I recently bought an 87 se for $500. It sat for 6 years, so I knew there was going to be problems, but I have a shop at my school that I can work on it in. once I got it on a lift and took the wheels off, I saw that both frame rails were rusted out, so I was just going to part it out, but after finding this forum I saw that people were re-building them. I asked my teacher if I should do it, but he said that if I were to be rear-ended the new frame rails wouldn't hold. what have your guys luck been with the re-builded rails? All try and post some pictures of it soon.

Here is a really good write-up of a guy who did a pretty amazing job of rebuilding his rails.

Post some pics so the damage can be assessed.

It's common to cut fiero's in half and stretch them without any real impact to the overall strength (when done properly). Any damage can be repaired if it's done properly.

quote Originally posted by carsandbikes87: I recently bought an 87 se for $500. It sat for 6 years, so I knew there was going to be problems, but I have a shop at my school that I can work on it in. once I got it on a lift and took the wheels off, I saw that both frame rails were rusted out, so I was just going to part it out, but after finding this forum I saw that people were re-building them. I asked my teacher if I should do it, but he said that if I were to be rear-ended the new frame rails wouldn't hold. what have your guys luck been with the re-builded rails? All try and post some pictures of it soon.

Yes picture help...

If the cradle or front cross-member... Replace them is better than fixing.

Car frame... Some here have done that... Sadly your teacher is correct in many cases. Many have no clue why most DIY frame fixes are often bad ideas.
Fix a bad area today only to rust, often fast, in other areas that looked ok for DIYers.
Many times Patches etc can cause many problems in a wreck. If welds and patches hold up... OE Frame was design to fail with "crush zones" to keep the cabin intact as much as possible. Patching often makes the frame stiffer/softer than design and car will lose safety in a wreck.

Carefully watch Fiero Crash tests. (Youtube search, Get download tool and watch locally) You can see some of crush zone in action when you watch frame by frame on the video. Front test wrecks totally trashes the front but keep cabin mostly intact.

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Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Jurassic Park)

The Ogre's Fiero Cave (It's also at the top and bottom of every forum page...)

quote Originally posted by RCR: Depends what you're willing to do. It is quite fixable. My 84 (which saw Michigan winters) had a lot of sidewall damage in the trunk. But, from the strut towers forward, it was fine. As a matter of fact, the car has very little rust considering. I just finished my rails... Bob

I quoted this from another thread I posted in. As you can see, the repair can be done. For the passenger side shown, I used a frame rail from a donor vehicle, drill out all of the spot welds and swapped them. I also repaired the rusted trunk panels.

As Ogre mentions, there are safety considerations that you should keep in mind. But, if we all worried about that too much, we wouldn't be modifying our Fieros.

Bob

[This message has been edited by RCR (edited 11-24-2013).]

Upper frame rails are fixable.
Trunk etc - fixable
Cradle - replace
Lower frame rails - unless superficial (and you said rusted out so not superficial), personally I'd junk it.

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Anything I might say is probably worth what you paid for it, so treat it accordingly!

Dave

www.ltlfrari.com

You can buy a properly fabricated new set from Rubyredfiero.(check your member list) He lives in Canada near Detroit.

Arn