Ouch...New "modification" to my 58

Last Thursday a young girl was turning into the right hand lane while I was driving by in the left and we met by accident. There was a car in the painted median and I had nowhere to go. She just didn't turn the wheel far hard enough to stay in her lane. Her insurance has accepted liability so I'm keeping my fingers crossed I can get it repaired without too much of a fight. (Allstate) Fortunately I got a good look at her when it actually happened and she was NOT on the phone. Still, while waiting for the cops to show up I was almost sick to my stomach looking at the poor old girl. All these years without a major bang up....

I'll be talking to some body shops tomorrow and see if I can find someone comfortable with good metal work. But here's a question, what about the paint? They're not going to be able to match 25 year (?) old faded paint (repaint sometime in her past) and they aren't going to want to pay to paint the whole car.

 

teej, sorry! I have no idea how I would feel if one of my old cars got hit like that. And your wagon is more rare making some trim nearly impossible to find.
At least it was an accident and there was no bodily damage to either of you. Mental anguish and a broken heart, but time will heal those.

 

Oh man, that hurts!

I'd suggest doing a little part searching starting right now. You'll probably be better at locating whatever you need than the body shop. The rear door really needs a new outer skin, but you're not going to find that, so your alternatives are to fix that one or get a used one. At least from the pics, I'd be leaning toward finding a used door, assuming you can find one. And this also begs the question -can you use a sedan door? Short answer: No.


But a skilled shop can remove the outer skin off the sedan door, which should be the same, or very close!

You're probably going to need a replacement lower quarter molding, too?

Also, don't be surprised if the insurance company says it's a total loss. You don't want a salvage title on it. Getting a reasonable body shop estimate may be a good 'pre-emptive strike'.

 

Teej, I'm really bummed to hear and see the results of your mishap. What a shame. I hope it turns out to be a relatively hassle free repair with the insurance company. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. I'll bet her car sustained alot more damage than yours, based on the way they make them today compared to 53 years ago.

 

Damn shame. Here's big hopes that it will all work out in your favor, that's a great car and deserves a good fixin'.

 

Awe Man, I sorry teej. Like mark said, lets hope this works in your favor

 

Sorry teej, like everyone else wish you all the best and hope it all works out for you.

 

You seem very calm, were you this calm when it happened? Sorry this happened to your baby...good luck with everything.

 

That's horrible. I hope everything works out with the insurance company.

 

damn.......that door looks identical to the 58 chevy brookwood I scrapped!!!!! Im sorry

 

A few years back one friend of mine had someone run into the back of his 67 Barracuda convertible and another friend had a truck load of PVC pipes fall on his 64 Imperial.
Neither car was damaged enough to require replacing any sheet metal, but neither owner was willing to settle for the other driver's insurance company's initial plans for repair. The white paint on the Imperial couldn't be matched close enough to satisfy my friend, so he got the insurance company to repaint the entire car.
The Barracuda owner said the insurance company couldn't locate a replacement for the damaged trunk lid molding so he found an over priced N.O.S. molding on E-bay and the insurance company paid for it.

 

You're gonna need a R/R Door and a dogleg patch to fix that!
Door frame is twisted at the front edge - better off replacing it.
Allstate is usually pretty good at making claimants happy, and should give you a loaner while being repaired.
We've had some pretty good luck with yards in California going the 'extra mile' to get us what we need - look in Hemmings for parts, and don't take the car in until they're all at the shop!!
An offer of a 'couple bucks' to 'get it right', changes body shop attitudes, real fast, too!!

 

ya know, i told my wife i wish we lived in florida so i could drive something from the 50's daily like you (i think my choice would be a chevy/gmc advanced design pickup). im having 2nd thoughts about that now.

thank goodness she wasn't on the phone....that means it was just an accident. if she had been on the phone...i would have grabbed it and thrown it under the nearest moving truck!

 

Update... Insurance adjuster said $1600. Shops I talked to today said $3600 and one said $6000 without parts. He really didn't want to work on my car as it wasn't up to his standards. He really only wants to do high dollar restos...

Bad news is yes, I could have used the front door off the wagon that was scrapped. Fronts interchange with 58 wagon only. Rears don't interchange with anything. Neither does the rear trim.

Might have a lead on some parts, I'll keep you posted.

 

Ian, no matter where you drive accidents happen. May as well be here driving most of the year and having fun in the sun. Lots of 47-55 Chevy pickups just waiting to be fixed up or some just waiting to be driven.
Some ready to show and cruise like this one.