story: dad bought car from friend who was original owner, originally from cali. we had it shipped here when we bought it. car was taken to dealer for EVERYTHING down to tire rotations air filters etc. if it wasent in her carport it was under a cover whenever sitting overnight. my dads had the car about 3 years now and loves it, has put about 60k on it and has needed less then 1k in repairs/maint. now has around 119k.
fast forward to a few weeks ago, on his way to work he got rearended by an f350, he was doing about 50, f350 about 80-85. car runs and drives fine, got lucky where it was hit as it didnt get any frame damage. dads ok, just sore and wants his car back.
due to age of the car, it got totaled out for just over 4600. we took salvage rights on it and ive started the process of fixing it for him.
how the car ended up after the accident:
tonight i got it all stripped to bare metal, need to get new panel for under trunk, hope to be straighening rest and welding new panel in by the weekend:
old trunk lid stripped and off.
new trunk lid for $75. was gonna get whole parts car but wasent worth it for what we needed.
tomarrow ill be vacuuming and cleaning everything, as well as making room in the garage so its easier to work. ill keep this updated with progress.
^^^oh i know. will probably have to make relief cuts. its pushed in quite a bit. new tail panel for under the trunk lists at 203…not too bad but ill see if i can find cheaper. as for other plans for the car, he wants to keep it pretty much stock and keep daily driving it, atleast for the summer months. some changes appearance wise will probably be made though in the future. for now its just getting it back to how it used to be.
^^^the corner in the jam is near flattened instead of being at a 90, ill know what needs to be done when i start pulling it out. i plan to avoid it but who knows what ill run into. i plan to make a steel template of the one side to match the other on the inside jam, and then when its pulled out enough where its pretty close the trunk lid will be bolted on and lined up and then i will concentrate on getting the rest lined up. but the panel below the trunk will be replaced, but that will be done after the quarter is pulled back into place and the trunk lid is on. kinda hard to explain what im doing without showing it, but ill do that when i get to that point.
and i have access to a slide hammer and port a power. they will both be used, hope everything goes smoothly.
^^^^yes, i drilled out old spot welds, and cut through the areas where they braze and weld the panels at, and then ground off any areas where the old panel still had some metal left. the new panel will be welded in just like the original, but i will be plug welding the holes up instead of them being spot welded. seams that were brazed will be welded as well.
^^^my dad already talked to them about it. apparently due to age no, it will still have a clean title and there will not be any need for inspection or re registration. i thought it was odd but thats what my dad says. i havent paid attention to that part at all, thats all him. im just the one fixing it.
if it was totalled out i don’t understand why it wouldn’t have to go through salvage inspection. for said inspection it shouldn’t be too bad, just $250 fee, tow it to get inspected, and provide receipts (again not really a big deal, they just request receipts to ensure the vin on the block matches the car, etc to make sure no stolen parts)
Interesting. I’ll be watching this thread to see how this car turns out. You hear a lot of people talking about fixing cars themselves after an accident, but rarely does anyone go through with it. :tup:
