[Fady]

My car was in a head on collision with a pole which caused the chasis till after the strut bars to move to the right, left chasis rail is completely crumpled. Body shop suggested I do a cut and shut at about the pedals of the car. There is another option of cutting the front rails only and pulling the struts back into place but he says it'll never drive the same if I do that. Please advise. Also how much will the safety be compromised and can I do anything about it?

 

[dgmayhead]

Surely this is not economically viable.

 

[chrishendrix]

Surely this is not economically viable.

Depends on local costs - he's in Egypt.

 

[Fady]

Surely this is not economically viable.

Depends on local costs - he's in Egypt.

It's very economicaly viable as a used selespeed would cost me anywhere from 50,000 to 80,000 Egyptian pounds while half the car without an engine or gearbox (which I don't need) is about 6,000 and maybe 4-6,000 in labour... So that's about 1,200 euros to fix... Right now I'm more concerned with the safety an whether to cut at the front rail or cut at front passenger floor. A pillar is fine btw

 

[dgmayhead]

I'd guess from a safety aspect the car will never be as strong. Cut and shut has a bad reputation in the UK but mostly because fraudsters try to make a quick buck by not doing a proper job and worse still trying to hide their repairs from potential new owners.
My guess would be cutting at the floor is easier and safer. This is wear there is least structural metal and you remove all the damaged areas at the front.
Be interested to hear what your final results are. When skilled labour is cheap it's amazing what can be achieved.

 

[Fady]

I'd guess from a safety aspect the car will never be as strong. Cut and shut has a bad reputation in the UK but mostly because fraudsters try to make a quick buck by not doing a proper job and worse still trying to hide their repairs from potential new owners.
My guess would be cutting at the floor is easier and safer. This is wear there is least structural metal and you remove all the damaged areas at the front.
Be interested to hear what your final results are. When skilled labour is cheap it's amazing what can be achieved.

That's what I thought, the guy has some really good equipment and has done numerous repairs like this so is quite experienced... I was thinking though, any way bars or a some kind of support to help the structure but still be hidden so it doesn't bother me?

 

[David C]

Depends how much effort the repairer wants to put in.
If you split the cars along the original panel joints, then it will be close to original strength.

 

[Fady]

Okay so if I'm going to cut that way how much car do I need? The half I buy should have the front seats or could it just be cut at the pedals. Btw I'm buying a left hand car from Japan and cutting it and bringing it to Egypt. A guy that deals with second hand parts is getting it for me at that agreed price so how long before cutting is something I can control...

 

[cue2]

Lhd from Japan ?

 

[chrishendrix]

LHD imports are popular in Japan even though RHD versions are available, because sitting on the 'wrong' side makes the 'exotic' import stand out. Or so the thinking apparently goes.

 

[cue2]

I know. A friend who's wife is from Tokyo is a photographer of cars but he knows the people with lhd cars do not like the lens to be pointed in their direction.

 

[David C]

Btw I'm buying a left hand car from Japan and cutting it and bringing it to Egypt. A guy that deals with second hand parts is getting it for me at that agreed price so how long before cutting is something I can control...

OK, that does complicate things a little because LHD & RHD body-shells are different at the front...

If it was the back of the car that you needed it wouldn't matter... but the front..... hmmmm.......

 

[Fady]

U forgot I live in Egypt... We drive LHD here so I need a left...

 

[Fady]

I know. A friend who's wife is from Tokyo is a photographer of cars but he knows the people with lhd cars do not like the lens to be pointed in their direction.

I was suprised to know this to but the guy at the yard that will import it for me said they drive both ways there...

 

[Fady]

The guy at the body shop said that our chassis has aluminium on the inside or something like that and he must use argon while welding, anyone elseknow what that means?

 

[David C]

U forgot I live in Egypt... We drive LHD here so I need a left...

I was thinking that Egypt was one of the African continent countries that drives on the left with RHD cars. Looking now it is basically split at the equator with the ones below using RHD.

 

[Fady]

That's one way to put it... Btw what do u thing of tig welding in this situation?

 

[dgmayhead]

Still struggling to comprehend that this is worth doing to save a 15 year old car. Does it not make more sense to buy another broken 156 with mechanical faults but a good body that can be sorted with bits from the crash damaged car or maybe something with light rear end damage.
I'm contemplating replacing my floorpan but wouldn't know where to start with welding 2 different cars together.

 

[AussieAlex]

Still struggling to comprehend that this is worth doing to save a 15 year old car. Does it not make more sense to buy another broken 156 with mechanical faults but a good body that can be sorted with bits from the crash damaged car or maybe something with light rear end damage.
I'm contemplating replacing my floorpan but wouldn't know where to start with welding 2 different cars together.

By the sounds of it the cars are probably quite rare in Egypt and not all countries have Alfas as cheap as you guys in the UK. For example in Australia they generally go for 2-3 times the price second hand as you guys pay in the UK.

So it certainly could be worth it for the OP as he stated earlier

 

[David C]

By the sounds of it the cars are probably quite rare in Egypt and not all countries have Alfas as cheap as you guys in the UK. For example in Australia they generally go for 2-3 times the price second hand as you guys pay in the UK.

So it certainly could be worth it for the OP as he stated earlier

Yep for him the high price and rarity of a replacement car combined with I expect very low labour rates makes fixing cars far more worthwhile.