Update to my wreck. Options

[DerekKim]

Well I am ok! Just bruised. Everything is healed. I'm back to doing normal stuff. I did go AXing the weekend after though. Thanks again Joe for letting me co-drive! She's a beast.

On to the car. The police report was all screwed. Turns out at 9:40PM it's still daylight out.... Anyways we aren't going to pursue it as he said I failed to yield the right of way to the other guy..... when he rear ended me... It's pretty queerbaggish. The good news is that there is a tub/fairly complete car near by that might be up for sale. I may have to just swap all the parts over, if the other tub is solid. My other options are
1. pay someone to hammer it all out
2. pay someone to cut out and weld a new piece(s) in
3. sell off everything I can and donate or junk the tub.

I don't even know how much someone would charge to weld a new rear quarter in for me.

[sww914]

If you can find a body guy that does side jobs, I'd think you could get a quarter welded on for $400 - $500. I'd do it for that, but I'm 1/2 way across the country. Ask the local autobody supplies of they know of any guys that are always doing side jobs, they have to buy materials somewhere, so they'll know who.

[DerekKim]

I honestly wouldn't trust anyone down here with my car. Maybe somewhere near by but I know of no one.

[highways]

Don't want to weld it yourself? You'd be suprised at what a bit of studying on the internet and 1 hour of practise can do. Sheetmetal is easy. Ofcourse, you need to rent a MIG, or borrow one.

[SGB]

He's right!
Damn, even with a Harbor frieght welder and some scrap metal, I practiced a few days- maybe a week in the evenings- then rewelded some bad areas at the jack point,,,,
O'course welding on the body is a bit different. I'm guessing by the time I was halfway through I would want to go back and redo the first half.- But if you proceed with that in mind....
I think you could probably do it but it will take a while. First to learn and at least I know I am slow as sh... You can always GRIIIIIND it if you screw up.
I'm really glad to have broken that "oh my god- welding!" barrier though. I might get purty with more practice, but I think I got function right now. It aint rocket science, just craft. That pretty well describes a 914 too, eh?

[Spoke]

Good to hear you're feeling better.

I pounded the rear end damage on my red 914 by myself. It took a lot longer than I expected but I did put the car back together for very little cash outlay. The rear panel straightened out nice, the rear fender went back into shape, and I was even able to get the trunk lid back into shape. The only outlay I had was a $10 ebay bumper, and $25 taillight. Paint I had so just needed some bondo and sandpaper. Total outlay was less than $100.

I already had a welder which came in very handy. I found the experience very rewarding and I'm very happy to have repaired my car and put it back on the road.

It is suprising how well the compressed, crunched metal moved back to its original shape with just the right pounding, stretching, pulling. If I had to do it again, I would.

Red 914 Before/After

Spoke