Topic: How much damage is too much damage?
Quick question for a FNG and his newbie team. We're looking at a few cars and have come across some good deals on cars that have been written off from an accident. We're looking at one that looks like the guy rear-ended someone at a slow-ish speed and a trailer hitch turned the front bumper from an I into a V. Looking at the rules for the crash structure states...
3.4.2 OE Crush Structures. Modifications that reduce the size and/or effectiveness of OE crush structures—including but not limited to shortening or removing frame rails or unibody structures outside the wheelbase—are discouraged in the strongest possible terms. Cars with compromised OE crush structures are exceedingly likely to fail tech. Non-OE replacement crush structures are not an acceptable substitute; you and your stick welder ain’t NHTSA.
We're reasonably confident that we can pull the crash bar/bumper out enough to re-straighten the end of the frame rails and bolt on a new OE (obviously) crashbar. Will this be acceptable or will we fail tech if the judge catches a whiff of a wrinkle in the frame? We've looked around a lot and we've found info ranging from "Any damage to the frame/frame rail is an instant DQ!" to "Here's a write-up on how to straighten out the frame on your Lemons car with a tree and some chains." so we're a little uncertain.
Thanks for the help.