Had a Toyota truck pull out in front of me this afternoon. Contact at 30 +/- into his left tire buckled my right front at the wheel well. Anyone have experience with the body repair issue? Front end and alignment seems fine on the drive home. It could have been worse.
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Ouch - bad day. Unbolt the front bumper it looks like it's applying pressure on fender causing wrinkle.
Sorry for your damage. That's no 30 mph crash tho. 3 mph?
Was going 30. Barely had time to brake. But you are right. 30 would be a lot worse.
Jim,
You may want to read your last post again. Looks like a typo to me. Regarding shops, your family/friends/neighbors are good referrals for quality shops in your area. Many body shops work on fiberglass, but don't advertise that they do. A local car club is also a good source. Any place that does Corvette repairs will work. Best of luck and please keep the site informed.
Too bad, Put it up on a hoist and front end alignment unit and check it all out just in case.
Sorry to hear about your mishap. That hurts.
Actually, was traveling at 35 In a heavy paroled road. Watched the truck come to the intersection, he braked as if to stop then pulled out in the direction I was headed. He stopped in my lane when he saw me. He was half way into his turn.
I bareley braked and slid into his turned front tire knocking out my headlight and caving in the bumper. Truck was a lifted 4x4.
Jim Dunn;
You might best be served, by not discussing this incident in a public forum. I'm not a legal professional, but I know what my attorney would tell me.
Art
^^I fully agree with the above post. I'm sure glad no one was hurt!
Back to the barely cracked, easy to fix (by you) fender...
Other then a perfect color match you could have this done in a 1/2 day.
Is that all of the damage to the body and paint?
Looks like headlight and turn signal chrome trim and bumper aluminum trim damaged - suspect bumper bracket pushed back in elongated mounting slots or bracket bent.
I have done quite a bit of glass work ( see above :~) you have more damage than meets the eye, it's a fracture on the back side from the compression of impact. You can do a quick grind just at the inch of so visible damage fill it in but it will show again....The right way to repair this is to cut a slice horizontally through the damaged this will relieve the pressure allowing it to relax and for the most part return to correct panel alignment. You will need to grind the face and back side down to raw glass and glass mat to make it a strong repair. grind that down and a bit of skim coat filler will finish it off.
Why all this talk of what Jim needs to do?
If what JD has said is true it will be the other guy's insurance paying for everything. I'd take it to a competent body shop that does/specializes in fiberglass and get it done at a top rate level. Forget all this, :You should do this..." or "You should do that...". I'd get the alignment done as well as check the whole car over.
He did have insurance and it will go to a top notch Corvette shop. What I was looking for is exactly the advise that Alan gave. I needed to learn what the correct way to properly fix it so I will know if the shop is going to do it right.
My next concern with a quality Corvette repair facility is if they will take one our cars seriously . Knowing what they should do will help getting the best shop.
You're not too far that you couldn't take it back to Beck - good opportunity for any MADNESS upgrades!
Alan helped me with the body work on the "GOLD BRICK" CMC I refurbished...... Upon his advice, I found numerous cracks that were not apparent on casual inspection.... I would cast a close eye on the fender bead/lip and the headlight bucket area..... Just my .02.......
I would say that Wolfgang (Greg) has the best advice. Have eh car taken back to the Beck folks in Bremen and let them do it. Know body knows their cars better than they do, and nobody will do a better repair job.
I really Cringe at the thought of crunching my car for whatever reason. My sympathy to to you for sure..........Bruce
Glad to hear you are OK and glad to see the body held up so well.
We repair 1-2 wrecks a year, and the adjusters always tell me they can't believe how resilient our fiberglass work is...
Regarding the repair, I'm sure you can find a facility by you, but if you want it done here we are happy to do so. In the past, clients have insisted on us dong the rear and the insurance company has picked up the tab for transport both ways.
I got the front end crunched while parked. Amazingly the person actually left a note with their information. Local hot rod shop did the job for me. They work with lots of custom glass. Might be a little more detail oriented than a vette shop.
I know if I needed major work on my IM, it would go back to Intermeccanica, even if Henry's shop is clear across the country from me.
I'd just feel better having the original builder do any repairs. They know the cars inside and out.
I agree that is the only way to get it really done right. I would certainly do it with anything major for sure. In any case, since we all have the madness, upgrades get done whenever it goes back to the maker. Just have a look at Marty's or Thomm's car 
Another option for fiberglass repair would be a boat shop.
Fixing the fiberglass is the easy part - silver and silver-blue are difficult colors to match - even adding a clear coat to exact match can change color. Suspect SE Beck knows what paints were used and perhaps its one of their stock color choices.
Metallics... most of the time you blend to the adjoining panel...
Jim Dunn posted:He did have insurance and it will go to a top notch Corvette shop. What I was looking for is exactly the advise that Alan gave. I needed to learn what the correct way to properly fix it so I will know if the shop is going to do it right.
My next concern with a quality Corvette repair facility is if they will take one our cars seriously . Knowing what they should do will help getting the best shop.
Jim,
We do and have done insurance/crash repairs and have a lot of experience getting the cars repaired correctly. Glass is not as easy as everyone thinks. The key is not to fix it, the key it to fix it so the repairs don't mark or come through after. Also, sometimes paint match is an issue and when it is, well, the insurance company has to pay for a complete respray. Suspension wise, we build our own front ends here using original VW factory tools and can make sure everything is straight.
Last time we did an insurance repair, they even covered shipping cost from northern CA to here.
If you want to go over your options, give me a call.
Alex
714-894-1550
P.S. Several folks on SOC have sent in the cars for crash repairs and have been totally satisfied.
FWIW: I had a good body shop repair a deep gouge in my fender. I have a metalic paint (a current Porsche color) and the wizards at this shop blended the new paint to old perfectly. And I mean perfectly. I saw the work in progress, and so I know what area was involved. It is impossible to tell where this work was done, even in bright sun. So it is possible to get it done and done right.
Often a body guy will say " Geesh, sorry can't match metallic's " Well yeah, that would be because "he can't" .... but a talented guy can and will. Metallic matching involves the exact metallic quantity, shop humidity, the right gun and tip, gun pressure, and the right guy doing the job.
Alan Merklin posted:Often a body guy will say " Geesh, sorry can't match metallic's " Well yeah, that would be because "he can't" .... but a talented guy can and will. Metallic matching involves the exact metallic quantity, shop humidity, the right gun and tip, gun pressure, and the right guy doing the job.
Correct. Need to take it to a good shop that knows glass and will do a proper job.
So, back on topic:
Jim asked for options to where to take his car. Since your car is a Beck, there is a good chance that you can have the insurance company cover the shipping cost to Beck in Indiana for the repairs. They made the car, so they should be the best qualified to fix it. Give them a call.
