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Glad you did not get hurt. I am so sorry about your car. I would try to do everything in my power to convince the adjuster not to total it. I have Hagerty insurance as well but thankfully have never needed them. In RI where I live the second the adjuster decides to total a car it gets reported to the state DMV and ends up with a salvage title if opt to keep the car. This creates red tape like you can not imagine. The car will be permanently tainted and will require a special certified shop to do a salvage repair. Then the state has to sign off after they inspect it  in order to register it again.  But the title will always be listed as salvage. I hope everything works out for you.

Ron
Thanks Ron, just a bit banged up but I feel way better now. Especially since the adjuster didn’t total my car. It’s at a Mustang shop and I think they are going to start working on it this week.

 
Glad you did not get hurt. I am so sorry about your car. I would try to do everything in my power to convince the adjuster not to total it. I have Hagerty insurance as well but thankfully have never needed them. In RI where I live the second the adjuster decides to total a car it gets reported to the state DMV and ends up with a salvage title if opt to keep the car. This creates red tape like you can not imagine. The car will be permanently tainted and will require a special certified shop to do a salvage repair. Then the state has to sign off after they inspect it  in order to register it again.  But the title will always be listed as salvage. I hope everything works out for you.

Ron
Thanks Ron, just a bit banged up but I feel way better now. Especially since the adjuster didn’t total my car. It’s at a Mustang shop and I think they are going to start working on it this week.
That is great! I am happy to hear it. Hopefully the shop can get it back in action soon.

Ron

 
Glad you did not get hurt. I am so sorry about your car. I would try to do everything in my power to convince the adjuster not to total it. I have Hagerty insurance as well but thankfully have never needed them. In RI where I live the second the adjuster decides to total a car it gets reported to the state DMV and ends up with a salvage title if opt to keep the car. This creates red tape like you can not imagine. The car will be permanently tainted and will require a special certified shop to do a salvage repair. Then the state has to sign off after they inspect it  in order to register it again.  But the title will always be listed as salvage. I hope everything works out for you.

Ron
Thanks Ron, just a bit banged up but I feel way better now. Especially since the adjuster didn’t total my car. It’s at a Mustang shop and I think they are going to start working on it this week.
That is great! I am happy to hear it. Hopefully the shop can get it back in action soon.

Ron
They said about a month, but I’m in no hurry. We had our first snow of the season and it’s 25 degrees out. I think it will be more like 6-8 weeks, we’ll see.

 
Hi John! So glad to see you are OK. I just read the entire post and found a lot of really valuable information from so many members and I appreciate your posting all your experience with this unpleasant event so far. As I think everyone knows, I have a large collection of these cars and my insurance bill from Hagerty is quite high every year. I wonder if the forum can give me any advice on how best to manage my risk while "getting the most bang for my buck" from the insurance company? I know I am in a unique situation because I have over 25 cars in various states of repairs, and in addition to that I live in Alabama where they don't title cars this age but they do require a registration certificate and tag, and in order to keep the tag you have to have liability insurance. Unfortunately Hagerty does not allow liability insurance only, but you can get a minimum value of $3500 on the car in order to pay the lowest rate. That works fine for my crappy cars that are only really worth $3500, but what do I do about a car like my 72 R code convertible that just went through a $80,000 restoration? I rarely drive the car. I have the car insured for $70,000. After reading about your experience so far, I think I'm going to knock down the values of my cars to try to lower my rate, which runs about $2,500 a year. My concern is that if I put a high value on my cars (or even what they are probably really worth), the insurance company will always try to fix the car and NOT total it out because they want to spend less money. I really thought at first glance that the insurance company was going to total your car. If I had been you, I would have asked for the "guaranteed value" of $35,000 and taken a little less to keep the car. But it does not sound like you would have been given that option when the car could be repaired for $14,500. All this really makes me wonder what kind of a fight I would get into with the insurance company if I got into a wreck with my R code, and let's say the car is nearly vaporized in the accident, but then the insurance company does everything they can do to fix the car (and based on what we have all read from yours and other peoples' experiences, it looks like ANY car CAN be fixed if there is enough money available, in my case $70,000 for the R code), what I would be left with is a car that would ultimately be worth FAR less that what it was before the accident (who would ever want to pay top dollar for my car with the stigma of the accident hanging over it)? Anyway, your experience has given me lots of food for thought. I am (fortunately or unfortunately) in a very unique situation when it comes to these cars. I have been collecting them for so long, and it seems I can never turn one down if it comes up for sale and has something going for it that I think will make it a great addition to my collection. The sad thing is that I can only drive one car at a time, and most of my cars have not been driven in years. Three are kept at my house (the nicest ones), and the rest are either at my shop (where really NOTHING can happen to them, seeing as it is cinder block and steel, so not really flammable), or out somewhere at other shops at various stages of restoration (where they SHOULD be covered by their insurance). I guess everyone on the site wishes they had my kind of problems ;) !

 
Hi John! So glad to see you are OK. I just read the entire post and found a lot of really valuable information from so many members and I appreciate your posting all your experience with this unpleasant event so far. As I think everyone knows, I have a large collection of these cars and my insurance bill from Hagerty is quite high every year. I wonder if the forum can give me any advice on how best to manage my risk while "getting the most bang for my buck" from the insurance company? I know I am in a unique situation because I have over 25 cars in various states of repairs, and in addition to that I live in Alabama where they don't title cars this age but they do require a registration certificate and tag, and in order to keep the tag you have to have liability insurance. Unfortunately Hagerty does not allow liability insurance only, but you can get a minimum value of $3500 on the car in order to pay the lowest rate. That works fine for my crappy cars that are only really worth $3500, but what do I do about a car like my 72 R code convertible that just went through a $80,000 restoration? I rarely drive the car. I have the car insured for $70,000. After reading about your experience so far, I think I'm going to knock down the values of my cars to try to lower my rate, which runs about $2,500 a year. My concern is that if I put a high value on my cars (or even what they are probably really worth), the insurance company will always try to fix the car and NOT total it out because they want to spend less money. I really thought at first glance that the insurance company was going to total your car. If I had been you, I would have asked for the "guaranteed value" of $35,000 and taken a little less to keep the car. But it does not sound like you would have been given that option when the car could be repaired for $14,500. All this really makes me wonder what kind of a fight I would get into with the insurance company if I got into a wreck with my R code, and let's say the car is nearly vaporized in the accident, but then the insurance company does everything they can do to fix the car (and based on what we have all read from yours and other peoples' experiences, it looks like ANY car CAN be fixed if there is enough money available, in my case $70,000 for the R code), what I would be left with is a car that would ultimately be worth FAR less that what it was before the accident (who would ever want to pay top dollar for my car with the stigma of the accident hanging over it)? Anyway, your experience has given me lots of food for thought. I am (fortunately or unfortunately) in a very unique situation when it comes to these cars. I have been collecting them for so long, and it seems I can never turn one down if it comes up for sale and has something going for it that I think will make it a great addition to my collection. The sad thing is that I can only drive one car at a time, and most of my cars have not been driven in years. Three are kept at my house (the nicest ones), and the rest are either at my shop (where really NOTHING can happen to them, seeing as it is cinder block and steel, so not really flammable), or out somewhere at other shops at various stages of restoration (where they SHOULD be covered by their insurance). I guess everyone on the site wishes they had my kind of problems ;) !

I think we need a road trip to see your Mustangs.   ::thumb::
 
Hi John! So glad to see you are OK. I just read the entire post and found a lot of really valuable information from so many members and I appreciate your posting all your experience with this unpleasant event so far. As I think everyone knows, I have a large collection of these cars and my insurance bill from Hagerty is quite high every year. I wonder if the forum can give me any advice on how best to manage my risk while "getting the most bang for my buck" from the insurance company? I know I am in a unique situation because I have over 25 cars in various states of repairs, and in addition to that I live in Alabama where they don't title cars this age but they do require a registration certificate and tag, and in order to keep the tag you have to have liability insurance. Unfortunately Hagerty does not allow liability insurance only, but you can get a minimum value of $3500 on the car in order to pay the lowest rate. That works fine for my crappy cars that are only really worth $3500, but what do I do about a car like my 72 R code convertible that just went through a $80,000 restoration? I rarely drive the car. I have the car insured for $70,000. After reading about your experience so far, I think I'm going to knock down the values of my cars to try to lower my rate, which runs about $2,500 a year. My concern is that if I put a high value on my cars (or even what they are probably really worth), the insurance company will always try to fix the car and NOT total it out because they want to spend less money. I really thought at first glance that the insurance company was going to total your car. If I had been you, I would have asked for the "guaranteed value" of $35,000 and taken a little less to keep the car. But it does not sound like you would have been given that option when the car could be repaired for $14,500. All this really makes me wonder what kind of a fight I would get into with the insurance company if I got into a wreck with my R code, and let's say the car is nearly vaporized in the accident, but then the insurance company does everything they can do to fix the car (and based on what we have all read from yours and other peoples' experiences, it looks like ANY car CAN be fixed if there is enough money available, in my case $70,000 for the R code), what I would be left with is a car that would ultimately be worth FAR less that what it was before the accident (who would ever want to pay top dollar for my car with the stigma of the accident hanging over it)? Anyway, your experience has given me lots of food for thought. I am (fortunately or unfortunately) in a very unique situation when it comes to these cars. I have been collecting them for so long, and it seems I can never turn one down if it comes up for sale and has something going for it that I think will make it a great addition to my collection. The sad thing is that I can only drive one car at a time, and most of my cars have not been driven in years. Three are kept at my house (the nicest ones), and the rest are either at my shop (where really NOTHING can happen to them, seeing as it is cinder block and steel, so not really flammable), or out somewhere at other shops at various stages of restoration (where they SHOULD be covered by their insurance). I guess everyone on the site wishes they had my kind of problems ;) !

I think we need a road trip to see your Mustangs.   ::thumb::
 
Hi John! So glad to see you are OK. I just read the entire post and found a lot of really valuable information from so many members and I appreciate your posting all your experience with this unpleasant event so far. As I think everyone knows, I have a large collection of these cars and my insurance bill from Hagerty is quite high every year. I wonder if the forum can give me any advice on how best to manage my risk while "getting the most bang for my buck" from the insurance company? I know I am in a unique situation because I have over 25 cars in various states of repairs, and in addition to that I live in Alabama where they don't title cars this age but they do require a registration certificate and tag, and in order to keep the tag you have to have liability insurance. Unfortunately Hagerty does not allow liability insurance only, but you can get a minimum value of $3500 on the car in order to pay the lowest rate. That works fine for my crappy cars that are only really worth $3500, but what do I do about a car like my 72 R code convertible that just went through a $80,000 restoration? I rarely drive the car. I have the car insured for $70,000. After reading about your experience so far, I think I'm going to knock down the values of my cars to try to lower my rate, which runs about $2,500 a year. My concern is that if I put a high value on my cars (or even what they are probably really worth), the insurance company will always try to fix the car and NOT total it out because they want to spend less money. I really thought at first glance that the insurance company was going to total your car. If I had been you, I would have asked for the "guaranteed value" of $35,000 and taken a little less to keep the car. But it does not sound like you would have been given that option when the car could be repaired for $14,500. All this really makes me wonder what kind of a fight I would get into with the insurance company if I got into a wreck with my R code, and let's say the car is nearly vaporized in the accident, but then the insurance company does everything they can do to fix the car (and based on what we have all read from yours and other peoples' experiences, it looks like ANY car CAN be fixed if there is enough money available, in my case $70,000 for the R code), what I would be left with is a car that would ultimately be worth FAR less that what it was before the accident (who would ever want to pay top dollar for my car with the stigma of the accident hanging over it)? Anyway, your experience has given me lots of food for thought. I am (fortunately or unfortunately) in a very unique situation when it comes to these cars. I have been collecting them for so long, and it seems I can never turn one down if it comes up for sale and has something going for it that I think will make it a great addition to my collection. The sad thing is that I can only drive one car at a time, and most of my cars have not been driven in years. Three are kept at my house (the nicest ones), and the rest are either at my shop (where really NOTHING can happen to them, seeing as it is cinder block and steel, so not really flammable), or out somewhere at other shops at various stages of restoration (where they SHOULD be covered by their insurance). I guess everyone on the site wishes they had my kind of problems ;) !
Ya wow, you have quite the unique situation there! I guess I would try to do the same thing.

All I can say about Hagerty is they have been great so far, and the the shop that’s doing the repairs says the same thing. The owner told me he has dealt with them quite a few times and they have always been great. He has his cars insured with them too.

 
Hi John! So glad to see you are OK. I just read the entire post and found a lot of really valuable information from so many members and I appreciate your posting all your experience with this unpleasant event so far. As I think everyone knows, I have a large collection of these cars and my insurance bill from Hagerty is quite high every year. I wonder if the forum can give me any advice on how best to manage my risk while "getting the most bang for my buck" from the insurance company? I know I am in a unique situation because I have over 25 cars in various states of repairs, and in addition to that I live in Alabama where they don't title cars this age but they do require a registration certificate and tag, and in order to keep the tag you have to have liability insurance. Unfortunately Hagerty does not allow liability insurance only, but you can get a minimum value of $3500 on the car in order to pay the lowest rate. That works fine for my crappy cars that are only really worth $3500, but what do I do about a car like my 72 R code convertible that just went through a $80,000 restoration? I rarely drive the car. I have the car insured for $70,000. After reading about your experience so far, I think I'm going to knock down the values of my cars to try to lower my rate, which runs about $2,500 a year. My concern is that if I put a high value on my cars (or even what they are probably really worth), the insurance company will always try to fix the car and NOT total it out because they want to spend less money. I really thought at first glance that the insurance company was going to total your car. If I had been you, I would have asked for the "guaranteed value" of $35,000 and taken a little less to keep the car. But it does not sound like you would have been given that option when the car could be repaired for $14,500. All this really makes me wonder what kind of a fight I would get into with the insurance company if I got into a wreck with my R code, and let's say the car is nearly vaporized in the accident, but then the insurance company does everything they can do to fix the car (and based on what we have all read from yours and other peoples' experiences, it looks like ANY car CAN be fixed if there is enough money available, in my case $70,000 for the R code), what I would be left with is a car that would ultimately be worth FAR less that what it was before the accident (who would ever want to pay top dollar for my car with the stigma of the accident hanging over it)? Anyway, your experience has given me lots of food for thought. I am (fortunately or unfortunately) in a very unique situation when it comes to these cars. I have been collecting them for so long, and it seems I can never turn one down if it comes up for sale and has something going for it that I think will make it a great addition to my collection. The sad thing is that I can only drive one car at a time, and most of my cars have not been driven in years. Three are kept at my house (the nicest ones), and the rest are either at my shop (where really NOTHING can happen to them, seeing as it is cinder block and steel, so not really flammable), or out somewhere at other shops at various stages of restoration (where they SHOULD be covered by their insurance). I guess everyone on the site wishes they had my kind of problems ;) !
Kevin,

Find out if Alabama is a diminished value state. 

If so I think you can argue for a payment of the different of the cars value from before VS after the accident.

 
Hi John! So glad to see you are OK. I just read the entire post and found a lot of really valuable information from so many members and I appreciate your posting all your experience with this unpleasant event so far. As I think everyone knows, I have a large collection of these cars and my insurance bill from Hagerty is quite high every year. I wonder if the forum can give me any advice on how best to manage my risk while "getting the most bang for my buck" from the insurance company? I know I am in a unique situation because I have over 25 cars in various states of repairs, and in addition to that I live in Alabama where they don't title cars this age but they do require a registration certificate and tag, and in order to keep the tag you have to have liability insurance. Unfortunately Hagerty does not allow liability insurance only, but you can get a minimum value of $3500 on the car in order to pay the lowest rate. That works fine for my crappy cars that are only really worth $3500, but what do I do about a car like my 72 R code convertible that just went through a $80,000 restoration? I rarely drive the car. I have the car insured for $70,000. After reading about your experience so far, I think I'm going to knock down the values of my cars to try to lower my rate, which runs about $2,500 a year. My concern is that if I put a high value on my cars (or even what they are probably really worth), the insurance company will always try to fix the car and NOT total it out because they want to spend less money. I really thought at first glance that the insurance company was going to total your car. If I had been you, I would have asked for the "guaranteed value" of $35,000 and taken a little less to keep the car. But it does not sound like you would have been given that option when the car could be repaired for $14,500. All this really makes me wonder what kind of a fight I would get into with the insurance company if I got into a wreck with my R code, and let's say the car is nearly vaporized in the accident, but then the insurance company does everything they can do to fix the car (and based on what we have all read from yours and other peoples' experiences, it looks like ANY car CAN be fixed if there is enough money available, in my case $70,000 for the R code), what I would be left with is a car that would ultimately be worth FAR less that what it was before the accident (who would ever want to pay top dollar for my car with the stigma of the accident hanging over it)? Anyway, your experience has given me lots of food for thought. I am (fortunately or unfortunately) in a very unique situation when it comes to these cars. I have been collecting them for so long, and it seems I can never turn one down if it comes up for sale and has something going for it that I think will make it a great addition to my collection. The sad thing is that I can only drive one car at a time, and most of my cars have not been driven in years. Three are kept at my house (the nicest ones), and the rest are either at my shop (where really NOTHING can happen to them, seeing as it is cinder block and steel, so not really flammable), or out somewhere at other shops at various stages of restoration (where they SHOULD be covered by their insurance). I guess everyone on the site wishes they had my kind of problems ;) !
Kevin,

Find out if Alabama is a diminished value state. 

If so I think you can argue for a payment of the different of the cars value from before VS after the accident.
Good point Don. Thanks!

 
Thanks Ron, just a bit banged up but I feel way better now. Especially since the adjuster didn’t total my car. It’s at a Mustang shop and I think they are going to start working on it this week.
That is great! I am happy to hear it. Hopefully the shop can get it back in action soon.

Ron
They said about a month, but I’m in no hurry. We had our first snow of the season and it’s 25 degrees out. I think it will be more like 6-8 weeks, we’ll see.
After first snow falls around here is when I put her away for the season. The crap they treat the roads with kills cars. Ron

 
Ok, I have a little update on my car. The owner let me today they started work on it. Said everything looks ok, doesn’t look like any major hidden structural damage was done. I was real happy with the fact they have already started on it and he let me know so we could go over a few things.

Plus he pointed out that the distribution block for my brakes is the wrong one. I have always wondered why the back brakes were so easy to lock up and this is why. The one that the guy who restored it used one for a 67. So it was for a manual brake system, not power and didn’t distribute the pressure right and made the rear brakes lock up to easily.

So anyway they caught that right away and he wanted to know if I wanted them to fix it with the correct part. I of course said yes. I knew something was up with that cause the emergency plug wire that goes to it wouldn’t connect to it. Wasn’t sure why, but I do now. So I’m very happy with them and it sounds like it’s at the correct place.

 
Ok, I have a little update on my car. The owner let me today they started work on it. Said everything looks ok, doesn’t look like any major hidden structural damage was done. I was real happy with the fact they have already started on it and he let me know so we could go over a few things.

Plus he pointed out that the distribution block for my brakes is the wrong one. I have always wondered why the back brakes were so easy to lock up and this is why. The one that the guy who restored it used one for a 67. So it was for a manual brake system, not power and didn’t distribute the pressure right and made the rear brakes lock up to easily.

So anyway they caught that right away and he wanted to know if I wanted them to fix it with the correct part. I of course said yes. I knew something was up with that cause the emergency plug wire that goes to it wouldn’t connect to it. Wasn’t sure why, but I do now. So I’m very happy with them and it sounds like it’s at the correct place.
Could your improperly functioning brakes contributed to your accident? Just curious if you think you could have stopped before hitting the pole if the brakes had been working properly.

 
Ok, I have a little update on my car. The owner let me today they started work on it. Said everything looks ok, doesn’t look like any major hidden structural damage was done. I was real happy with the fact they have already started on it and he let me know so we could go over a few things.

Plus he pointed out that the distribution block for my brakes is the wrong one. I have always wondered why the back brakes were so easy to lock up and this is why. The one that the guy who restored it used one for a 67. So it was for a manual brake system, not power and didn’t distribute the pressure right and made the rear brakes lock up to easily.

So anyway they caught that right away and he wanted to know if I wanted them to fix it with the correct part. I of course said yes. I knew something was up with that cause the emergency plug wire that goes to it wouldn’t connect to it. Wasn’t sure why, but I do now. So I’m very happy with them and it sounds like it’s at the correct place.
Could your improperly functioning brakes contributed to your accident? Just curious if you think you could have stopped before hitting the pole if the brakes had been working properly.
Not really sure, but a good question. I guess I may have been able to slow down a bit more. Pretty sure I still would have hit that pole though. It’s so close to the side of the road.

 
Wow, that really hurts!! To see one of these banged up is my worst nightmare. I'm only just reading about this, guess I'm just late to the party.

Anyway, the best news was you were not hurt badly and that is the most important part. Cars can be fixed or replaced.

All the best with it,

Geoff.

 
So after seeing how stretched out my timing chain is (they sent me a short video) and numerous other things, I’ve given them the go ahead to go thru the engine. The PO used some cheap stuff to restore my car and I’m not really sure what was done to the engine other than him saying it was rebuilt. He didn’t do it himself, so I don’t know what was really done. Tired of not knowing what was, or wasn’t done.

I’ve had to replace some freeze plugs with the motor in the car and that was a bitch! It’s because they used cheap steel plugs instead of brass. I’m sure the other ones are going to go sooner or later, so it’s just another reason to not trust what was done to this motor.

The shop has the front of my car apart anyway, so I’m just going to have them pull the motor and check it out. I’m having them clean it, magna flux it and measure it all up. Then I’ll know what going on with it and I will have it built properly. It would be stupid of me not to.

The shop working on my car said they use a shop called Rogers Crankshaft and Machine near their shop in Saginaw, for all their engine machining. He also mentioned  they do work for Roush.

So anyway just a bit of an update to this accident thread. And I gotta say that I’m very happy I found this place that’s working on my car. They have been great so far.

 
John,

I'm a little late seeing this thread so I apologize. I'm glad to hear you are ok and that the car is repairable. We all dread what happened to you but it looks like everythings working out.

I've visited Mustang Craftsman and agree that they look like a great outfit and will be looking forward to seeing how your car looks when completed. I've got a car that I need work done on and it's between them doing everything and a company on Telegraph north of 96 that does exceptional body and paint work and then they would leave assembly up to me.

We should plan a Detroit area get together sometime as it seems there are a number of Detroit/Windsor members here.

 
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Hey Mark, no need to apologize. Sometimes these threads get kinda buried and if you don’t keep up it’s hard to read all of them.

Anyway I’m ok, feeling much better now. Plus with the fact that my car is at a place that I feel comfortable with makes it better. I am really happy with them so far, and they have great communication with me. I have even decided to have them rebuild my engine, which I wasn’t planning on. But once they sent me a short video of how stretched out my timing chain is, that convinced me that it needs to be gone through. And so I may as well just have them do it. They told me originally it would take them about 4 weeks to get body and paint done, but now I’m not sure how much more time it will take. No rush it’s winter now.

Thanks again for your concern and that would be great to get some of the members together for a meeting Mustang meet up! I will let you know how things are going with the Mustang Craftsmen and if you have any questions or want to see how my car is turning out, just keep check out this thread. You can also pm me anytime. Take care.

 
John,

We should plan a Detroit area get together sometime as it seems there are a number of Detroit/Windsor members here.
 Mark, sounds like a plan to have a members meet up. How about next year's All Ford Show at Ford HQ? Hopefully still on!

 If you get any details on when, please PM me.

Geoff.

 
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