well man i have to say it doesn't look as bad as i was expecting it to be, it will definately need some time on the frame machine though, it looks like the rear end was moved over quite a bit judging from the angle of the exhaust. but a competent frame shop should be able to fix that rather easily, though it will require a lot of labor. my bet is that insurance company will fix it. i guess now would be a good time to think about getting the rest of the car painted like you were planning on. as far as the car never being the same it will never be all original sheetmetal again but the fit and finish might actually be better than before, after all convertibles tend to sag and such over time, so having the frame straightened might result in better than what you had before. did you happen to get any pics of the underside of the car? if so i would be interested in seeing them to see just how much damage was done to the framerails to get a better idea of the extent of the damage. well go ahead and rest up and get yourself healed for now, the car is fixable. did you take my advice and go to the doctor for xrays and mri's yet? if not do that ASAP or the insurance company will try to screw you for sure on any kind of injury claim. keep us posted
Pac, that really sucks. Don;t let the insurance a-holes snow ya. Get the car fixed right at their expense. Doesn't look too bad. It was time for a nice compounding anyway.
And everything else that's been said before here. As a member emeritus of the 69 Convertible club here, it hurts to the core to see any of the 'Verts damaged. Especially yours! OW!!
Keep those emotions in check, do the correct paperwork, and take care of it over the weekend. The only thing that really sucks is trying to find good, original, THICK metal. I do have a secret source if they will let you participate in the repair. Call me at home if you need more info.
Recover, rebuild, make it better.
(are you sure the other vehicle wasn't being driven by farberware looking for revenge? (J/K, but had to try some humor here....)
Damm that realy bites dude. There is nothing I can say that hasn't been said. Just make sure It get looked at at your body guys shop before the insurance a-holes look at it. That was the frist thing I learned years ago. Get it towed there right away. They will pay the storage and tow to your body guy that will help out also. Soooooorrrrrryyyyy DUDE!!
Like you say on a unibody car especially the damage might be deeper then it looks, find out for yourself all the damage and make sure you do all you can with the insurance guys...
Uh...yeah....what they all said....I saw that there were now attachments in the thread and almost didnt want to look. I wish I had something to say....we are all there with you and your pain...
It doesn't look worse than my '67 vert in New Mexico did though, but I got nailed right in the passenger door by a lady in a S-10 Blazer doing 45 and she never hit the brakes. Pushed me sideways into a '68 GTO that had just been restored. Every body panel on my car was hit (she hit me twice, more on that in a bit) and my car was bent in a bow or arch. the GTO's windshield post base line up with mine and this 16 year old kid's fresh 1 month old restoration was bent into a V or at an angle at least. Her blazer's rear end came off the ground and the truck did a piroette (sp?) on its front tires, the rear tires went over my trunk (as attested to by witnesses, I had the top down BTW) and she landed facing the way I had come and her driver's 1/4 hit mine and her front bumper hit the Gto's front bumper. The GTO and I had the right of way and were on a two lane crossing a divided 4 lane. She was in the outside lane farthest from me and a 18 wheeler was on the inside lane and the turn lane was full as well. I never saw her coming. I saw the GTO previously and thought it looked nice, my car was in spray primer after my stripping it to bare metal, awaiting a trip to the paint shop. As the light turned green, I dumped the clutch and went after it across the intersection to show of my pride and joy (I was 19 at the time). If I hadn't done that stupid thing, I probably would have had a front row seat to her T-boning him in the driver's side and most likely killing him instantly. My passenger seat came undone and rode up the tranny tunnel and hit me in the side, I ended up with my right bu++ cheek sitting on the passenger seat, sitting on my seat. If I had not had a fight with my mother not 5 minutes before, she would have been with me and would have been killed. Of course, I probably wouldn't have shot across the intersection either.
Very important thing here Pak, so listen to me very well, even more important than your car (if that's possible). I had a bruise that ran from my ribs to my knee, actually a hematona (sp?) that had 3 units of blood in it. I had CAT scans and regular Xray's. They didn't find anything wrong, I hadn't broken anything. I signed the release forms (all I got was what I had in my car and a bit of pain and suffering, about 8k I think) but I was out of work for about 5 months (did home construction) I went back to school in Oklahoma and 2 years later, ruptured a disc in my back while at work. Had this happened while playing tackle football in sweats on Saturday mornings at the college, or pickup ball at the park, I would have been royally screwed. I had to sue my employeer for medical expenses and compensation. I ended up getting about 11k on that one and the lawyer got about 5k and he didn't do damn near a thing, but I was out of work for 9 months and have put on about 70 lbs since, I'm 37 and my bad is screwed up now, which is forever. No matter what, make sure all your medical stuff is taken car of before you sign the medical release, its imperative. Sign the car release seperately. I just hope you don't have to go thru all the crap I have had to.
I believe in fate though, and all that. It's tough to accept the idea that it all happens for a reason when something like this happens, but in the grand scheme it's just one of those speedbumps in the road we call life. Don't let it get you down, like chepsk8 said, rebuild it, make it better. You owe it to the car if nothing else, after all the joy it's given you. I'll keep my eye open for parts for you, but I here in the rust belt there's not exactly an abundance.
Just be thankful you're OK, and the car does look fixable (at least I hope it is). Even if it's royally screwed, maybe that's just God telling you to make a tube-frame 700-hp beast out of it. How sweet would that be?
OH &*^% !!! Dang Pak, I havent been around lately,,, Im so sorry to hear about your wreck. The pictures look like you may be able to fix her back up,, uni-bodys are quite repairable . At least you survived. Whats in store now? Have you climbed up under to assess for repair ? I know your first post seemed doubtful , but now that things have calmed down ? Dude I so hate to hear about someones toy getting dinked .
It's not totaled. What kind of insurance did you have on it? I hope more than this specialty kind that they pedal on here for going to parades and such.
Definitely fixable. You will have to battle the other driver's insurance company, so it doesn't sound like your company will need to be heavily involved.
Make sure to cross your Ts. They can get it right the first time.
I just got in and read through this entire thread. I don't really have much to add, as everyone has pretty much shared my thoughts. Most importantly, you're not badly injured.
I can only imagine how it must feel to have your car, that you have personally worked on and restored, be wrecked by someone's carelessness. That and the hard work that lays ahead in dealing with the insurance company and body shop.
Good luck and keep us informed, there are a lot of good people on this board that can give useful advice in the battles that lie ahead.
Thanks again all. Today I started to get the ball rolling on it, but I can't get the darn police report until tomorrow, so not much my insurance agent can do just yet. They have said though that since it's not my fault that I shouldn't even tell my insurance company (Hagerty) unless I have problems with his insurance and need them. That doesn't sound right to me though, it feels like they should know no matter what, they are the ones after all that can back up what the car is really worth. I keep thinking I'll get screwed some how if they aren't informed.
As fro the car, initial prognosis not so good. I had it towed to my body guy today from the salvage yard. He just took a quick peak and said the frame rail is broken, the torque box is smashed, shocks coming up through the back seat, axle looks broken, all the convertible top brackets are going to be very hard to find, etc... They just don't repro enough of the 69' stuff and there aren't alot of vert's to scavenge from either. He told me out flat that I should be prepared to shop for a new car as they will likely move to have it totaled. That doesn't mean that I couldn't buy it back and try to fix it, which I probably would, but in the end I just don't see how it'll not cost me out of pocket and that just plain ole blows! If the same hit happened to a 65' it probably wouldn't be as much of an issue, but some parts on my car will be tougher to get for sure.
If I can ask one favor of anyone, if you happen past some classifieds and see ads for quality 69' verts (not projects cars) post or send me the link so I can start to collect current value data for the insurance. That would be great, thanks.
Pak... accept my belated condolences. That really, really, really sucks. I'm very pleased to hear you weren't more seriously injured. That takes priority, even over the Mustang. I can only imagine how traumatic this all must be. It's one thing for the car to be damaged, but having to replace it will be more tough. Still, if it just doesn't make sense to repair it, then finding a replacement is probably the better course of action. Hey, I know it isn't a classic (yet), but I hear those new Mustang GTs are gonna be nice...
hey pak, my opinion i would start looking for a resto shop that will take on the project instead of the guy you already have. if he is already saying he will move for a total that is not a good sign, to me that just means he doesn't want to mess with it. start looking for a resto shop with a good reputation reasonably close to where you are. i could even have my body guy take a look at some pics if you want and get his opinion. if you don't mind my asking, how much did you have it insured for with hagerty? that would be a good thing to know to get a better idea how to proceed. take a look at my body guys website and look at some of the cars he's done. i don't think your is any worse off thane some of the ones on his site. www.graphicpaint.com right now he has my car, a 70 cutlass 442, a 71 roadrunner, with a 440/4spd power windows, power sunroof, and the "bubble hood", a 67 or 68 camaro and a big late 40's or early 50's oldsmobile (i think), and 66 impala plus he has a couple of restos of his own waiting in the wings.if you're guy doesn't want to take it on, i'm sure mine would. transportation down here might be a bitch though one other thing as far as the vert top, from the looks of the hit i doubt if there is anything that is in really bad shape, maybe some stuff that is a little tweaked but probably not serious enough to warrant replacement. just trying to give you some other options
StangNet has been down and wouldn't let me on the past couple times I tried. I'm just now getting to this. Unbelievable...
If you need anything, let me know. I'm tired of reading about people losing thier pride and joy's to a stupid ass accident that usually wasn't even their fault!
Get well soon and don't let anyone stiff you,
-Tim