First Post: Disaster, crashed my '75 yesterday Options

[914_teener]

Where are the pics?

[Whitney Mic]

Where are the pics?

I didn't post them because I don't have anything set up on line with an online pic sharing service, and the forum wants a URL.

My email is in the first post, I will send pics to you if you email me directly.

Tomorrow I will look in to uploading the pics somewhere on line so I can post them here. Too late to do that now.

No really good shots of the damage or parts anyway. Car was parked in too tight at the lot to get a decent picture.


-- Whit

[porschetub]

Where are the pics?

Yep my thoughts too???

[Spoke]

I didn't post them because I don't have anything set up on line with an online pic sharing service, and the forum wants a URL.

I'm not sure why you don't load the pics up here like everyone else does? I can take pics right from my phone (connected to my PC via USB) and dump them on this site.

Would like to see your car to assess damage. 2 pages w/o a pic; gotta hit you with:

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/thisthreadisworthlesswithoutpics.gif)

[GaroldShaffer]

email me your pictures 914eco@gmail.com and I will post them here for you if you can't get to load.

[Whitney Mic]

Okay guys, sorry for the lack of pics, I couldn't find a way to upload them in the thread from my phone. I tried to send the few I have to Garold (thanks!) but the email server currently has issues. If it gets sorted out and sent, I'm sure he will post them for us all.

SHREK914 confirmed what I knew, I don't have the place, or the expertise to fix this myself. The body shop guy says he sees $10K in retail parts, and the need for a donor and major surgery. Even if I wanted to afford that, there would be no way I could take on the labor cost involved in repairing the damage.

I am hoping to get a decent settlement from AAA, then if I can arrange it, buy back the car and sell it to a local 914World member who is interested in some of the parts on the car. He said he'll take what he can use and pass the rest on to others. If we can work out the logistics; I don't know if the insurance company will get things finished soon enough to make this deal happen. I can find a way to store it for a very short time if anyone is interested in the whole thing after seeing the pics (if technology will bless us and work), but will make the deal already I'm working on now, if we can do it in time.

I am sure that the parts will be available in one way or another if the deal goes through anyway. I think both the buyer and I share the goal of getting as much of that car back on the road as is possible.

--Whit

[Whitney Mic]

Just a quick note: I finally did manage to get that email out to Garold.

Hopefully he can satisfy your collective curiosity soon. I will be heading up after work to take some better pics, and will figure out how to upload them tonight when I get back.

-- Whit

[GaroldShaffer]

Here are some pics emailed to me.

[Whitney Mic]

Thanks Garold, that's my baby

--Whit

[914_teener]

Good luck with the insurance co.

[Whitney Mic]

Hope that works, I have to figure out how to resize the pic file. That is a better shot of the car at the yard, I guess.

I will post a pic of the interior, then will see if I can figure out how to resize the images.

I feel old.

-- Whit

[Whitney Mic]

The car has all the VDO gauges, I was going to do an upgrade to the sound system and add a stereo head in the console area. Had great plans to build the system so it would be hidden when not in use, and wanted to keep the OEM Blaupunkt in the dashboard.

I was just getting to the point where I had the money and time (but no place) to get thinking about restoring it. I have the Ospho and primer to go after the surface rust, and yesterday I received the four jack stands I ordered so I could get it off the ground and work on it.

Timing is everything...

--Whit

[porschetub]

The car has all the VDO gauges, I was going to do an upgrade to the sound system and add a stereo head in the console area. Had great plans to build the system so it would be hidden when not in use, and wanted to keep the OEM Blaupunkt in the dashboard.

I was just getting to the point where I had the money and time (but no place) to get thinking about restoring it. I have the Ospho and primer to go after the surface rust, and yesterday I received the four jack stands I ordered so I could get it off the ground and work on it.

Timing is everything...

--Whit

Oh s#ht not good ,feel for you looked like a pretty good car,I have seen the old crash tests on these cars they are pretty safe,try that in a mid seventies Toyota....
Hope you get a good buy back from the insurance company,good luck

[Whitney Mic]

Oh s#ht not good ,feel for you looked like a pretty good car,I have seen the old crash tests on these cars they are pretty safe,try that in a mid seventies Toyota....
Hope you get a good buy back from the insurance company,good luck

Yeah, it was a great car. My brother had the suspension and everything just right.

I think things will go okay. The man at the body shop said he doesn't work on them and wouldn't even try to estimate the job for AAA if they asked, but would say the "right things" to get the proper people down to appraise the car.

I *hope* that I have something worked out to get the car taken care of by someone here, who will grab some stuff from the car and pass the rest on. That would be some comfort to me, and what I want to happen with the car. My other options are to take the insurance deal and sell it to the body shop guy, who will $ell the parts for as much as he can get, or let it go to salvage and know it will probably be crushed.

You can bet I will do my best to sell it here if I can. My offer for the price is that the buyer covers the cost of the buy-back from AAA, and maybe the MOMO steering wheel.

The big question for the sale I hope to make is timing. I have no good place to store it, and don't want to pay salvage yard fees for long.

I don't think renting a storage space would be practical. With the front wheels cocked to the left and caught against the body, it would be too hard to get the car in and out of a narrow space safely.

--Whit

[JeffBowlsby]

Is the suspension messed up or is just the sheet metal around the front R wheel pressed against the wheel keeping it from steering? If the latter a few minutes with a sawzall would free the wheel up and the car could be rolled around and even driven.

[Whitney Mic]

Is the suspension messed up or is just the sheet metal around the front R wheel pressed against the wheel keeping it from steering? If the latter a few minutes with a sawzall would free the wheel up and the car could be rolled around and even driven.

Hi Jeff, thanks for the advice.

I'm not sure how bad it is down underneath. I think the strut may be sprung. If I could do that it would be really good news though. I will see if I can find out today.

By the way, I had planned to email you soon; I was wiring the car for sound, and would have been asking you about what would be involved in moving the fuse box and battery to the front trunk, and to see about a harness or extension that would do that for me. Probably would have been out of my price range, at least until I dealt with the rust monster.

I really wish we could have met under better circumstances...

--Whit

[JeffBowlsby]

...what would be involved in moving the fuse box and battery to the front trunk, and to see about a harness or extension that would do that for me. Probably would have been out of my price range, at least until I dealt with the rust monster.
--Whit

That would be as simple as relocating your heart and stomach to your backpack. Don't even think about such a thing.

[Chris H.]

Do both doors open and close OK? How does the top fit?

[Whitney Mic]

...what would be involved in moving the fuse box and battery to the front trunk, and to see about a harness or extension that would do that for me. Probably would have been out of my price range, at least until I dealt with the rust monster.
--Whit

That would be as simple as relocating your heart and stomach to your backpack. Don't even think about such a thing.

About what my brother said when I told him I wanted to do that... it was just an idea I was exploring.

I would probably tried to do nothing more than move the fuse panel to the other side of the steering column anyway, after I looked at the huge pile of electrical spaghetti attached in that area.

I did have a very organized plan to add jumper wires in to the harness so that I would have enough free play to put the fuse box elsewhere in the cabin. I have a little more experience in wiring than mechanics, so I am pretty sure I would have been okay doing just that much.

Moot now, though.

My brother feels my pain and says if I can find another one, he will help me set it up right. He thought I would like a powder blue '74, if I could find one.

I think he has a huge guilt trip going because he kept putting off helping me with the car for his other (and more important) projects. Anyway, when I found the skin style option on the forum three weeks ago, I chose the L51P style because I liked that color best of the options. Funny how that works...

Not sure when I can do it, but if anyone has word on that powder blue '74, please contact me, I hope to be in the market for one soon.

I think I will call the new one Waldo, as I expect it will be very hard to find...

--Whit

[Whitney Mic]

Do both doors open and close OK? How does the top fit?

The right door seems okay, the left seems to have dropped about a quarter inch in the back for some reason. There are small spots of surface rust just starting to show, but I see no bubbles or other sign of serious problems.

The Targa top is in fairly good shape, but the driver side rear lock lever snapped the holding pin in the accident, which also tore up one of the new, expensive rubber replacement Targa top window seals I bought from Bontempi a couple of months ago.

The chrome around the engine bay and windows is in very good shape as well, just putting it out for all to see... The windshield has wiper scrape marks, I think they are just from years of rubber wearing on the glass. I don't know if that can be polished out.

About ten years ago some idiot my mom was with saw the *original* under door trim panels off the car because my brother was working on the Teener, and during a yard clean up the boy friend helpfully took the panels from beside the house and put them in the dumpster. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ar15.gif) They were gone before my brother came home from his gig at the Tech Shop.

I am still hoping to hear back from the prospective buyer I have been talking to on the forum, and I promised him first refusal if he wants to buy the car. IF I make that deal (and I will do whatever I can to make it happen), I will let him know if you are interested, and you can work it out with him. I don't want to profit from the sale, in the hope that the parts that are usable from the car go to people who need them for their restoration projects at a fair price from the person that does buy the car. The buyer has said he wants to take a few parts and pass the car on to another owner with the same mind set, to let them can get what they *need* and sell to the next owner, cycle to repeat until as much of the car as possible is back on the road, making the recipient cars that much more beautiful, more loved, and more fun to drive.

I don't want to disappoint you, but I know that I can't deal with parting the car out without any storage available.

I don't want to take anything from the car as a whole that will make the car less attractive to someone who wants to buy the corpse whole.

If I can sell the car here in the communal garage, I'm sure you can work a deal with the new owner to get what you want.

--Whit