Chassis Accident Damage, Repair/replace?

[Elanman99]

In a minor road accident the RHS front wheel of my S4 was pushed backwards bending the upper and lower wishbones and twisting the top part of the chassis turret so that in plan view the upper and lower bush mounting pins are not parallel to each other.

The chassis is a totally rust free low mileage Lotus replacement unit and is stove enameled. The accident damage is confined to the top 3 or 4 inches of the turret and I estimate the twist to be about 2 to 2.5 degrees. None of the painted finish is stressed or cracked.

Any opinions on how repairable this is?

Ian Phillips

[steve]

ian i can have a look at it for you but can't prommise anything ,maybe able to jig it ,but it would have to be a bare chassis ,just straightend and lazer aligned a westfield and a caterham so it maybe possible call me at work !

[milestricks]

There are certain auto repair answers that needs a good clarification first before deciding. A big advantage of a new chassis is that it can be laid alongside the old one and parts transfers one by one so for me you should replace it. But if your in a tight budget rather repair it now.

[jimj]

Far and away the biggest cost will be stripping everything off the chassis. Unless you want to spend many, many hours doing it yourself it sounds like a significant insurance claim, so you may as well claim for a new chassis. As said in the previous remarks, it would be so much easier to transfer components, item by item, that it may actually be cheaper.
Jim