Its a writeoff

Hey folks, haven't managed to get on here recently as i was away offshore from the start of december till the middle of february then thanks to sky screwing up my internet changeover when i got back i've been without net access till now.

Sadly i managed to write my fronty off at the end of March so it won't be making an appearance at the annual meet

I don't think i could've had worse luck in the circumstances of the accident though! Was driving it to the garage one morning to put it in for the MOT retest (had just spent £600 on it!) and about 200m from my flat and about 400m from the garage i decided that the BMW in front of me looked far too shiny and round so did something about it.....also the car in front of the BMW too :oops:

Basically i had scraped the windscreen clear of frost (last frost of the sodding year too

) and set off. Could see fine until i went round the roundabout near my house, turned into the low morning sun and my windscreen was glowing. By the time i realised where the car in front of me was (stopped) it was too late. Bang!

Thankfully noone was injured but my fronty was written off as a CAT C as a result. Insurance company have paid me 3K and i get to keep the fronty which i was quite happy with. Not too bad for a 2001 with 60K on the clock. The mods obviously bumped their payout price up.

So i now have a little project on the go in the way of repairing the fronty so hopefully with bits bought from here i can piece the front end back together again. Its not actually all that bad, new bumper, new bonnet, new radiator (possibly intercooler too) and the crossbar section that goes across between the 2 wings above the radiator. The only bit of concern is one of the wheel arches (inner wall) just behind the front body mount as this has buckled a small amount so i don't know if this can simply be beaten out or whether it would have to be replaced (what would VOSA require?)

However my replacement car which all being well i'll be picking up a week on friday is certainly going to put a smile on my face

If i am picking it up on the 29th/30th then i'll be able to come past the FOG meet to say hello too

They sound better than they look too

and go sideways really really well!

Glad no one was hurt mate...has the monaro got a heated screen? :lol:

Do something really MAD with the B now fella!

So long as the chassis is straight I can't see the wheel arch, (which is part of what is effectively a large bolt on bit, mounted on rubber shock absorbing pads) being a problem, but then I'm not a VOSA inspector.

The 'ladder' style chassis is the bit that really needs to be straight in order for the car to drive 'right'

Lol, my fronty has been pretty mad for a while but, yeah, i feel a pick up coming on.....

Can't wait to get my grubby little mitts on it!

Nope, the chassis wasn't damaged, just bodywork etc. Basically the cost of replacing the body panels/respraying and labour wasn't cost effective compared to the cost of the car. Reckon i can have it repaired for a good bit under £500!

Further to wot Snapper said...if they take a hit on the wheels at all I have found that fronties are prone to chassis distortion behind the wishbone mounts...
Basically the chassis box section outer gets forced inwards and bends a bit by the rear most wishbone mounting...Only needs to be slight and it will sit the wheel back a good inch or so...
Might be worth a look mate, and maybe measure from hubs to a fixed point on the frame further back on the car to see if there is any difference from side to side...

It was a straight on front impact which only contacted the front bumper and grill above. I would bet the front wheels have had harder impacts offroad!!! I'll post some pics up so you can see but when the assessor was out looking at it he couldn't find any chassis damage. I'm assuming i would need to get it VOSA inspected to confirm that it is only body damage?

sounds an easy fix then mate...

Normally you fix it then take it vosa inspection...worth taking pics as you do it too, as keeps them happy to see that the repair was all panel replacement...
Most inspections though are really to check its not cutnshut (badly) or been flopped onto another car...and stuff like welding has been done properly when needed and that all relevant damage has been fixed...
Therotically if you beat the wings out, ensure there are no sharp edges at the front and replace and align the lights they would have to pass it

nice car you did not buy it of a guy called martin did u

Sorry to here your bad news Iain, but I think you will have it back on the road before long, knowing the time and effort you put into her in the first place :wink:

Maybe you'll be renaming her as the Phoenix or summat daft like that :lol:

g.

Well if i can find a fronty being broken in the same colour then i'm laughing!!!

Well i'm buying it from a garage down in Devon, couldn't be further away from me really (Doh!)

Yup, there's no way i'm scrapping her if i can help it, too much fun to be had yet! Hmmm, the phoenix eh? Not bad, not bad!!! Maybe a flame orange paint job......