[arubastang]

Allright , here it goes...

For 5 months now I've been the proud owner of a 1999 red convertible v6 right here in sunny aruba. My first mod , a true dual exhaust ( h-pipe and flowmasters ) . I was going to get the car to the bodyshop this coming week for a complete paintjob when two days ago I hit something like a sawed off flagpole wrecking my crossmember ??? and oilpan and oilpan pickup. I also blew my airbags in the process ( this happened at a speed of aprox 25 miles/hr ) Now here's my problem, the local forddealer wants to charge me some $6000 ( including new bags ) for repairs , that's the best estimate they can give me but I'm not convinced that they even know hat there talking about, I've been looking around on the web for parts ( $50 average for an oilpan and $ 200 or so for a crossmember ?? ) My question is what is a crossmember ? ist the same as a K- member ( only thing I know is that the ? member sits right in front of the oilpan ) and is all this really that expensive???

I would appreciate a nudge in the right direction , I'm fairly new to stangs and all, but I really love driving my car and it hurts me that it's now sitting in a garage where they can't even help me...

thx in advance for your replies

greetz from aruba

Jorge "arubastang" Estrada

[Cricket]

The chassis crossmember

Originally Posted by inner auto parts The chassis cross member is usually a heavy gauge piece of sheet metal that is bent into a convoluted channel shape. It is mounted onto the bottom of the chassis, and keeps the transmission firmly secured at the end where the drive shaft begins. On some cars, the cross member is removable. On other cars, it is part of the body shell.

http://www.innerauto.com/Automotive_...s_Crossmember/

Hopefully that is what your talking about. Can't be much help besides that. Hopefully this helps you out. Welcome to MM. Hope you can figure your problem out. Someone is bound to chirp up with better info than me.

[00SoSlow]

repacking bags and what not is real exspensive... and labor charges will kill ya

[3.8Coastie]

larbor is most probobly where they get most of their $6000... the rpice sounds outrageous to me. i used to do body work and ive never heard of a pice like that for anything close to what you need done... id definitely get a couple more opinions about that before i get the work done

[arubastang]

Thx for the replies, i allready contacted some of the guys from the aruba muscle and mustang clubs and they also are looking into my problems. The thing is aruba can be paradise but ya just can't walk into a shop and buy stuff because they simply don't stock it ( and if they do they charge huge amounts ) Now..can this chassis crossmember be replaced by a tubular K- member or are they totally different parts??

Greetz