Fix or Rebuild?

#21

Fixed that for ya. And couldn’t agree more!

#22

Amen

Julian, Sorry to hear about your little bump. Dang, if I bent a car the first time out my wife would be chewing my ass…

Anyway, I’d fix it.

Good Luck,

Don

#23

[quote=“donstevens” post=64678]

Julian, Sorry to hear about your little bump. Dang, if I bent a car the first time out my wife would be chewing my ass…

Anyway, I’d fix it.

Good Luck,

Don[/quote]

Well, I did make it to the third race of the weekend before destroying it. Of course, that’s the race the wife and kids came up to watch. Figures!

#24

Julian, you saw what my SM looked like. Cost me less than a grand for the body shop to pull it out and confirm the suspension was unaffected. Hell, I had a DD body shop do my E36 that was alot worse than that and it was like 3k. Its gonna have wrinkles, but hey its a racecar.

Tell them you don’t want them to do any finishing–no wrinkle removal, no paint, no bondo. Just close enough to mount bumpers, lights and close the trunk.

#25

I think I’d go with the rear end ectomy. Start drilling out those spot welds.

#26

Another vote for the rear end ectomy…unless the cage and the rear suspension points are tweaked. Fighting an ill handling race car due to a 1/16" here or there can be a biatch.

#27

Not so bad. Porto-Power, big-ass hammer, a few small parts and you’re back in business.

Good luck with getting it back on track.

#28

So I went back out to where I’m storing the car to have another look. It just doesn’t look bad enough to me to really and truly justify a $4k fix. (Especially considering how much of a percentage of the total cost of the car that represents, versus how much is actually damaged.)

I need to chat more with the body guy, and maybe get one more estimate to be sure.

The damage doesn’t appear to go past the spare tire well. I’m leaning towards ass-end-ectomy and working on finding the right price for it.

More pics:

#29

The Miata (after some pulling with a duelley in the paddock):

[URL=http://s41.photobucket.com/albums/e297/cosM3os/?action=view&current=miatacrash3.jpg][/URL]
[URL=http://s41.photobucket.com/albums/e297/cosM3os/?action=view&current=miatacrash5.jpg][/URL]

$1000 TOTAL for: bodywork, two bumpers, two tails, exhaust rebending, a headlight, and a diff housing.

The E36 (after a significant amount of pulling):

[URL=http://s41.photobucket.com/albums/e297/cosM3os/?action=view&current=100_1114.jpg][/URL]
[URL=http://s41.photobucket.com/albums/e297/cosM3os/?action=view&current=100_1113.jpg][/URL]

Something like 3k as I recall (def wasn’t 4 or 5). We had even talked about a rear ectomy, but this was so good we never fixed it. Sold it that way, in fact.

#30

One other thing to consider…after a hit that hard, you probably have 500 or so spot welds that have been compromised…get a new tub. Chuck

#31

Looking closely at the pics, this just does not look like a hit that totals the car. I think that the subframe mount points are going to turn out fine and the only frame damage will be to the frame rail after the trailing arm. Heck with welding on a rear clip, I bet you can get away with just welding on a RR corner.

So here’s a possible plan…Take it to a frame shop and comfirm that rear subframe mount points are both ok. Have them also check to see if RR trailing arm and it’s mounting ears on the subframe survived.

Then find some body guy with strong welding skills and a sense of adventure. Take the car to him and show him the damage. ID if it would be worthwhile for you to cut some/all of the RR off, or if it would be best for him to do it. Maybe you have to remove the RR trailing arm, maybe remove the whole rear subframe.

At endstate the car gets left with Mr. Adventure, as does a donor car. He cuts/welds as necessary. Aggressively volunteer to participate in order to reduce his labor hours. Get primer on the welds before they rust.

Then the car goes back to the frame shop and they confirm that the (new) RR frame rail is straight. This is necessary or your bumper won’t go on.

Then you buy a few new parts, and you’re done. You find Mr. Adventure and a donor car in a hurry and this is all going to be done in a month.

5yrs from now you’ll be regailing the newbies with some story like “That ain’t nothin’! I didn’t have my SpecE30 on the track for an hour before I totaled the damned thing. Man, I thought I was so screwed. But then, and listen here close you newbies, that’s when I found what SpecE30 was really all about.”

#32

I definitely wouldn’t pay 4k to fix it. I would probably do it myself hate every minute of it and take 10 times longer than I expected to finish it. Ask the body shop if supplying a shell will reduce the price. IIRC a rear quarter panel for a 2 door is around 700 but then again they might charge you a lot of labor to remove it.

#33

Was the spare tire in the car??

I would fix, but it will be weaker…if you hit the same spot again…car will be toast.

Al

#34

[quote=“FARTBREF” post=64694]Was the spare tire in the car??

I would fix, but it will be weaker…if you hit the same spot again…car will be toast.

Al[/quote]

No, I was heavy, so pulled the spare tire out to get weight down. In retrospect I can’t help but wonder how the damage would have been different if I’d had it in there.

When you say fix, you mean replace the rear corner, or attempt to pull/hammer it out and prettify with Bondo?

#35

Great thread guys. I too trashed my orange 4door 87 at VIR in the rain on saturday, 1st session 3rd lap DE 3’s. Some of you may have seen it up on the trailer post crash. Front left damaged and back left damaged. Back not quite as bad as Julian’s (close) but front may be worse.

Pushed radiator back about 1" but did not crack it. Bent hood. Bent control arm. I’ll post picks tomorrow.

I too am researching donor/swap vs. fix. I will discuss further with my some-time co-driver and supportive wife (she drives the car in de-2’s and we hot swap sometimes).

Again, thanks for all the info and this is why I chose SE 30 over Spec Miata and Spec 944.

#36

Bondo doesn’t belong on anything. If you have a dent put some stickers on it.

#37

Guys, just found this thread but I have to go to my job as an auto damage estimator so I’ll chime in later today, but my initial reaction is this isn’t time for a new shell. Where is the OP located? In my area (PA), body shops are dead slow and you could work a good deal on a discount right now.

Be back later today…

#38

I may have the rear section of an E30 that you’re also welcome to for free, located in Frederick MD. I say “may” because it’s been sitting at the body shop for months, and they may have trashed it by now. It’s the same shop that pulled my front end straight for about 3k, so you could make it one-stop shopping if their price is right for a rear-ectomy. E-mail me: victor at victor-hall.com if you’re interested.

Before:
https://picasaweb.google.com/victorehall/2010Car54Frame#5569091935281509010
After:
https://picasaweb.google.com/victorehall/M20?authkey=Gv1sRgCOmtq7qLt8TiTg#5716116541945257714

-Vic

#39

I fully agree. This website and the help it has provided got me through my build and was the reason I choose to go SpecE30. Still pissed my buddies choose a Miata and a 944. They will see the error of their ways in the future.

#40

Why do you think I defected from 944-Spec? :wink: