up from AROUND the pinch weld as much as your heart desires with no problem.

your damage shown is definitely a floor jack, lifts tend to fold them over and not "split" and chew the metal apart like that

sorry but i highly doubt the dealer will do anything and I dont blame them, you just so happened to notice AFTER they worked on you car....i see cases like this all the time....all mechanic shops do.
 
jack

I do lift with a floor jack and have bent the pinch weld at the front and at the rear. I use the same spot every time, and I do it to change summer and winter tires one wheel at a time. I would never try to jack it from the middle. I did that on a Mustang and the car bent in the middle. I was under the car the day before I took it in to the dealer and it was'nt like that. Good idea maybe the test ride went bad and they got stuck on something and had to jack it up to free it. I'll see what they have to say tommorow. Ran out and took pics left side pinch weld.

pinch weld.jpg


pinch weld 2.jpg
 
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With the multiple impacts from what appears to be multiple angles, along with the scratches peeling away from the impact points, I'd bet that the damage was done while the car was in motion (hopped a curb, ran over large debris, etc.). That does not appear to be done by a lift.
 
The primer appears to be kinda fresh... I can't say what done it though. As for jacking it up, not understanding why the frame isn't being used and not the body. Maybe it was test drove by one of the workers and it went over a curb. The scratches came from somewhere and they are in a forward motion.
 
Thanks

Thank all of you for your knowledge. First thing tommorow it goes in the air for inspection so they can get the ok from ford. I'm bringing some of your posts so they know what real people think. When they get it for repair I'll get a loaner. I asked for the Shelby 500 sitting there, but they said no. You guys are helping me keep my cool and I thank you TONYyyy
 
Ford did the same damn thing to 2 out of my 3 Tbirds! I was sent a letter from the stealership regarding a free inspection they were offering (for cars purchased from there), so I ate the bait and let them inspect it, and they DID use a floor jack for the first part of the inspection too.

My pinch weld was folded over in some spots, but the area that is dented upward near the body plug like in your pics is what really pissed me off!! I lifted up the carpet and padding on my Tbird as shown in the pic (got the car in 1997 in High School), and went at it with a hammer and got it straightened out most of the way since that car I wanted to be as close to perfect as possible, and took that car regularly to shows/meets, drag strip, etc..

I was never able to get Santa Monica Ford to admit to it, on both of my MN12's... You would think with how much the stealership gouges on the prices, that they would at least care for these cars much better than a Pep Boys or Midas would! I handled all the maintenance, repairs and mods on my cars ever since!

I bought my Mark VIII like this though - pinch welds on both sides, all dented up and folded over... in fact, on the drivers side towards the front of the car, the pinch weld faces outward now, and towards the back on the same side its folded inward!

On my Mark though, I think its a combination of having some jack-asses working on the car, along with the previous owner's wonderful driving skills! :D

FYI - the pic was taken after rebuilding literally everything on my suspension with polyurethane bushings, new sway-bars with custom end links, 97 front and rear spindles and cobra brakes, rear disc conversion, and tons of other goodies... I had temporarily put the car back together with Monroe sensatrac shocks, and stock springs to run it for a month or two (which is why it was sitting so high up) before throwing Koni's on with H&R springs. A little off subject, but I know someone is gonna tell me my car looks strange so I thought I would explain... :rolleyes:

TbirdLX_347.jpg
 
back

Back from the auto body shop Ford OK'd the repair but nobody knows what caused it.:confused::confused::confused:
 
ONLYTONY said:
Back from the auto body shop Ford OK'd the repair but nobody knows what caused it.:confused::confused::confused:
Click to expand...

What is there to do to "repair" it? Beat the dent out and bend the pinch weld back? I don't see them doing "body work" on it to fix it or cut sheet metal out and reweld new stuff in..there really isn't much paint on that to begin with either. Kind of a bad area to get damaged, cause if you aren't picky and specify you want it fixed properly chances are they will half ass it.
 
gets better

I finialyfound the right mgr.This morning per body shop no loaner. Now there will be one waiting for me. He did'nt even know about the problems I've been having. Wait untill he sees the pictures I sent him. He seemed concerned when I told him they tried to charge me $18.00 for a gasket that I supplied that I got retail for $4.00 He said he loved the MARK VIII's and could'nt beleve I also have a CE. We'll know more Monday. They said they'll bang it out, primer and paint. They know I'll get under it and check. Another lump in the road of life.
 
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