Tom R.

Hey Simon
When I was your age and did a similar bonehead move, I called my mother and told her I had good news and bad news. The good news is that I am in one piece, am not injured, no bloody body parts ets. the bad new is that i had a little fender bender.

the good news is its not reported to insurance so rates wont go up, the bad new is i have to kiss a lot of asses to make the tips needed, and sell a ****load of ladies shoes to pay for the repairs.

End result, im still here in one piece, and the car i drove in college is a distant memory - along with the good times i had as a single boy in that car, but thats a whole nother story.

AndyK

Damn, Simon. I remember seeing a photo of your car at the dealer, waiting to be picked up by you. Seems like last week. I know how frustrating it must be, since I am still buying parts and putting my new ride back to stock form.
Too bad about the accident. I hope the lessons learned will be worth all the agrivation (and that's all it is--agrivation, and not injury). Go it slow when the road is wet, etc.

Doesn't look THAT bad to me though. I bet most of that can be pulled out by a good body shop. The rest, well, bondo I guess.

Good luck, and tell the parents...it was an accident. Tell them the road was wet, and the car slid (avoid the "I was going pretty fast" part).

Keep us posted.

Andy

951Racer

That sucks! If it makes you feel better, I crashed 2 cars while at UCONN! My 66 Mustang, and a 280ZX. The Mustang was totalled but the ZX survived. If you are on a budget, forget trying to replace the fender even thought that is the only way you will get it back to the exact way you would like it. Replacing the rear quarter is not an easy job since it requires welding both the outer fender and the innner well. From experience that is a fair amount of work. Looking at the picture you should be able to get alot of it out by pushing from the inside. If you have a sun roof you will have to remove the motor to gain access. You can also find a low cost body shop that has a weld stud body puller to pull the compound dents out. From there, get familiar with bondo and get the lines as best you can. You should be able to get someone to match the paint and shoot the rear quarter for around ~$100 or less. If you are handy I think you could do this for less than $400. It won't look perfect, but we make do with what we can afford right?...

Tremelune

First of all: no one got hurt. You can't possibly imagine how insignificant that would make this accident. I could tell you.

Part two: I mangled the same quarter panel a few years ago. A guy at De Felice near the southern tip of CT fixed it for $600-700. It's the best looking piece on the car.

bron964

simon - i spoke to my buddy today about his car. he did not have the rear quarter panel replaced afterall because as some people have mentioned above, it would not be easy and would involve some cutting. he simply had the dent pulled out and filled...total cost was around $800.

hope this helps...

<img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

Operator

you guys are starting to make me think i have only 2 options here:
1. spend an inordinate amount of money and get a new 1/4 panel welded on and repainted (maybe paint the whole car?)
2. spend less money and just pull this one into shape and bondo/paint it..

ill shut up until i talk to a couple of body shops about the cost of doing #1. thanks again to everyone, especially with the estimates for different types of work that was done to your cars.

Danno

Also check out a couple of custom hot-rod or classic restoration shops as well. They've got more experience with the dramatic processes of cutting & welding panels.

Actually with thin steel, brazing would be a better alternative, giving a stronger joint. This would also take less time since you won't have bumpy welds to grind down. I would estimate to cut off a panel and brazing one on would take about 5 hours. Then bondo-filling the gaps another 2-3 hours. Sanding, prepping and paint another 3-4 hours. Yikes! This is adding up...

Dax951

I don't think outside of major life changes (someone dying, divorces/breakups, etc.) there isn't anything quite as jarring as getting in an auto accident (even when nobody gets hurt.)

A couple weeks ago I did similar damage to my right rear quarter panel. Coming out of a parking garage, I made a 90 degree turn too sharply and hit a cement pillar. Much swearing and foot stomping followed, but really there was nothing I could do about it. I actually had a repaint planned (and it wasn't the only dent on the car), so it wasn't a really big deal. I just was so pissed with myself for making such a stupid mistake.

Its really hard to deal with, mostly because there's nothing quick or easy that you can do to fix it. Best thing you can do IMHO, is take a deep breath, tell yourself "its just a car", and be happy that if this is the biggest problem in your life, then you must have a pretty good one!

Operator

good idea danno, thanks dax. hey dax what did you end up doing with your 1/4panel? new one welded on and new full paint job? what did it cost you? =/

tecart

well after reading your first description of the hit, i had a mental idea of the damage and your pic actually look exactly like i thought it would, the quarter panel has to be replaced, their are too many dents and lines to fill and get right, and you wont be happy afterwords if you bondo it, youll see waves and imperfections all day on that, not to get you upset at all but take it from me, if you can take the time to do the repair right youll be very glad years later. Bad paint work and such on these cars look terrible, but with a new panel (i mean get one off a wrecked 944 in new condition, any color) you will get almost 100 perfect, and not ever tell it was hit if you sell it later. The car looks like it will have 0 frame damage and 0 wheel problems, the panel is the only damage im sure, Now if you look like i did for a good door 2 years ago, you will surely find that panel used for 225-350, but i bet 100 to ship it, so call your local junk yards to save on that shipping cost, most bodyshops even get free shipping to them so ask your bodyshop if they could call their salvage yards first to find a good panel. The fitting and paint should run 400-600 for labor and paint. So good luck and stay safe, my 86 spun out 30 times like yours in the rain, never run these cars hard in the rain or on snow, ever, the back end never has forgivness only on dry roads, heres is some cheap salvage guys, tell them todd in buffalo said you might have this panel cheap and tell them about how your on a budget and dont got insurance too to make them feel your loss, see ya bud
Oaklahoma Foreign 1-800-462-2446 Gary
EASY Porsche Parts 1-510-653-EASY Spencer
PAR Parts 1-800-367-7270 Jim
Parts Heaven 1-800-767-7250 Rob
Part Works 1-800-366-9147 Jay
Kempton Brothers 1-800-237-2026
DC Automotive 1-800-579-2410
20th st.autoparts 1-800-999-4911
Autohaus 1-800-240-4620


k

billybones

1/4 panel is Toast.. It has creases, thus metal is too streched to get back to a manageble point to keep the bondo thin enough.. not worth a bondo repair..If I were you.. pull fender out along the crease points. with a slide hammer. 1" and a half spacing. drill holes and install the screw piece and slide hammer it outward. so you can drive the car. this will reshape the hatch points some what. and get the rub thing away..It is a lot like shaping clay take your time and don't worry about it till you can get it done right.. It needs to be replaced. 19 dollars for a slide hammer set. do it your self. just follow the creases.. graduate. then remove that rusty 1/4 panel... unless you can afford it.. brazing is the best way if you do it yourself. less invasive on the metal and less likley to rust along the new seem later..

Operator

hmm, sounds like you have a lot more experienced with this than i do - thanks for the suggestion however.

i decided im going to take the car to fathers and sons Collision Center. looks like its going to cost me about 2 grand. if i get the part used from a fellow rennlister or dc automotive it will only cost me ~300 but they have to prep the part for welding which takes 6 hours so that ends up being almost as expensive as buying the part new ($1000) but not quite.. and another 1K in repairs and spot painting that part and blending the door a bit.. so i think im gonna drive on over there and hope for the best. i think ill make it in the condition the car is now.

thanks

billybones

Was just offering an alternative.. it is best to repair it always.. I have been poor before

billybones

6hrs, prep to weld? or total prep time on a weld on piece? does that include removal?

Dax951

[quote]Originally posted by Operator:
<strong>good idea danno, thanks dax. hey dax what did you end up doing with your 1/4panel? new one welded on and new full paint job? what did it cost you? =/</strong><hr></blockquote>

I haven't had it repaired yet. I've gotten a few quotes, but they have all been along with a full repaint and additional body work. Also my quarter panel isn't as bad as yours (just going to bondo mine.) 2k sounds about right if that's what your hearing. Lot of money, but it could be worse.

I'm looking at about 6k for a full repaint and body work. That's in addition to about 3k in parts and labor I've paid for some recent work. I just got the car and I'm getting it in good shape. With the amount I've spent so far, its making those cherry 951's going for 15k look better and better...