73 weak frame ?

[Klaus Friedrich]

Hi everybody,

a friend of mine got a really big problem today.

Last winter we did a body-on restauration on his 73 coupé. There were no problems to see - no rust on the frame or something special there.

Today he raised the car on a hoist to take a closer look to the front wheels and the body cracked from the windshield corner to the upper door hinge on both sides! The split between the doors and the fenders was double wide as normal. What happened? He lifted the car as described in the manual. The location of the hoist arms are OK. Using a jack under the front axle, it was possible to lift the front to the "normal" position by app. 1 inch.

Is it possible that the frame gets "weak" ??? What can we do to prevent something like that in the future?

Any help is welcome

Klaus #33362

[Jack H.]

Re: 73 weak frame ?

A 'typical' malady is that somewhere in the car's past history, the windshield was replaced and the glass installation job was 'botched'.... Instead of using all the factory original sealants (a JUNGLE if you look closely at the AIM) around the glass, header and side reveal moldings, shortcuts were taken.

Then, as the car was driven, rain water went to upper/outer corners of the glass, found point(s) of entry, bathed critical components of the body's birdcage and finally 'puddled' on the upper side of the birdcage at the front windshield uprights + along the upper sides of the sill plates.

Over the years the bird cage rotted out and sometimes this deterioration progressed through the bird cage itself onto the upper frame rails. Pre-sale inspection for this malady is a major component disassembly! Repairing this sort of damage is a NIGHTMARE (bird cage component swap, frame swap, Etc.) but CAN be done. However, it's NOT inexpensive and requires a labor of love....

[David H.]

Re: 73 weak frame ?

I have to agree with Jack, the only thing that can open the top suround from the door at the top would have to be the cage or "maybe" the riveted and bonded peices that hold the top of the suround to the cage. If these rivets, which are alluminum rot then the whole corner could pop loose from the bird cage due to the downward weight of the front end.
Raise it up again and look in the gap with a small mirror and see if the cage is allright and if the peice is popped loose from the cage. David

[David H.]

Re: 73 weak frame ?

Adding; I think you can see this area inside the car in the extreeme upper corner and I beleive you can see the rivets, look above you fuse box or remove the pass. dash and insulation. The rivets may still be there even though broken, but some may have pulled through leaving the holes expossed.
You may be able to re-rivet and re-bond these peices back down after some cleaning. The part you will see inside the car is the cage I beleive so you can check for rust at the same time. David

[Klaus Friedrich]

Re: 73 weak frame ?

Thank you very much gentlemen ...

I think there will be a restauration after the restauration ... Winter is coming ...

Klaus