Well about a week ago I was driving in the rain, and someone was riding on the line that seperates traffic. I tried avoiding hitting him which i did...but then i fishtailed and did a 180 into a ditch. Not too much cosmetic dmg but my friend looked at it and said radiator was smashed in and that the chassis was bent a lil bit...he told me that the chassis was spot welded which means more money...whatever that means...does anyone know of a reasonable priced mechanic or body shop in the MD/VA/DC general area. Man i dont wanna give up this car I had too many memories in it...IF you know what i mean wink wink

 

If the chassis is bent then get rid of it while you can. Only problems from here...

 

If the damage is restricted to the radiator area then any chassis damage is probably just the front end of the chassis rails and/or inner wings, if you get this on a body jig then they should be able to straighten the front end.

I presume there is no obvious damage around the roof pillars, front screen or doors which would mean the front firewall has moved.

Same goes for the front suspension mounts, are the wheels still in alignment and not deranged, even so have the geometry set-up after the car is panelled/painted.

Got any phoots of the under hood condition?

 

I would love to get the SC shell on a jig, I bet that is one tough SOB to pull out after a decent shunt, has anyone seen on being jigged?

 

Mine's been on just to check it, but I wasn't there...

 

One of the toughest shells we ever worked was a little Volvo (340 Series), that was hard as nails, I whacked the headlamp support panel with a lump hammer and nearly broke my wrist.

I expect the SC/Soarer will not be quite that resilient as it has more "crumple factor" built in, did anyone see this before?