Advice needed - Early car in accident

[daepp]

64K mile 72 T rebuilt to an S. Numbers matching. Car was a survivor with original paint. I'm told insurance will not pay for an entire repaint, that the experts can't match the old paint and that my portion of the repaint would be approx $5,000. Since the car will not longer be original, what is your advice on a color change. And info would be appreciated!

Two afters - one before.

[gsjohnson]

There is a little known form that insurance companies have for cases such as yours. It's a diminished value claim form that insurance companies use to pay you an additional amount over the damage repair estimate. The claim cannot exceed the value of the car, which can also be ambigious. Ask the Insurance adjuster for this form.

[sithot]

I'd never do a color change on an original car. If I had found it in a field and was willing to take it completely apart to PAINT EVERYTHING leaving NO SIGN of the original color that would be a different story.
$5,000 seems reasonable.

Good luck,

Tom

[W6CZ]

Funny - I had similar (actually worse) damage to the right front last year to my 69 Targa that was white - though that wasn't the original color. The original was Tangerine - and while it probably would have been better to go with that - I already had a Tangerine coupe and my wife did not want 2 Tangerine cars. I was insured with Haggerty and the settlement was enough to cover repair and repaint.

In your case - if you are concerned about the value of your car, I think it would be better to stay with the original color. Otherwise - paint it whatever color you want!

[EA911]

^ Ditto - I would not change the color. The question is to repaint with original style finish or go with the newer varnish finish which will be a lot easier to touch up or blend in the future.

daepp - What happen?

[daepp]

I was driving with my wife to our last child's Back-to-School-Night. Warm pleasant evening, top off, 40 mph. A grad student from Kuwait made a left turn in front of me. I literally stood on the brake (and the clutch) but it was not enough as we still hit.

He was driving an 09 Infinity G37, and its lower bumper cover was pretty ripped up. He admitted that it was his fault, that he didn't know he had to wait for me (he had a green light but no green arrow exists at this intersection). He indicated that he was a new student at CGU and had only been in the US for 30 days. International Drivers License from Kuwait. Nice enough guy - very apologetic.

The car still tracks perfectly - it stood up pretty well all things considered.

[gruen911]

Daepp,
You have a nice car. Whatever you decide, make sure to have the work done properly regardless of what the insurance company is willing to offer you. Then no matter what happens you can at least enjoy the car and still be proud of it.

[Zeke]

Save the hood crest!

Know what you are talking about when you agree to who does the work and how it's done. I'd call Parts Heaven and EASY for prices on used OEM turn signals, uprights, horn grille, bumper and trim, and the cross bar even if you don't put it back on. You will need a good rust free fender and those are getting scarce.

There is an outside chance that existing fender could be worked back out, but that would be by a craftsman and ins is not likely to go for that. Nevertheless, don't let it get away. It has value to someone. I've straightened worse.

I can't see the hood from here, but you mentioned on the other forum that it was tweaked. I prefer to use a straight one over banging on a bent one. You need to check the bottom side of anything you buy for evidence of previous metalwork and filler.

It looks to be pretty much a bolt off, bolt on job. The inner panel is likely to be tweaked, but given that the horn grille is still more or less lined up, you could get lucky there.

For paint, I'd source factory style acrylic enamel from out-of-state if necessary. After color checking, I'd spray the parts off the car and then install. You won't find any licensed bodyshops that will spray the single stage paint. Still, there are people that can be found that will do it.

If the car were mine, I'd get as much out of the ins co as possible, funds made out to you, and have the work done behind closed doors. I had a similar incident and took the car to the local shop that the ins co recommended. They weren't going to do the work, but they did not know that at the time. It was due to debris on the road, so there was a deductible. I called the ins co a week later and told them to send me the $3500 (less damage than yours) and I'd see to it myself. Of course, I ended up with extra cash after parts that paid me pretty well to do my own work.

If Tom Woodford was still down in Fallbrook, I bet he could have done it and done it right. There are others.

[W6CZ]

Save the hood crest!

I'd call Parts Heaven and EASY for prices on used OEM turn signals, uprights, horn grille, bumper and trim, and the cross bar even if you don't put it back on. You will need a good rust free fender and those are getting scarce.

.

Good luck - All were NLA when I checked those sources a couple of months ago. Only repros at best. Signals were flat out NLA in any condition. Stoddard has the Bumperettes for S-trim.

[RSTarga]

It doesn't look too bad. Keep the same color unless you want to completely tear down. I'd still go for diminished value. I do think you're going to have to strip all old paint off to not get cracking later on, or maybe the new paints won't have that happen. Do look for a VERY good paint shop with a good reputation.