How nice is the rest of the car? Is it worth fixing right or do you want to make it look and drive OK for less money?
I got hit in the front end on my 1983 Celica GT-S and the insurance just wanted to total it out and pay me next to nothing for it. I have thousands of dollars in the engine and suspension work, so I cut a deal with them for most of the money for the total and keeping the car. Once they took photos of the repair, they even re-insured it. I was able to re-align the suspension thanks to adjustable camber/caster plates on the struts and adjusting the length of the drag link (strut rod, whatever they call it there) to bring the wheel base on that side back in spec. You would need to move around the upper A-arm mounts (slots shims etc.) and possibly the lower A-arm as well. Once I got the suspension right, I then had to slot the bolt holes on the front fenders to move them to line up with the doors and hood. Then I got a bumper and grill from the junk yard and shimmed them to line up. If you look close, it is not perfect, but it drives better than ever (never took that much care aligning it before) and from a short distance it looks fine. My car is mainly for auto cross racing and at speed noone can tell.
Gary M.
