BX Club Forum

Alas ...As it seems that you cant add attachments to other forums and other image facilities are boring, I thought I'd post the latest pix of the poor GT..

Although as much as I was aware that the thump the car took was nasty, the damage could have almost been cosmetic,,Not the case as today I removed the bumper to move the car to discover internal damage that which ever way i looked at it was not going to be simple to fix.

The bumper is salvageable with plastic welding, BUT the front corner substructure needs an accurate pull and considerable panel work to get it straight..

Just when I thought that I had found all the damage I kept on seeing more misalignment in all 3 dimensions.

So she will need a pull both out and up, as well as panel straightening for every panel that intersects this corner...and I really don't know how practicable that is financially. She will most likely be written off this time (and not the soft "repairable write off" either)...So it now comes down to the cars value. I have a fair idea I know what they'll offer me, but should I negotiate much higher but shy of what it would cost to actually repair her? Repair bill would be $4k... last valuation was about $3k.. How do you account for hours spent getting this as sorted as a fairly new car, despite that I would not want a fairly new car...!!!

Crumple zones worked their magic, but to the ultimate demise of the whole car..amazed that even with the whole light weightness of the BX these important sections are made from some seriously decent metal. The BX is so under rated for so many reasons and this is just one of them.. SAFETY...(remembers..it was a freakin big thump)

Some of those parts (bumper reinforcing, headlamp panel) are still available here - not sure about MK1 wings, though I suppose at a push a MK2 one could be modified to fit. God know what the shipping cost will be though

A cheap/bodge solution might be to fit the wing however you can (maybe adding new supports if the existing ones are in the wrong position), and just cobble together brackets to get the headlamp/bumper roughly in the right place. Not what I'd do by choice, but if that was the only realistic option I might...

Thats mendable! you may be able to do something with that wing, they are very flimsy and may be able to be straightened to a degree once off the car.

Indicators and lamps are easily sourceable.

That's really not that bad, is it

Kitch wrote:That's really not that bad, is it

I expected much worse myself, my own GT wasnt much better when i got her.

is that all? You could pull that lot out with some decent stilsons and a strap affixed to something solid. My TD was far worse than that, in the same corner actually, and I pulled it out with a ratchet strap and a tree.. Took 30 minutes..

I've just cut the front end off an '85 TRD - might be a bit impractical to send such a lump of old tin half way round the world though! But, as Doc says - looks as though it could be sorted with some leverage and a bit of hammering.

Thanks for the words of encouragement guys... (I still think its a mess of straightening to do though ..

Good news is that I have been able to source the (external) parts "locally", Adelaide actually.. Adelaide again how ironic is that?..but hey thats only 1200km away..

Can get a wing for $110 and an indicator for $30 .. Bumper (TRS, that would need the GT over riders swapped over to) for $220 but as I said I think I can salvage the bumper..and now I'll have to ask the same guy if he has the plastic bumper mounting bracket too..

BUT as for the crushed stuff underneath...as the car is now again mobile I can limp it around and see what sort of quotes I can muster for the pull and repair.. Thanks for the "home pull" tips, but its just something I'd prefer to let those who do it every day do.. I can only imagine the frustration of trying to get things aligned with a DIY approach for this job....I know of a place close by that charges only $31/hour for pulling so they may get the job..being under the bumper I guess they dont need to be super fussy in respect to panel straightness.... all comes down to coin..and what the insurance company will do for me..