I just bought a 71 chevelle with what is supposed to be 14K original miles. I think it true as the interior/motor are perfect and everything is there and works great.

Someone had done some body work to it in the past as usual here in NY.

My question is with the frame hehind the front tire. The passenger side is boxed behind the front tire and the drivers side is not. Neither side is rusted and the drivers side still has the factory round holes in it there are not distorted at all. Is the frame different from one front side to another? It is a factory 307 2 door Malibu?

Any input would be appreciated.

When you says boxed, how far back are you talking? {Convertibles only} had the middle section of the frame boxed (both sides); this was from about the front of the door to the middle of the rear seat (give or take).

The front rails that hold the engine, back to about the cowl area (where the door starts), should have four sides (square tube). If not, I think somebody did some surgery.

With my convertible (gotten from New York, no less :D ), some knucklehead welded plates on the bottom of the frame (obviously trying a quick fix), covering up the body mount bolts that connect at the cowl area.

Guess how fun that was getting those last two bolts out! graemlins/angry.gif

If you get a factory assembly manual, it will show exactly how everything should look.

Crankshaft