- Joined
- May 7, 2012
- Messages
- 250
- Reaction score
- 3
- Location
- Near Houston, TX
- My Car
- 1971 Coupe. 302 2V - C4 trans
Well, if you buy a 16 year old boy an excellent driver 71 mustang, there's one cringe-worthy thing you really don't wanna hear (but you might oughta expect), and it's that phone call from him... "ummm, dad?" (yes, son?) "Umm, i was just turning the corner, and I umm, lost control of the car, and umm... I put it in the ditch." (damn..)...
Happened last fall and the story goes from there. We got lucky, no one hurt, no cops, no tickets, no property damage (other than the self inflicted), no insurance issues.
So, onto fixing the car.. The pittman arm bolt into the steering box was sheared off, the centerlink (draglink) was bent into an amazing shape, but other than right side damage to the strut (they found in alignment shop it wouldn't tighten up and needed new bushing kit). Even the tie-rods were still good, no LCA or UCA OR balljoint damage (to my amazement). So we got all that fixed. Pretty damn cheap too, but finding a good centerlink was not easy. If you ever have one you don't need, keep it - they fetch a good price these days. We had a lot of dirt come up into the engine compartment, and some of it came back at the radiator and tore open the 2 bottom tubes. Amazingly, I found a guy in a country radiator shop than fixed up that radiator for $85. Looks almost like new except 2 lower tubes in-op.
But the body damage and recover is the amazing part. There was a small damage on RH front quarter panel, and the front valence was bent badly, but the rocker panels were fine, and only the right rear quarter took the brunt of the hit. Kind of an upwards and inwards hit, there was a good pucker (no crease) right over the wheel-well, and a small crease above the right-rear quarter window, but overall the frame checked out. So how to fix (on a teenagers budget) the body? Front valance was easy - buy a repop for $90, and bolt it up (it will need paint when he can aford it, but it's not too bad in black.
I found a GREAT shop, they able to perform some amazing work, and they actually pulled the original fender back into almost perfect condition! I have been amazed at body before, but never like this. The pass side pocket in the trunk was almost completely crushed (although the inner wall hadn't moved). I figured they would need to cut that panel away, and weld in new, but amazingly, they didn't. I'm attaching some before and after pics of the car. I'm thrilled how it came out, and for how good it is, I feel I got a fantastic bargain. Check it out:
I couldn't even post anything about this story until we had it all fixed. Both he & i have been kinda sick about it, until this recovery. Thanks to the body shop, this story has a happy ending. All that's left is dad holding the line on the monthly payments to pay me back for costs. Summer job is on the horizon for the driver.
PS. Here's a video I shot with an iPhone video inside the rear quarter panel. Just amazing how you can't tell there was body work done even from the inside...
https://player.vimeo.com/video/123742457?app_id=122963
Happened last fall and the story goes from there. We got lucky, no one hurt, no cops, no tickets, no property damage (other than the self inflicted), no insurance issues.
So, onto fixing the car.. The pittman arm bolt into the steering box was sheared off, the centerlink (draglink) was bent into an amazing shape, but other than right side damage to the strut (they found in alignment shop it wouldn't tighten up and needed new bushing kit). Even the tie-rods were still good, no LCA or UCA OR balljoint damage (to my amazement). So we got all that fixed. Pretty damn cheap too, but finding a good centerlink was not easy. If you ever have one you don't need, keep it - they fetch a good price these days. We had a lot of dirt come up into the engine compartment, and some of it came back at the radiator and tore open the 2 bottom tubes. Amazingly, I found a guy in a country radiator shop than fixed up that radiator for $85. Looks almost like new except 2 lower tubes in-op.
But the body damage and recover is the amazing part. There was a small damage on RH front quarter panel, and the front valence was bent badly, but the rocker panels were fine, and only the right rear quarter took the brunt of the hit. Kind of an upwards and inwards hit, there was a good pucker (no crease) right over the wheel-well, and a small crease above the right-rear quarter window, but overall the frame checked out. So how to fix (on a teenagers budget) the body? Front valance was easy - buy a repop for $90, and bolt it up (it will need paint when he can aford it, but it's not too bad in black.
I found a GREAT shop, they able to perform some amazing work, and they actually pulled the original fender back into almost perfect condition! I have been amazed at body before, but never like this. The pass side pocket in the trunk was almost completely crushed (although the inner wall hadn't moved). I figured they would need to cut that panel away, and weld in new, but amazingly, they didn't. I'm attaching some before and after pics of the car. I'm thrilled how it came out, and for how good it is, I feel I got a fantastic bargain. Check it out:
I couldn't even post anything about this story until we had it all fixed. Both he & i have been kinda sick about it, until this recovery. Thanks to the body shop, this story has a happy ending. All that's left is dad holding the line on the monthly payments to pay me back for costs. Summer job is on the horizon for the driver.
PS. Here's a video I shot with an iPhone video inside the rear quarter panel. Just amazing how you can't tell there was body work done even from the inside...
https://player.vimeo.com/video/123742457?app_id=122963
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