1970 buick electra 225 need help

**phrases4dollars** · 12-31-2013, 01:30 PM

I am purchasing a 1970 buick electra convertible I want to know how can I tell If the car ever been in an accident.....the owners said it never was and they said the only body work ever done on the car was the floor boards however is there any way I can be sure??

**bob k. mando** · 12-31-2013, 02:43 PM

take along a magnet and a thin cloth. wrap the magnet in the cloth and run it over the car. the magnet won't adhere to Bondo.

get right down next to the corners of the car and sight the length of the sheet metal. compare it to the view from the other side. are all views symmetrical right vs left?

are all the doors and hood/trunk seams properly aligned? keeping in mind that this is 60s and 70s GM quality control, so don't be too finicky about this specific point.

get underneath and look at the floor pans and suspension points from the bottom side. does anything look bent or like it was wrinkled at some point?

and, of course, carfax if you have access.

**phrases4dollars** · 01-02-2014, 03:40 PM

thanks for the information can you take a look at the pics and tell me what you think??

**phrases4dollars** · 01-03-2014, 04:58 AM

carfax doesnt go back as far as 1970..........thanx for the info i will definitely try the magnet and cloth......

**bob k. mando** · 01-05-2014, 09:26 AM

looks like the passenger door is scrubbing the RF 1/4 panel when the door gets opened. whether the 1/4 panel or door needs aligning, that's easy enough to fix. you have to have the door open in order to get to the hinge bolts so you'll need either a floor jack or a helper to support the latch end of the door at the proper height while you tighten bolts. the front 1/4 panel, you can just loosen the bolts a little bit and then use a mallet to tap the 1/4 into position, then re-torque.

the question is, why is this happening?

**phrases4dollars** · 01-05-2014, 10:38 AM

to bob k.mando........i do not know why that is happening.....what do you think is the reason?? keep in mind i havent gotten the car up here yet so i havent seen it in person the car was purchased on ebay.....i asked about the door the owner told me she did not notice she said maybe it was sprung at some point....what do you think??

**bob k. mando** · 01-05-2014, 04:26 PM

it could be because they ran into something with the RF of the car so the 1/4 is now out of shape or misaligned. but it could just be that the passenger door needs adjustment. that car is 40 years old, after all.

not enough data to tell and really hard to verify that the car has never been crashed over the internet.