I'm bent and I don't know what to do!

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cruiser

cruiser

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Hello all: I recently noticed that the lower front of the K-frame on my 1974 slant six Duster has some slight damage. It appears that someone ran the car up against a curb or something, slightly bending up the strut between the lower radiator yoke and the K-frame. The front lower lip of the K-frame also appears to be deformed upward (see photo). I think the lower front edge of the K-frame is supposed to be parallel to the ground and completely flat all the way across. It his correct? And if so, what's the best way to bend both the strut and the front lower lip of the K-frame back to their factory original shapes? All ideas welcome. Thanks!

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If you really want the k frame lip straight, remove the strut from the radiator support to the k frame. Now, take a large adjustable crescent wrench and adjust it so it fits over that front pinch weld on the k frame and straighten it with the wrench.
 
That's pretty normal. There is a little bump in that spot from the Factory
 
I wouldn’t touch it.
But IF you really need to straighten it out….
Wide vise grips. Regular ones are narrow at the jaws front and may do it but the wider ones may help in one shot bending. The narrower jaws may require multiple takes. No big deal ether way.
 
I can’t believe no one said anything about it yet, so I guess I’ll have to fire the first round.
I was afraid this thread was going to have something to do with Peyronie’s disease…
 
cruiser said:
Hello all: I recently noticed that the lower front of the K-frame on my 1974 slant six Duster has some slight damage. It appears that someone ran the car up against a curb or something, slightly bending up the strut between the lower radiator yoke and the K-frame. The front lower lip of the K-frame also appears to be deformed upward (see photo). I think the lower front edge of the K-frame is supposed to be parallel to the ground and completely flat all the way across. It his correct? And if so, what's the best way to bend both the strut and the front lower lip of the K-frame back to their factory original shapes? All ideas welcome. Thanks!

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Well that's it... The car is practically totaled... Tell ya what.. Since I'm a nice guy I'll get rid of it for ya..... :lol:
 
cruiser said:
Hello all: I recently noticed that the lower front of the K-frame on my 1974 slant six Duster has some slight damage. It appears that someone ran the car up against a curb or something, slightly bending up the strut between the lower radiator yoke and the K-frame. The front lower lip of the K-frame also appears to be deformed upward (see photo). I think the lower front edge of the K-frame is supposed to be parallel to the ground and completely flat all the way across. It his correct? And if so, what's the best way to bend both the strut and the front lower lip of the K-frame back to their factory original shapes? All ideas welcome. Thanks!

View attachment 1716058606
Click to expand...

992F10E8-ECC2-460E-B296-D6A25ED88084.png
 
You’re all the best! I’ve been fighting the Influenza A for the last two days but I can always count on y’all to keep my febrile imagination entertained…
:p
 
cruiser said:
Hello all: I recently noticed that the lower front of the K-frame on my 1974 slant six Duster has some slight damage. It appears that someone ran the car up against a curb or something, slightly bending up the strut between the lower radiator yoke and the K-frame. The front lower lip of the K-frame also appears to be deformed upward (see photo). I think the lower front edge of the K-frame is supposed to be parallel to the ground and completely flat all the way across. It his correct? And if so, what's the best way to bend both the strut and the front lower lip of the K-frame back to their factory original shapes? All ideas welcome. Thanks!

View attachment 1716058606
Click to expand...
I've had more than one that looked like it had "Ran Ashore" lol, as long as it's Square, and not Cracked/ compromised, you should be OK.
 
cruiser said:
Hello all: I recently noticed that the lower front of the K-frame on my 1974 slant six Duster has some slight damage. It appears that someone ran the car up against a curb or something, slightly bending up the strut between the lower radiator yoke and the K-frame. The front lower lip of the K-frame also appears to be deformed upward (see photo). I think the lower front edge of the K-frame is supposed to be parallel to the ground and completely flat all the way across. It his correct? And if so, what's the best way to bend both the strut and the front lower lip of the K-frame back to their factory original shapes? All ideas welcome. Thanks!

View attachment 1716058606
Click to expand...
PROBLEM SOLVED: Thank everyone for the replies. I took RustyRatRod's advice and bent it back with a large crescent wrench opened to the thickness of the metal and that took care of it. So I'm no longer "bent" (and definitely not "bent" the way kiwigtx thought!). Of course, curiosity once again got the best of me and I ended up googling "Peyrione's Disease", which was a mistake. This whole thing is my fault due to my poor choice of a title for this thread. I should have used "I'm curved and I want to be straightened out".
 
The k-frame that came outta Krusty, looked like it had been formed by a die that had stamped out 3-4 million parts. Absolute **** quality, from new. Probably sub-contracted at that time.
 
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