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Is my unibody trashed?

ColoCherokees

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Littleton, CO
Sometime early Easter morning, some drunk sideswiped our '92 something fierce (hit and run, probably never get cought). Both driver's side doors are crunched in pretty bad, rear won't open at all. Rocker is untouched, B-pillar seems unaffected, behind the front door, anyway. But, the area between the front of the wheelwell and behind the rear door is smashed in a good 2-3 inches.

Is this area just part of the quarterpanel and non-structural, or is it part of the structural unibody? It's not worth the time/money to attempt any repair, but I'd like to try to sell it for at least a few dollars and want to be honest about the integrity of the vehicle's structure. Thanks.

Matt
 
Can't answer without seeing it. It's very possible that the unibody "frame" got twisted but theres also the possibility that it isn't. It would be unlikely if it took a pretty hard hit that it wouldn't twist at all. Have your insurance adjuster or a body shop look at it.

From what you're saying, it sounds like it'll probably get totaled anyway. Body repair isn't cheap.
 
Insurance isn't an issue, we only have liability on it, but even with full coverage, I'm positive it would be totalled (its got 240K miles on it).

Mostly, I'm just trying to decide how to get rid of it, and get a little cash from it - thought I'd see if anyone knew or had experience with this part of the body.
 
Any prior damage is going to affect the final settlement you get from your ins. company. And after all is said and done they may cancle your policy and it will increase your premium. is it worth the added cost. God forbid you have to deal with ALL-SNAKE! I had to and they screwed me.
 
"Totalled" is an insurance term. It doesn't mean that damage cannot be repaired, it only means the cost of the repair would exceed the cash value of the vehicle. The same damage that would be repaired without question on a 2000 XJ could easily total a 1994 XJ.

Unibodies can be repaired, by a shop with good frame jigs and a good welder. I know a guy who "converted" his 86 V6 XJ to a 4.0L by sawing it in half and grafting on the entire front half of an 88. Compared to that, cutting a C pillar out of a donor and grafting it into another vehicle would be a walk in the park.

The C pillar (the door post behind the rear door) is structural, to answer your original question. If that's been bent, the structure has been affected. In fact, if any door won't open the structure has been affected. There's really no part of a unibody that is NOT "structural" -- that's why it's called unibody. If you intend to sell it and want to maximize the money you get -- it's probably worth about three times more if you part it out, compared to just selling the complete vehicle.
 
Sorry about your luck..

BUT....

Why not just keep it and wheel the crap out of it.?
It's already got some body damage, so you can be a little more care free with it.

Just a thaught.
 
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