What would you do?

[7mach1]

My 71 Mach 1 351 4v driver has been considered totaled The frame slightly bent, problem w trans, gas tank seeps, minor body damage, etc. I will be able to keep it, but with a salvage title. Is it better to fix it or sell as a parts car?
All comments and opinions are welcome.
Also, I’m not a mechanic, so I would have to pay for most repairs.

John

 

[Steve McMahan]

John, we need to know more before a decision can be rendered. When you ask the fix or sell question, we need to know your plans for using the car; from weekend cruiser to as much as daily driver; do you want to drag or track race it? Also, if you could include pics of the damage from the accident and what other life-damage does it have in pics too.

 

[7mach1]

Hi Steve. Thanks for your reply.
The car is residing at the body shop and they’re closed on weekends.
No racing, just like to drive whenever I get a chance, but not really a daily as I have a work truck for that. Would like to take trips up to 200 miles about 4 times a year.

 

[PoFoMoCo]

John, I'm sorry to read this news. You are definitely at a crossroads and I hate that you're having to make this decision. A very, very tough question to answer since I don't know you or the car. But, I have a checklist I go thru when I buy/sell a car and I guess it would apply here too. Or, at least food for thought. Maybe answering a few of these will provide a clearer picture for you.

1. Do you truly value its sentimental value
2. Replacement value vs value in the payoff
3. Time & effort to replace the car
4. Is it 100% repairable
5. Is it 100% safe to drive once repaired
6. Can you absorb the 40% hit on a rebuilt/salvage title in an emergency sell

Just a jump off place - like I said, that is a tough decision especially since the current 71-73 market has been so crazy lately.

 

[Sheriff41]

As long as it's not cost prohibitive and you want to invest the time, find a good body shop that'll straighten it out then build it the way you want. If you're not looking at the car as an investment and it can be straightened out and repaired for less than what you'd pay to buy another car, then it sounds like the perfect candidate for how you want to use it.
Get @Mister 4x4 opinion. I think he's been down this path.

 

[Mister 4x4]

Wow. So sorry to hear this.

I didn't quite go down the same path, but the sentiment is the same.

Since you mentioned not being a mechanic, I'd probably look toward getting another with the insurance money. The only reason I say that is because there's a lot involved in putting one back together that you'd wind up spending enough money doing so to buy a newer Shelby. For instance, to bring mine back from the dead ran North of $48K just in parts alone - since I was able to do [almost] all of it myself, I saved on labor costs, which would likely have been double that.

Most places that restore classic cars aren't in as big of a hurry as the Car Guy reality shows make it seem. They take on project and work the ones with the bigger budget with greater priority and frequency, which makes the guys with smaller pockets wait a LOT longer to get their hot rods back. Don't even waste your time asking a body shop - you won't see your car again until 2025, since collision repairs are their bread & butter - your project will take the back seat every time.

You also might consider buying the car back and harvesting the good parts to have in case the new one needs things that are still good on yours. It can be a challenge to find something as nice as the one in your avatar (if that's your car), but get one that's maybe just a little less nice (to maybe save money) and transfer the good stuff between cars. Since the cars are unibody in design, a 'bent frame' is pretty much the kiss of death, unless you have the means to make it all right again. I did cut mine in half and graft-on a front clip from a '72, but that was because the front frame rails and crossmembers were worse than Swiss Cheese... not from an accident.


I don't know what kind of money you're able to throw at something like this, but be prepared for the sale prices and labor for someone else to do things that are out of your wheelhouse. Good luck with your decision.

 

[DAverkamp]

My 71 Mach 1 351 4v driver has been considered totaled The frame slightly bent, problem w trans, gas tank seeps, minor body damage, etc. I will be able to keep it, but with a salvage title. Is it better to fix it or sell as a parts car?
All comments and opinions are welcome.
Also, I’m not a mechanic, so I would have to pay for most repairs.

John

I’m not in the know of why you got to the point of the car being deemed totaled but the frame “slightly” bent is no biggie to straighten out on a unit body if it is only “slightly” bent. The rest of what you say is routine maint (to me) and not expensive in the bigger picture assuming the unknown to us is that the car isn’t a complete disaster and only a little bruised and battered. Your description is not convincing me you should throw in the towel on this classic. Please send us clear pics of your concerns from a decent distance away so we can zoom in on the areas of concern.

 

[Mister 4x4]

Pictures would definitely be a big help, as well as a better idea of what 'bent frame' actually means. The reason unibody cars are written off when they get bent is because there's not a proper frame to keep everything straight. Once something get compressed, it's super involved and difficult to get it all back into shape... and even then, the structural integrity has been compromised.

Here's why my wife's 2015 Camaro was totaled - this is considered a bent frame, and getting it back into shape, while possible, is not worth risking total structural failure if another accident were to occur. Notice the crease on the door sill - totaled.




If not for that, I'd say put some new sheet metal on it along with some new tires, restuff and reset the airbags and have a nice day.


But, the cost of the repairs definitely would've exceeded the value of the car.

Having put my car back together from such a structural reconstruction level, I'd wager I probably wouldn't survive the same hit her Camaro took (T-boned at 65mph)

 

[73 Mach 1 4 me]

John, I'm sorry to read this news. You are definitely at a crossroads and I hate that you're having to make this decision. A very, very tough question to answer since I don't know you or the car. But, I have a checklist I go thru when I buy/sell a car and I guess it would apply here too. Or, at least food for thought. Maybe answering a few of these will provide a clearer picture for you.

1. Do you truly value its sentimental value
2. Replacement value vs value in the payoff
3. Time & effort to replace the car
4. Is it 100% repairable
5. Is it 100% safe to drive once repaired
6. Can you absorb the 40% hit on a rebuilt/salvage title in an emergency sell

Just a jump off place - like I said, that is a tough decision especially since the current 71-73 market has been so crazy lately.

Speaking of a crazy market for 71-73 lately for 1973 I’ve been seeing a lot of advertising from $24000 to $52000 for cars that look to be in decent shape and H code to boot. I called to up my insurance and hagerty told me the value for my car was in that price range. I know the true value is what ever someone is willing to pay but still $52000 for a 73 H code seems like a lot. My 73 is priceless to me , I’m also concerned about what’s going to happen too value of classic cars if our present government succeeds with their plan of forcing the public into electric cars.

 

[Hemikiller]

Definitely need more information and pics. What is the insurance company offering you?

 

[69 Rustang]

This was a “total loss” last December. It is my Son’s 1994 Mustang GT Convertible with a 5 speed. The insurance company paid us very well for the car, then told me it was mine to dispose of—which was rather odd based on my experience in the collision industry. They did give me a phone number for a company that would pay a set value for the car. It had some damage to the radiator support and front structure. I could have done all the work except the structural pulling and measuring. Fortunately I had a friend/customer of mine do the straightening and install a new radiator support. I rounded up all the parts and finished it at home. The big payout from the insurance company bought us another car for my son to drive while I dealt with the Mustang rebuild. It does have a salvage title now, but we don’t care as we are into this car so cheaply and I have 2 sons that will need cars to drive. I was not emotionally attached to this car at all, but my son was. That was my motivation. Now that I spent so much time working on this car, I actually care about it—LOL.

So—with respect to 7mach1’s original post here—it depends on the damage and what it takes to rebuild it. Do you have photos and an estimate? And are you capable of doing some or most of the work yourself? Do you want to do the work? And as someone else pointed out—is there sentimental value or some rare/uniqueness of this car that you would save it?

 

[MikeGriese]

.....

Having put my car back together from such a structural reconstruction level, I'd wager I probably wouldn't survive the same hit her Camaro took (T-boned at 65mph)


I don't think anyone would survive a 65mph T-bone in a 71-73 Mustang when it was new.

 

[7mach1]

Guys, thanks for all the input!
Insurance says it will be 27g to fix, making it a total, that will make it a salvage title. Being how it’s a driver (#3) I’m not sure it would be worth fixing (myself).
I’ve got a lot of pondering to do.