Started my new Dirty Mary Crazy Larry Replica

[Aero426]

The repair should be relatively simple and not too expensive I think. Complete southern clips are available here in Canada for less than a grand. I've often heard that nobody makes hoods for these cars. As some of you know, AMD makes hoods and everything else. Nothing costs more than a grand. I bet I could fix the car myself if I had to.

Fix it yourself?   Are you kidding me?   You are underestimating the amount of labor and expense involved. 

[surmanajaja]

The repair should be relatively simple and not too expensive I think. Complete southern clips are available here in Canada for less than a grand. I've often heard that nobody makes hoods for these cars. As some of you know, AMD makes hoods and everything else. Nothing costs more than a grand. I bet I could fix the car myself if I had to.

Fix it yourself?   Are you kidding me?   You are underestimating the amount of labor and expense involved. 

I agree. do yourself a favor and put it in a reputable shop that doesnt take forever to do it. when you tear it down, you WILL find a lot of things wrong with it, even in best case scenario. if you try to fix it yourself it might end up never getting back together, i dont want to be so negative but I have a car in my garage that hasnt been driven in 15 years and its straight and rustfree...

[resq302]

I agree with others.   I would let a pro shop do it just to make sure it is done right.  Glad to see you are still with us and hopefully the car can be repaired.  If not, it can be replaced!  Bottom line is as much as we love our cars and consider them a part of us, they are just a car and can be replaced.

[404NOTFOUND]

Yes a shop is going to do it. They are getting paid to do it so why not.

[charger_fan_4ever]

Any estimates yet from the insurance?

[model maker]

Whose insurance is paying for it ? when you see all these cutrate ins. cos. out there, all of them with such cheap premiums for those people who should never be allowed to drive a car in the first place so they can have insurance, are the ones who refuse to pay what it costs to repair or replace a 1969 dodge charger or any other classic car that their IRRESPONSIBLE driver damaged.their opinions are always " the car is 45 years old, etc, etc. it is not worth THAT MUCH. I think that if you have collector car insurance, let them get the car repaired CORRECTLY the first time with real parts & by someone who KNOWS HOW TO DO IT RIGHT the first time, then let the classic car ins. co. GO AFTER THE CUTRATE JOINT to recover every penny.
Bert

[404NOTFOUND]

I have heard from the insurance but, there is no decision yet as they are still sorting out parts prices. Fact is, I have a perfect, show grade car from the firewall back (well worth saving), and a huge mess up front. It is simply impossible to guess whether the car should be saved or written off. I had a closer look and can now see what happened. The front of one frame rail folded in two spots like a "Z". The K member is attached there and it moved which caused a lot more problems. As the K moved, it twisted the rail on the drivers side and as it moved back, It bent the control arm and even the torsion bar. I have also now discovered that both motor mounts broke causing the engine to fly forward and left. There is a hole in one valve cover where it hit the brake booster and the steering shaft is bashed to one side. The crank pulley looks bent and possibly the balancer too. The one inner fender is badly mangled but the firewall is undamaged I think. I have full replacement value insurance based on my appraisal. I can't go wrong. My options are, repair the car if possible, cash out and walk away, cash out and buy back the car and find an affordable shop or make it into a project. I could get a new front clip professionally installed and do the rest my self and have lots of money left over. That's what I would like to do except I would have very little time to do it. It's all a numbers game right now. A very possible but expensive repair. How much money is the only issue.

[model maker]

What did the police report say about the other driver ? were they cited for pulling out into traffic & failing to yield the right of way to vehicles  Traveling ON the highway ?

[404NOTFOUND]

What did the police report say about the other driver ? were they cited for pulling out into traffic & failing to yield the right of way to vehicles  Traveling ON the highway ?

Yes, she was charged with failing to yield. I went by the crash scene the other day. I thought I had skidded from one lane to the next but, the skid marks started only in the passing lane. I now recall I was trying to drive around her hoping she would stop and I braked hard in the left lane when I knew the crash was certain. This means she is a bigger idiot than I originally thought.

[Aero426]

How much money is the only issue.

That is the 64 thousand dollar question.   Almost anything is repairable for a price.  

By your description, you are now getting past the tip of the iceberg.   A lot of secondary damage does not become apparent until the tear down of the car.   For example, what is the actual condition of the engine and or transmission?   (Answer: Nobody really knows yet. )    When the engine is pulled will there be any damage transmitted to the rest of the body, the torsion bar crossmember and trans tunnel area when everything broke loose?   As you are discovering,  it is more than just slapping on some new front rails, which in and of itself is a pretty big deal.   It is the brake booster, the steering  mechanism, the radiator, all the little bolt on stuff.  It's chunks of parts that all add up to a big bill.   I think you will be surprised how high the estimate will come in to return it to pre-accident condition.  

If this were a late model car, it would be sent to salvage.    It's hit that hard.  All comes back to the cost of putting Humpty back together.  

[model maker]

This is why it pays to have the BEST insurance you can have, especially one that will stand behind & with you against an insurance co that wants to go the CHEAP ROUTE with YOUR car. It is going to take a lot to get your charger back to where it was with NO hidden surprises later on. the other driver was at fault and YOU shouldn't have to suffer because of it. Make sure whoever it is that will be working on your charger really knows what to look for. These cheapo ins.cos. think that if it looks ok cosmetically then they have satisfied their end of it. It is all of the things you cannot see that must be addressed and that will take someone who is MOPAR smart. These people need to be made aware of the fact that these parts are rare and hard to find but it was THEIR INSURED CUSTOMER who was at fault, broke the law by choice and you suffered and need to be made "whole " again having a charger that was in show car condition ( how can they argue any differently now )  and needs to be returned to that pre-accident condition. no matter how you look at it, your charger took a big hit and now that has to be disclosed in the future if you had ever planned to sell it and you will take a finacial hit in value. That needs to be addressed somehow, why should you lose future resale value because of their insured irresponsible driver. what has your collector car ins. co. said about this whole mess ?

[vick79]

damn, thats awful... well at least all your body parts are still intact and undamaged. these old cars are one big crumple zone. Beautiful R/T like that so sad... I can imagine replacement is not easy or cheap. that car survived 43yrs until it met that damn that stupid idiot woman. Good luck hope you get every penny of what its worth.

[doctor4766]

Bert makes some good points.
I mean, insurance companies are more than happy to take their customer's premiums to insure against incidents/accidents that often never happen. They make money from taking on the risks, so when it comes time to pay out on claims, they needn't be tight fisted.

[Beep Beep Dave]

Wow it will be sad not to see that car this summer. I am really glad you made it out ok. Hopefully everything works out for you.

I like the DMCL idea too but I am not sure that I would do it.
 
Dave

[404NOTFOUND]

Wow it will be sad not to see that car this summer. I am really glad you made it out ok. Hopefully everything works out for you.

I like the DMCL idea too but I am not sure that I would do it.
 
Dave

Thanks. I still want to go the DCML route if the car is saved. You have to be the right kind of person to actually do it. Personally, I could never go the GL route. Nothing wrong with a GL, it's just not me.

[472 R/T SE]

Imo, there's no doubt that car is totaled.   

[404NOTFOUND]

Imo, there's no doubt that car is totaled.  

Possibly but, it depends on only one thing now, the repair cost. It's not a matter of whether the car can be saved, it easily can be. The car is heavily insured and as long as the repair cost is well under that amount, it will be repaired like new again. If the repair cost gets too close to the insured amount, it's a write off. That's not to say the car is scrap either. I could still keep it and fix it mostly myself cheaper or, I could let it go and some serious do it your self type will pick it up. Here is a pre crash pic of the rear of the car. It still looks like this from the firewall back, perfectly straight and not a ding to be found and the original floors are just as nice underneath. One way or another, it won't wind up on the scrap pile anytime soon.

[Beep Beep Dave]

I like that movie so much I could see having the cop car. I have a 71 Polara but the movie used 72's.

Hopefully something can be done. Best of luck and keep us updated.

Dave

[model maker]

I wish you well in having your charger brought back to better than new condition, and it really pisses me off that some irresponsible driver caused this. To them and their ins.co, it is "just a car" they are clueless on WHAT this charger is & what it means to have survived kike it has & remained in the factory showroom condition it stayed in all these years & then one day, some dim wit decided they could ignore the law, ignore common sense and deprive you of all you worked hard to have. The fact you have something almost irreplaceable. It would sure be nice to have enough money to own a 69 Charger AND have enough property ( like billionairs do ) to make your OWN road & highway, track to drive your carany way you decide to without fear of cops or a knucklehead driver to interfere with your Charger and your worryfree driving of it. Yeah, it sure would be nice but at least we can dream.

[aussiemuscle]

To them and their ins.co, it is "just a car"

not just a car, but just and OLD car 

i see the attraction of doing it as DMCL, but i think i'd miss the sexy red car it is. i guess you can always change it back if you get tired of it.

[MagnumForce]

wow thats quite a crash, good thing no one was hurt but it kills me when i see a classic like that get damaged    I really hope you can fix it back up!

[lloyd3]

Sorry to see this.  Looks like mine did about 4-years ago next week (the 8th).  Hard pill to swallow....  

Mine was caused by an old duffer in a golf cart.  Luckily, I couldn't get out my door either (had to finally go out the passenger side) or I might have done something truly regrettable.  Your hit appears to have been much harder than mine, though.  Still, getting somebody competent to tear it down carefully (to salvage what you can, the small stuff really matters here) and then straighten the sub-frame is critical.  Choose carefully!  You will be happy to know that with the power of the internet, parts were surprisingly findable, even the grill stuff.  My insurance covered about $8k of the work I've had done so far (my agreed value was fairly low to save on $$$, bad plan!) with the total today at about $24K.  My paint would have never matched and the fellow I found to do the work is very competent so I essentially did the whole car (freshened brightwork, new headliner and carpet, new tranny, etc.).  The downside for me is my expert was/is getting on in years and his health has been a real challenge.  About a year ago, I thought he might expire with my car spread all over his shop (along with about a dozen others, half of them Mopars!).  Sorting out that estate would have been absolute futility, so while it's taken far-longer than I would have ever thought, I'm sooo grateful that it didn't go that way.  It's down to just weeks now, and maybe even days.  

The time has actually allowed me to spread the costs out too, so it hasn't seemed quite so bad.  Another advantage of the extended time has been that he allowed me to help where I could (block sanding, bead blasting, parts cleaning and chasing, etc.) and by doing it slowly, we were able to tackle a number of little, niggling things (new front glass, wiper seals, cat's whiskers, missing body plugs, worn hood and door hinges, bad rear window trim mounts, etc.) that I never would have dealt with otherwise.  Because the car had been at the Drags in the Midwest for many years, sections of the interior and door panels had been cut out (for weight savings?) and the truck was full of holes for battery tie-downs and fuel-pumps.  All of that has been dealt with now, so hopefully, no more fumes, rattles, and leaks!  I might actually be able to hear the 8-Track now. All-in-all, I'm fairly certain that it will be a better car than the one I bought 16-years ago.  

[404NOTFOUND]

Sorry to see this.  Looks like mine did about 4-years ago next week (the 8th).  Hard pill to swallow....  

Mine was caused by an old duffer in a golf cart.  Luckily, I couldn't get out my door either (had to finally go out the passenger side) or I might have done something truly regrettable.  Your hit appears to have been much harder than mine, though.  Still, getting somebody competent to tear it down carefully (to salvage what you can, the small stuff really matters here) and then straighten the sub-frame is critical.  Choose carefully!  You will be happy to know that with the power of the internet, parts were surprisingly findable, even the grill stuff.  My insurance covered about $8k of the work I've had done so far (my agreed value was fairly low to save on $$$, bad plan!) with the total today at about $24K.  My paint would have never matched and the fellow I found to do the work is very competent so I essentially did the whole car (freshened brightwork, new headliner and carpet, new tranny, etc.).  The downside for me is my expert was/is getting on in years and his health has been a real challenge.  About a year ago, I thought he might expire with my car spread all over his shop (along with about a dozen others, half of them Mopars!).  Sorting out that estate would have been absolute futility, so while it's taken far-longer than I would have ever thought, I'm sooo grateful that it didn't go that way.  It's down to just weeks now, and maybe even days.  

The time has actually allowed me to spread the costs out too, so it hasn't seemed quite so bad.  Another advantage of the extended time has been that he allowed me to help where I could (block sanding, bead blasting, parts cleaning and chasing, etc.) and by doing it slowly, we were able to tackle a number of little, niggling things (new front glass, wiper seals, cat's whiskers, missing body plugs, worn hood and door hinges, bad rear window trim mounts, etc.) that I never would have dealt with otherwise.  Because the car had been at the Drags in the Midwest for many years, sections of the interior and door panels had been cut out (for weight savings?) and the truck was full of holes for battery tie-downs and fuel-pumps.  All of that has been dealt with now, so hopefully, no more fumes, rattles, and leaks!  I might actually be able to hear the 8-Track now. All-in-all, I'm fairly certain that it will be a better car than the one I bought 16-years ago.  

Good to see yours is coming along. I know I'm not alone out there. Other classics do get smashed out there. I still want to do the car differently if they end up saving it. I don't want the car back looking the same with no improvements. The only way to bury the bad memories of what happened will be to paint it differently, different wheels etc. This way I can look forward to getting back a car that is fresh and exciting. I don't want to put out every detail on a public forum until the insurance settles but, I will be sure to do so once the time comes. Whether the insurance company and the shop treats me right or wrong, you will all be sure to know about it. I want to make sure both get the attention they deserve and to help others here who are trying to choose insurance or a shop. I'm told it will be a couple more days. Will keep you posted.

[Dino]

I don't want the car back looking the same with no improvements. The only way to bury the bad memories of what happened will be to paint it differently, different wheels etc. This way I can look forward to getting back a car that is fresh and exciting.

I see what you're saying and it makes perfect sense.  It's obvious that you want a DMCL clone so it really doesn't matter what anyone else thinks, just go for it.  Besides it's just paint, a stripe and some slot mags, no big deal if you get tired of it.

[404NOTFOUND]

I don't want the car back looking the same with no improvements. The only way to bury the bad memories of what happened will be to paint it differently, different wheels etc. This way I can look forward to getting back a car that is fresh and exciting.

I see what you're saying and it makes perfect sense.  It's obvious that you want a DMCL clone so it really doesn't matter what anyone else thinks, just go for it.  Besides it's just paint, a stripe and some slot mags, no big deal if you get tired of it.

Exactly. Hey it's an R/T clone now. In fact, the front and rear R/T badges were already on the car when it was found in Texas as a creme coloured 318 car. The main DMCL car also had R/T badges but was apparently not a factory R/T so, my car fits the plan perfectly.