Restoration Part 3!, All fixed. For now... Options

[enderswift]

Halloween 2009 some douche got beyond drunk and bashed into my parked celi before speeding off . I found the damage a few hours later and aside from an internal cuss-fest I kept my cool and was really relieved to see that there was no mechanical damage. Pictures say a thousand words so observe:


this picture is from when it first happened and doesn't really convey the magnitude of the damage, I seriously thought the rear suspension was boned. I'll post fresh pictures soon, they'll show my sad looking (but effective) attempt at rust proofing.


After saving every penny from my summer job while scouring the world for parts, paint, good advice, and someone to trust my celi to, I finally have everything in order


(thats $300 in paint supplies right there, the majority of which was the insanely expensive toyota 3l2. That taillight was damn near impossible to find for a reasonable price)

I just cant be happier right now. Ill finally be able to wax my celi without wondering if I'm an idiot for waxing a ruined exterior (I figured a dent isn't an excuse to neglect the whole paint job!) also, I'll finally be able to pull up somewhere or go on a date w/o cringing every time my drivers side is displayed

So now the next order of business is to take a few things apart before delivery to my body guy. The rear bumper has to be removed together with the taillight, mirror, power antenna, front head light, sideskirt, and window trim. I'm paranoid about having someone else work on my car so I insisted on being as involved as possible. In fact, If I had the time I would learn body work and fix this on my own. Too bad university has to be so time intensive while body work is a skill that comes with lots and lots of experience..Either way until I graduate I'd rather have someone fix this thing rather than count on my rustproofing to hold up.

I'll post pics of the tear down soon

This post has been edited by enderswift: Jun 2, 2011 - 8:34 PM

[enderswift]

I hate to tell you this, but I've had a set of USDM Tails up on the site for probably a good month or two now. :x I'm curious as to how much that one ran you though. That way I can tell if I'm still overpriced or not...

Aaaaah! where were you?! I had a wtb thread, scoured ALL of the junkyards in chicago, stalked criagslist and even did second source searches at work. Needless to say I've had about 5 people drop off the face of the earth as soon as it came time to pay them and such. So finding that taillight was a frustrating process... Not to mention I wasn't about to pay those crazy ebay prices $100 per taillight. Luckily i finally found a guy that was near me who gave his up for $30

car goes in on wednesday so Tuesday I'll have pictures of the car being taken apart and prepped. CANT WAIT

This post has been edited by enderswift: Jul 6, 2010 - 7:13 PM

[Espo]

I hate to tell you this, but I've had a set of USDM Tails up on the site for probably a good month or two now. :x I'm curious as to how much that one ran you though. That way I can tell if I'm still overpriced or not...

Aaaaah! where were you?! I had a wtb thread, scoured ALL of the junkyards in chicago, stalked criagslist and even did second source searches at work. Needless to say I've had about 5 people drop off the face of the earth as soon as it came time to pay them and such. So finding that taillight was a frustrating process... Not to mention I wasn't about to pay those crazy ebay prices $100 per taillight. Luckily i finally found a guy that was near me who gave his up $30

car goes in on wednesday so Tuesday I'll have pictures of the car being taken apart and prepped. CANT WAIT

I had my set of two up for $50 per in the buying section, link in my signature - granted mine are in really good condition but if you found one for $30 that means I'm overpriced still.

I think we just never saw each other's thread haha

[enderswift]

I had my set of two up for $50 per in the buying section, link in my signature - granted mine are in really good condition but if you found one for $30 that means I'm overpriced still.

I think we just never saw each other's thread haha

well $60 for BOTH of them is actually reasonable, everywhere else I looked people wanted $60 each plus shipping. Either way glws

Funny! Mine had that same dent when I got her!

yea it seems all the drunks and bad drivers in the world have a vendetta against that corner. Maybe its because that's one of the most annoying sections to repair?

So the car FINALLY went in today There were a lot of delays due to this thing called the 4th of July or something . I have the worst timing I guess haha. In any case all of the dents will be taken care of by tomorrow night and paint should take place this weekend depending on whether or not my guy can secure a booth. I'm in no hurry to be honest, just an excuse to cruise the Vulcan . That said I'll be calling for a status update this Saturday and might be putting her back together on Sunday!

Pictures soon!

This post has been edited by enderswift: Jul 6, 2010 - 7:01 PM