Topic: Frame Straightening in Bay Area?

I'm looking for a Lemons friendly collision shop near the Oakland / Hayward area that will be willing to work on our hooptie.  Will travel further if needed.  All the shops I called don't want to take this on.  Probably due to liability or not enough money to just straighten the frame and do an alignment.

The damage was to the front left tire being pushed back into the driver footwell.  The a arm is bent and the sheet metal is caved in by the driver footwell. No creases in the frame etc. 

Anyone know of a good shop?

Thanks in advance!

2 (edited by gunn 2017-10-19 11:25 AM)

Re: Frame Straightening in Bay Area?

shaymus wrote:

I'm looking for a Lemons friendly collision shop near the Oakland / Hayward area that will be willing to work on our hooptie.  Will travel further if needed.  All the shops I called don't want to take this on.  Probably due to liability or not enough money to just straighten the frame and do an alignment.

The damage was to the front left tire being pushed back into the driver footwell.  The a arm is bent and the sheet metal is caved in by the driver footwell. No creases in the frame etc. 

Anyone know of a good shop?

Thanks in advance!

Dave Montoya recommended Steve Mashore of Mashore autobody to me after a menace in an out of control Soltice rear ended us in a yellow two years ago. Steve had done a similar repair to Dave's supra.

Steve is a fellow Lemons racer and understands that you want something safe but not cosmetically perfect (that's what the lowes house paint is for). While it was there, he also helped me with towing it to/from their shop in Brentwood and while it was there had aguy swap the front windshield that was well and truly cracked (my alternative would have been towing costs AND/or paying a premium for mobile glass replacement). Since i don't own my own trailer, it would have cost me the same/more to rent a trailer + gas twice twice (to do pickup and drop off). it's a family business (his son did the dropoff and Steve handled the pickup).

You can reach him at mashoreautobody@yahoo.com
Even people who bring their "real" cars to him like him on Yelp. https://www.yelp.com/biz/mashore-autobody-brentwood

Regards,
-g

Myopic Motorsport's #888 Ceci n'est pas une Citron Thunderbird ("This is not a lemon" but a 1995 tbird w/ 93 V8 swap + shopping cart rear wing + engine mounted frito maker)
2017 Sears Pointless Organizer’s Choice
Frito Making Tbird from 2018 Sears Pointless Engine Heat BBQ - http://goo.gl/csaet4

Re: Frame Straightening in Bay Area?

I don't know if they are still in business. I called many times and get a voicemail every time. Have not been able to get through or received a return call on any of my messages.  Anyone have other recommendations?

4 (edited by Throttle Monkey 2018-01-28 09:49 AM)

Re: Frame Straightening in Bay Area?

East Bay Frame and Axle in San Leandro. By the Oakland airport.

I used to take my enduro car to these guys. They do great work. Couple hours of shop rate and the car will be dialed in.

5 (edited by fschlottau 2018-02-12 10:43 PM)

Re: Frame Straightening in Bay Area?

We did it ourselves. Your mileage may vary depending on car and amount of damage, but inspection during and after the race led me to believe it worked pretty damn well. I found the frame specs for e36 online, which gave me various measurements (diagonal and straight across). The trut tower was back 1” and inboard about 2-3”.  We pulled it forward and out, and left a bit of camber which we matched on the other side w washers between strut and spindle. Pulling was done by tying car to 3 or 4 points w j-hooks and other, and then backing up truck and “fine-adjusting” w hydraulic puller.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uvB0FQjVYSI&t=1m30s

Damage stemmed from previous owner running into a parked car.

Cheers