A good buddy of mine hit a deer doing about 90 miles an hour in this car.
Wiped out the bumper, the fender, and the door, ( probably the headlight assembly as well, but I haven’t torn into it)

Can you believe his insurance company totaled the car?
It was insured for the right price so he took the buyout and then bought it back. He sold it to me for an amazing deal.
I will fix it eventually, but for right now it’s a great cruiser with a 425 an an M21 w/3.55’s

(I took it to a dealer who filled out the paperwork to turn the salvage title into a rebuilt title. I will register it this week and enjoy the hell out of it!)

 

What a deal!

 

Dude!

 

No. What insurance company?

 

Nice !

I see the Olds gods have been smiling on someone lately.

Peter if you could please do me a favor if and when you have a moment. Could I bother you to confirm tire spec and the total weight of wheel as accurate as possible ? Just rim and mounted tire would be great, lug nuts and hubcap would be icing on cake.

(65 442s and 1969 Supremes share the exact same tire spec, and I'm assuming rim width as well.)

 

You are a “442” magnet!

 

Nice score there Mr. 442.

 

Lucky you. Job well done. A door, a fender, bumper straightening and you’re back in business with a rare car.

To the insurance company, absolutely not worth it to do anything but total it. They wouldn’t want to burn the hours to source parts, which will be used, not NOS, most likely, then get involved with a body shop who may or may not fix the car to the owner’s satisfaction which could then turn in to a lawsuit against them…

Thanks from the community for saving one more.

 

Looking at here from WI, the door could be pulled to be ok and the fender looks pretty easy to pull and finish out fairly well.

 

I wish they could find me in that shape. Everything that comes my way needs floors, quarters, doors, roof, trunk, engine, trans, rear gear, glass, interior, rewiring...... basically everything. The fact the the rear quarter wasn't hit is a miracle in its self. Is a there a jealous emoji??

 

I'd like to know what title it has now. If totaling means "we'll give you the policy amount and we're done and you can pay us the new value and keep title" then that's ok. If it's a bunch of hoops and salvage title, I am not sure I'd want to do that.

 

Thanks guys.
Yeah I was a bit surprised they totaled it. I didn’t think that THEY would have to find parts. Just thought they’d give you a fair amount and leave the owner to source the repairs.
’65’s hare not that hard to find fenders and doors for…but front bumpers are rough although I think this one can be saved.

Koda… it does have a salvage title. I took it to a “salvage to rebuilt” shop yesterday and they gave me a green light. DMV will now issue a “rebuilt” title when I register it.

69SCHC…I can definitely weigh it. I believe it’s a 14x6 wheel.

 

Looks like you've got a rotary a/c compressor in there, you are ready for the summer!

 

What a deal!

Time to learn how to dance with a hustler stick!

Summit Racing: Hustler stick

 

The insurance totaled our grandson's 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe last year after sending him to a certain collision shop to get their estimate. The vehicle had collision damage to the right front. He was able to get a copy of the repair estimate of $5606.00 that was sent to the insurance. I was able to eliminate as not necessary to replace almost $1500.00 of the $2750.00 parts replacement cost in that estimate. He declined the insurance offer and had the repair done elsewhere with mostly used parts from the local salvage yard for a grand total of $1500.00; no insurance involved! The Santa Fe looks and drives just fine. I guess that after a vehicle's certain age it doesn't always make sense to carry full coverage insurance. I also understand that this doesn't apply to our vintage automobiles; this is just a rant on certain collision shops and insurance companies.

 

Ahh ok, just like the 69 model year 442. No worries if you don't get around to weighing it, as it's not a match. Correct wheel for 69 Supreme is 14x5 with a 7.75x14.

Ughh over so little damage.

When my car was written off as totaled, the insurer gave me the opportunity to buy it back before auction. Which in turn spared me the salvage title.

 

Well for what it’s worth it weighs 39.6lbs.
No idea weather an old bias ply weighs less of more than a comparable tire today.
7.75 x 14

 

Jesse…what the hell is a hustler stick?

 

👍 Thank you, very much.

My educated guess over the years was whittled down to 40 lbs. Coker Bias Ply 7.75 x 14 weighs 22 lbs and the rim as best I could figure was 18 lbs. Very close...

Cokers tires are too tall 27 inch in diameter vs 26.4 - 26.7 factory... Then minus the inch in rim width, so maybe 37 lbs total when new ... close enough...

My motivation has always been to see how much my disc brake conversion, plus oversized wheel weight is taking away from stock ideal. My current rear wheels are 47 lbs. So thats plus 10 lbs each all by itself, my fronts are 39 lbs, so close there. I'm figuring if the wheels can get light enough the added weight of brake conversion gets rendered moot, but there is still the additional drag... Not to mention the give and take of such small skinny stock wheels, if I can boil the 235 60 15s from a dead punch on an 8 inch rim, imagine the stock bias ply combo.

I bet !

3500 lbs with a killer engine and aggressive gear, sweet.

 

I looked it up, it's a body tool with a pole and chains and you use it to pull out dents.

 

Yes. I just watched a video of someone using one. I think I would only attempt it if it were on a panel that couldn’t be removed. Maybe not..

I have a door, fender, bumper that I can use to fix this thing. But for right now, I may drive it just the way it is.
I have a feeling that if I start trying to make these dents Less noticeable large pieces of paint will be coming off.
I think there was a skim coat of filler across the entire car to make it so straight.

 

Awesome! I figured insurance would get you replacement parts. It would be a good time to try to straighten that bumper. If nothing else, you'd be able to say you tried your hand at a dying skill.

I edited the link in my previous post.

 

Spent the day changing out the bumper and addressing all the headlight parts.
The headlight trim ring, one adjustment nut(plastic), and bumper filler were toast!

replaced it all and tried to pull out the dent a little.
Looks much better and the headlight can now be adjusted.

Thats it for now.

 

This is improvement.

 

Looks like you and I've been up to the same thing. straightening out bent body components. When are you starting on the door & fender? Hopefully you can work the door on the car so panel gaps can be easier to maintain, because the fender will have to come off probably for hammer and dolly work.

Good luck and thanks for the pics - nice progress!

 

I'll probably hold off on the door for now and just drive the hell out of it.

The nice thing is that I have another post door and fenders that I can work on OFF the car and get painted.
Then just swap them both at the same time.

 

I wish that I lived near you so that maybe you could straighten my back bumper! lol

 

We're twins TJ!
I didn't straighten that bumper...I had a spare.

But a decent chrom shop probably could!

 

Question. That's what I thought, but a buddy of mine said they couldn't. Do they have a buck or template to work from??? I'm near a few plating places that do higher end work. Guess I need to call them.