take a look at the attached pictures. what is the best tool to use to cut the frame (the part that is damage).

http://www.angelfire.com/folk/lilman.../cam_0129?i=10

 

plasma cutter??

 

A Sawzall will work for that.

 

My personal "steel-cutter" of choice...

 

Just curious, what are you trying to do? (I know, fix the car) If you're planning on doing that yourself, I hope you know what you're getting yourself into. With that kind of hit, you've got some frame straightening to do. Most likely you've got some sag in the frame that's not going to be fixed by just replacing that sidemember.

 

I was going to do it myself, I didn't think the hit had any affect on the frame.

This is my first time doing this, so do you think I can't or shouldn't do it myself?

I was going to cut the part that is damage off and replace it(I ordered the rail assembly from Ford).

 

I am not trying to be an A$$ here, but if you need to ask what to cut it with I already think you are in over your head. I give you credit for wanting to learn but you are into parts of the car it is best to let experts deal with.

You really need to have a frame shop look at that car to make sure it does not have some serious damage. Just because it doesn't 'look' like it doesn't mean there isn't.

Good luck

 

Oh, don't do it. You don't want to mess with the impact worthyness of your frame with a bad weld job.

You would be better off having a collision center do the repair for you.

 

contact svpu the people that built psh for brad orcheck out their site, they have an 03 gt that they did. They said they used a genius guidedd laser. Most collision people wont tuouch a job like that. It has no value and people wont buy it after, so if you are doing to sell dont, if you are doing it to havew a sweet ridee its going to cost you some cash. If your not a metal worker dont do it!

 

I agree- a collision shop would be the way to go- but my 2 cents for cutting sheetmetal, the best Ive found was those cheap 1/16 cutoff wheels from harbor freight, stuck in a 4 1/2 inch electric grinder- it dont bog like an air tool, and it flies thru sheetmetal almost like a plasma cutter, but the sparks are a little more predictable...just gotta be careful not to bend/break/explode the disk at 10000 rpm...ive went thru a lot of them, never broke one yet- keep out of plane of rotation anyway
best thing is you can drill spotwelds and cut thru one layer without damage to second layer if youre careful- possible advantage to plasma...the biggest thing I dont like about plasma is the 'overspray' tends to fuse onto wherever if hits, some hollow sections, that can be hard to clean/seal to prevent rust- grinding dust easier to vacuum/blow out when done...Fiberglass reinforced disks= wear a mask- dont breathe any of that crap.

 

+1 Exactly what I was getting at, but I didn't want to be an A$$ either. There's too many things going on there. Frame damage can mean alignment problems and tire wear for the rest of the cars life if it isn't fixed. If a weld is done bad in that area, it can delay the airbag timing. What that means is that instead of the bag popping as you start to come towards the wheel, the bag pops right as your teeth make an impression on the wheel.
I totally give anyone credit for undertaking a project like that. I wouldn't want to see someone learn on a vehile that's got a lot of life left in it and will likely be hauling around a family and in another accident before it meets a scrap yard (again ).

 

with a grinder you can also use a thicker wheel for cutting the thicker metals, such as the frame, not just the sheet metal. If you have any firefighter friends see if they can use the car cutters for you, a hurst tool would work well, Ive cut many people out of cars before.

 

alright, Im not going to do it myself. I already ordered the part (see the pdf file attached)... should we replace the entire assemble rail or just the section that is damage? (the part number is 16054B and it comes with everything with a $ next to it)

This is not my first time working on frame... I have a 93 Mazda MX6 that I did everything myself.

But yo are making it sound so bad... I will let a pro fix it.