Came home with a new commuter (that I f'd up on day 2....)

LILCBRA · Mar 6, 2026

Since I've moved from Atlanta back to Iowa and my commute has grown to ~50 miles, I started hunting for something that would be better on gas than my Ram. I pulled the trigger on this rebuilt titled car last night for a tad less than asking price. I figure with as low mileage as it is that I could overlook the flawed bodywork and paint on the rear left quarter. I took a fairly good look underneath and it looked good from what I could see. It drove as it should, so I hauled it home. I don't intend on making it a project, but I've said that before....

I don't really have any technical questions or anything, but figured it'd be a good starter thread for any that may pop up.

General karthief · Mar 6, 2026

That is like my Corolla, dependable, good on mileage, fairly cheap to fix.
Drive the wheels off it

LILCBRA · Mar 8, 2026

So I f'd up last night....

I was spending some time taking care of a few things that were bugging me like replacing bulbs with LEDs and making sure all of the lights were working. I took it for a short drive and found that the headlights weren't adjusted well at all. They were essentially pointing at the ground, so I started down the path of adjusting them and the fog lights (which were aimed at the sky....). I got the headlights taken care of pretty quick, but the adjusters for the fogs were orientated wrong - they had them on the wrong sides and held in place with drywall screws. So I pulled it back into the garage, removed them and installed them in their correct locations. I pulled out the automotive screw assortment that I hsve and used 2 more appropriate screws to secure them and went to back out of the garage to realign them when this happened.....

I was looking at the gas can I had in the driveway that marked where I needed to stop and didn't think of my trailer sitting on the opposite side at a bit of an angle, ran right into the corner of the damned thing! This is why I can't have nice things!!

So now I have about $1500 worth of parts and supplies in various shopping carts to fix both the front and rear bumpers as well as paint to fix both this f-up and the crappy repair on the other side. So much for having a commuter! At least for now....

Didn't I say something about this not being another project?!

General karthief · Mar 8, 2026

You do know there are mirrors on BOTH sides right?

nickyb · Mar 8, 2026

That absolutely sucks!!!!
You gotta be pissed the duck off.

Noobz347 · Mar 8, 2026

Jesus... Were you at WOT throttle in reverse?

LILCBRA · Mar 9, 2026

General karthief said:
You do know there are mirrors on BOTH sides right?

Yeah, I didn't look that direction in time, thought I'd clear it as I did the other 2 or 3 times I had the car in and out of the garage.

nickyb said:
That absolutely sucks!!!!
You gotta be pissed the duck off.

^^^ This is an understatement. ^^^

Noobz347 said:
Jesus... Were you at WOT throttle in reverse?

Yep! Gunned it!

Actually no, wasn't backing out fast at all. Didn't really make a noise until the quarter panel hit the trailer, then I slammed on the brake. The real damage came when I pulled the car forward. The trailer caught the bumper cover as I did that since it wasn't tight to the body to begin with.

Blackhawkxx · Mar 9, 2026

Some days you have to laugh or else you will cry. I hate when I do dumb things and believe me, I have done them. Knowing you, it will be fixed up in no time.

LILCBRA · Mar 9, 2026

Hope so! I mean I didn't buy it to have another undriveable car sit in that big garage. That spot's reserved for some other pos someday!

RaggedGT · Mar 9, 2026

Time for a fiberglass body kit-

2011-2013 Scion TC GT-R Kit - 108470

Carbon Creations Master Distributor, Carbon fiber hoods, Trunks, Fenders and Duraflex Fiberglass Body Kits.

carboncreations.com

LILCBRA · Mar 9, 2026

RaggedGT said:
Time for a fiberglass body kit-

2011-2013 Scion TC GT-R Kit - 108470

Carbon Creations Master Distributor, Carbon fiber hoods, Trunks, Fenders and Duraflex Fiberglass Body Kits.

carboncreations.com

Saw those! Opting to go with just a replacement rear cover for the time being.

General karthief · Mar 9, 2026

Keep in mind I've been back things up all my life but there was one day when I just couldn't get it right, backing in a gate, done it a trillion times, this day I hit the gate, then the post on the second try. Same day I backed into my own garage (the old one).
That is an embarrassing day for a experienced tow truck driver.

LILCBRA · Mar 9, 2026

Been there back about 25 years ago. Used to have a class B and drove deliveries for a creamery out of Wisconsin. Backed to a bunch of grocery store docks a bunch of times, but this particular day I caught one of the big yellow posts and about ripped the open doors off the back on the right side of the truck.

LILCBRA · Mar 9, 2026

So.... today's been kinda crappy, but oddly good. Just got let go from the hospital. Got fed a bunch of stuff that was never told before today. Kinda have a sense of relief honestly. Wasn't liking the job anyway. But I've seen it coming for a few weeks so I've been sending my resume out here and there and have an interview on Thursday already. They seemed anxious to talk to me, so I may have a job already without even knowing it.... but since I have tonight off (as well as every night for the foreseeable future....), I tore into this thing a little more. Looks like Home Depot made some money off of this car, there seems to be drywall screws everywhere!

And here's some of the previous carnage ad well as the bodywork that showed when I looked at the car.

Apparently I didn't take a pic of the front cover, but there was an exposed drywall screw in the corner near the headlight on the right side as well, so the front cover is off now too. I'm just going to live with the hole left from that, but I did order new supports to reattach both the front and rear covers to. That should close the gaps and eliminate these drywall screws!

General karthief · Mar 9, 2026

Bumper covers suck
GIVE ME CHROME !!!!
If that had a chrome bumper that trailer would have moved it's self outta the way

Noobz347 · Mar 9, 2026

Yeah! Do what the General says and send the covers out for chrome!

General karthief · Mar 9, 2026

I gotta guy for that

LILCBRA · Mar 9, 2026

I could chrome the whole thing, I'm sure there's some kind of body kit that I could replicate something like this:

It'd probably end up looking more like this though....

Noobz347 · Mar 9, 2026

Those are wraps. You could do that.

LILCBRA · Mar 9, 2026

Noobz347 said:
Those are wraps. You could do that.

I could.....

But I won't!

Came home with a new commuter (that I f'd up on day 2....)

I wish I didn't have all of these balls in the air

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

I wish I didn't have all of these balls in the air

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

I gotta say i never painted my nuts, Never Ever

Stangnet Facilities Maint Tech... Er... Janitor

I wish I didn't have all of these balls in the air

Advanced Member

I wish I didn't have all of these balls in the air

Been here over a DECADE and still no CT

I wish I didn't have all of these balls in the air

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

I wish I didn't have all of these balls in the air

I wish I didn't have all of these balls in the air

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

Stangnet Facilities Maint Tech... Er... Janitor

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

I wish I didn't have all of these balls in the air

Stangnet Facilities Maint Tech... Er... Janitor

I wish I didn't have all of these balls in the air

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