Often, if your car has damage to the front or rear clip, you may be forced into a fair amount of disassembly so that you can identify the extent of the damage. One area of concern should be the fuel cell as well as the fuel-cell cage at the rear of the car. If you take a hit to the rear of the car strong enough to tweak the metal casing of the fuel cell, Hargett recommends removing the fuel cell before trying to pull the rear clip back into shape. This is because the hit was hard enough to bend something in the fuel-cell cage and tweak the metal casing of the fuel cell. If you tried to straighten it out, it could damage the cell even more. If, however, the fuel cell is undamaged, it is usually okay to try to straighten the frame with the fuel cell installed.
Taking careful measurements is the only way to know exactly what has moved. And the only way that is helpful is if you have already taken and recorded careful measurements before the chassis was damaged. There are often holes on the chassis that the manufacturer put there to help with alignment (such as these where the front clip bolts to the center section of the car, and they are great locations to work from when measuring. | 
This is an important tool in frame repair. It grabs onto the pinch welds that are so common on unibody cars and allows the body man a place to pull from without the risk of tearing the metal. | 
With the tool locked in place on the damaged portion of the chassis, the car can be locked into place on the frame table. Then, by using a bottle jack to lift the car from a solid point on the frame, the damaged portion can be slowly pulled back into place. |
After repairing the framerail as good as possible, Hargett and Mullis turn their attention to determining exactly what caused the change in the wheelbase. One critical measurement here is to measure from the center of the leaf spring shackle bolt to a point on the axle tube on both sides to make sure the suspension isn't damaged. | 
Hargett found that the forward leaf spring mount had been damaged. Pushing up on the mount with a bottle jack helped push the mount back into place, but the wreck had weakened it to the point that it must be replaced. Once that was found and the frame repaired, Mullis was able to take the Nova back to his shop to replace the leaf spring mount and was back on the track. | 
The front cross member provides a lot of rigidity, so in the event of a side hit to the front of a car, the damage will often be limited to the tubing in front of the shock towers, as you can see here in this Mini Stock. |