Wrecked. What to do? Options

[dr914@autoatlanta.com]

My son just wrecked our '73 2.0 carbureted yesterday. Flipped it on its top, roll bar/rear window frame did its job, protected him, except for his arm getting caught under it. Arm not broken, landed in the dirt. But what do I do with the car? The owner of the tow service/salvage yard will be giving me a bid on it Monday. There is already a $125 towing charge for picking it up. $75 would get it delivered home. All the sheet metal is damaged, except maybe the rear trunk lid, car had rust issues before and engine had oil consumption issues also. But it was fun to drive. Anyone got any advice? What do I hope for from him, what could I hope for parting it out, any other options?

Edit: I have plenty of pictures, but they are too large to post. How can I make them smaller?

this car would be easy to repair and the parts damaged cheap to buy, but the car looks a little rough to spend the time repairing and then restoring

[Mid_Engine_914]

Here are some more pictures.

The roll bar held up well.

[John]

Without going through it in any detail (there really is no detail shown), I think the worst part is the driver side rear. Is the trailing arm bent or is the suspension console broken/torn off. (This would be my determining factor to repair this car cheaply.)

If the trailing arm is what is bent, new ones are cheap. If the suspension console (part of the frame rail that the trailing arm bolts to) is ripped off/broken, you should leave that repair to an expert and would be somewhat expensive.

If it were mine (and I have no spare money to spend), I would take out some hammers and get the fenders and doors as close as I could. I would bend the windshield frame back into place and see how bad it really is (they can be cut off and replaced). I possess enough parts to put that one back together, so if it were mine I would rebuild it myself.

It's not mine and I have 2 tubs to reassemble some day.

Whatever you decide to do, there are still some parts on that car worth something:

bumpers and rubber tops
wheels
rear turn signal lenses
interior parts
engine
transmission
axles

the list goes on.

Just don't give it away.

just my $0.02

[McMark]

I'm from the land of 914s, but it looks too far gone for repair. You're going to have everything replaced before you're done. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) I'm glad to see the safety of these cars helped protect your son. I'm sure he's learned a little something about speed. Lots of good parts there. Part it out or swap them over to a good chassis. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/thumb3d.gif)

[cooltimes]

How is your son doing now? Ok we all hope.
I noticed that driver side rear wheel turned in too. I think the least amount that would have to be spent would be over $4K to get it back to where it was. After seeing these latest photos, thank God your son was in a 914 because any other car would have not protected him as your 914 did.
Buy another one. There are plenty that won't cost as much as to repair one in that condition. Keep your 914 if you can because you can always use or sell the parts. Those are some nice looking Fuchs and a chrome bumpered 914 looks better too IMHO.

[jeeperjohn56]

My son just wrecked our '73 2.0 carbureted yesterday. Flipped it on its top, roll bar/rear window frame did its job, protected him, except for his arm getting caught under it. Arm not broken, landed in the dirt. But what do I do with the car? The owner of the tow service/salvage yard will be giving me a bid on it Monday. There is already a $125 towing charge for picking it up. $75 would get it delivered home. All the sheet metal is damaged, except maybe the rear trunk lid, car had rust issues before and engine had oil consumption issues also. But it was fun to drive. Anyone got any advice? What do I hope for from him, what could I hope for parting it out, any other options?

Edit: I have plenty of pictures, but they are too large to post. How can I make them smaller?

Sorry to here about your car, glad your son is alright.If you part out would like a price on front bumper
with rubber top also how`s the shape of the targa pad under the roll bar is it in good shape with no cracks? Thanks John

[abbott295]

I heard from Peter a couple of days ago. He was starting to get more use of his hand, (piano class) reported little muscle pain, but the skin burn was causing some discomfort. Skin burn, rug burn, mat burn, whatever indicates he may have slid a little on it. I also want to mention that he was wearing his seatbelt and that certainly helped also.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I called the salvage yard yesterday and the owner had had to go out of town on Monday for a funeral and wasn't back yet, so that is why I don't have his bid yet, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to keep it and get it on the road and not worry about the dents.

And y'all be careful out there. I don't want anyone else having an accident, on the road or at home or at work.

[greybeard50]

Check out where the boy plays at: http://www.spiritdrumcorps.org/
Wow! I hope you are proud parents! I am glad to hear that you boy came through OK & maybe learned a bit of applied physics in the bargain.

I really do not have an opinion on the best way to proceed...I have plenty of projects myself & some days I think it would be mentally healthier if I limited them to 1 or 2.

However, I do know the outcome of being slow played by the Towing company...you must be very careful or your "storage fees" will eat up any equity you thought you had.

You know and I know that piece of property 12 ft by 8 ft would be there whether your car was occupying it or not. The towing co. does not look at it like that. 10 days storage at $75 per day is $750 will you be paying in cash or with a credit card???

[shadygrady]

Glad to hear Peter is getting along fine. I didn't think about storage fees piling up. I am in the area and do have a trailer, if you need one. Pm me if you need help getting it home to save storage fees.

[abbott295]

No, he said they would not charge storage which would normally be $20 a day. Didn't hear from him today, so I need to call tomorrow.

I won't know the situation with the driver side rear wheel until I can get it home and take a look at it. That appears to be what caught on something and stopped sliding and started the flip. Don't know how the passenger side got scraped though.

Is there a prize for Ugliest 914? I've gotten 'Dead Dirty Last' twice with my Bimmer at Peachtree Chapter BMWCCA's concours. Pardon my French. Concourse? Doesn't look right either way.

[cooltimes]

No, he said they would not charge storage which would normally be $20 a day. Didn't hear from him today, so I need to call tomorrow.

I won't know the situation with the driver side rear wheel until I can get it home and take a look at it. That appears to be what caught on something and stopped sliding and started the flip. Don't know how the passenger side got scraped though.

Is there a prize for Ugliest 914? I've gotten 'Dead Dirty Last' twice with my Bimmer at Peachtree Chapter BMWCCA's concours. Pardon my French. Concourse? Doesn't look right either way.

Driver telling you doesn't hold water. I would get with Grady and get that 914 off that lot as quick as possible. This happened on the 9th and tomorrow, Friday is the 16. That $120 at least plus their charge to pick it up.

I wouldn't believe anything unless the price was in writing and signed by the owner of that wrecker service. We live in a different world and not too long ago, you could believe what most Southerners said but sad to say, not any more. Get it now.

[abbott295]

Y'all are such cynics. Isn't anyone naive like me anymore? It was the owner who told me they would not charge storage, but yes. it is time to get it out and get it under cover.

[greybeard50]

Cynic is such a harsh word...worldly wise may say it better without the "bite". I grew up in a community in north central Indiana where every male the age of your Dad was a WWII vet & grandpa's were from WWI. Everyone knew you & if you needed to get your ass kicked there were enough "Dad's" around to see that you learned your lesson. Heck, we usually had more adults at our Boy Scout campouts than kids!

Why the long story? If my 55 Chevy stopped for any reason, I could walk to the next house & get help. Several times the farmer would just tell me to fire up this or that tractor & drag 'er in to the barn lot & I could pick it up whenever I could get back.

The Shop teacher at school would help getting it fired back up & off I would go to BBall practice or to see Mary Ann. At any given time, there were about 70 High School Males with driver's licenses in the area & I'm guessing my situation was not unique. We all relied on one another.

BTW, when the farmer called & asked for help putting up the hay crop, I went gladly. When the Shop teachers house burned, I helped re-build it gladly.

Unfortunately, this same situation was not available to my kids. The school was much bigger, families were not as close, farming was done by strangers, etc. AND once (just once) I got bit by the Tow/ Storage dog.

[abbott295]

I grew up in a similar time and place and still haven't outgrown that way of looking at people. I still find that they pretty much live up to your expectations. Piedmont, Alabama may still be like that. People stopped to help get Peter out of the car and one of the ladies called me to tell me he had been in an accident and where she thought he had been taken and the ambulance that was used and where the car was likely towed to and asked to be informed about his injuries and all. I called her several times that night to get more information and to let her know what I was finding out.