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Comments
Bob
Bob's right, I'm pretty sure CR issues relate to the rod bearing failures that have been reported, although rare.
2010s are not affected.
Parts of a tree or trees were snapped off in 60+ mph winds, falling on top of the car buckling the roof and sail panel, destroying the hatchback, rear window, back seat and the interior of the cargo area, along with the passenger door and window. Torrential rain filled the car with water. Surprisingly, the sunroof is still intact.
The history of the car is what makes it special. I bought this car brand new in 1983 as a college graduation present to myself. I have stored it every winter for the past 27 years. I have kept this car through Graduate School, building a house, getting married, losing a job and raising a family. It has been lightly modified, meticulously maintained, but kept true to form and mostly stock, right down to the original paint. It is in almost perfect condition, with only 100k. Due to my old job, the commute and gas prices, this summer was the first time I have registered and driven it in the past 5 years.
Mikey, now going on 15, has loved this car as much as I have through the years. I figured it would eventually be his to enjoy.
Oh yeah, I got busy and "forgot" to cancel the insurance when I put it away in December. It sat there with full comprehensive insurance all winter long. Sight unseen, insurance is already considering it a total loss ...
Bob
I have my old vehicles parked next to a 100' spruce tree that, during any wind storm, worries me that it might fall on them. I would find it devastating; so much so, I have considered removing the tree a time or two.
I hate to tell you but it WAS in almost perfect condition
-Frank
Well I supose so....
By '82 (IIRC), the GT started getting reworked and upgraded versions of the old 302, and became competitive and more fun to drive. I kept looking, but couldn't do it as we bought our first house in late '81.
I feel your pain.
Andrea lost her husband to cancer back in 1993, when their daughter Kate was all of 2 years old. He had a 1985 Toyota 4Runner that he had modified a bit, but was otherwise in excellent condition. The following year, she sold the 4Runner to her father-in-law to get money for a down payment on a new truck. (Andrea did get remarried in 2002, added a new little lady a year later, and Kate loves her new dad. And Kate is a niece to me.)
Grandpa saved that 4Runner all these years to give to his granddaughter when she turned 18 - a "gift from Daddy". That was this past fall, and Kate was given the keys in November.
Kate was out on Dec 30 near their home in western Colorado with a friend, when she hit some black ice on a highway (she knew the roads were questionable and was a good 10 under the speed limit at the time). She tried to correct and hit another black ice patch which sent the 4Runner off the side of the highway approximately 150 feet. It finally rolled over and came to a stop just before a huge berm (which would have really brought it to a stop). All of the Smittybilt rollbars her dad had installed 20 years ago (along with the seat belts) kept the injuries extremely minor.
Andrea's account of the result:
"The rig is totaled, but mostly due to its age rather than damage. Broken windows, mashed fenders/hood, busted lights/mirrors and tweaked suspension seem to be the worst of the damage... And lots and lots of oil/tranny fluid all over the interior. We are now filling in our weekends doing repairs."
Kate of course is beside herself for wrecking her father's truck
kcram - Pickups/Wagons Host
A tree fell right behind my wife once, while she was driving her 02 Legacy. I guess we should be thankful that your GT was empty and noone was hurt.
Wifey saw a huge tree basically appear in her rearview mirror. 3 seconds behind and she would have been buried under that tree.
Cheers!
Paul
kcram - Pickups/Wagons Host
Cheers Pat.
tom
The insurance company called and scheduled the adjuster to be out on Thursday. I did some quick research on the internet (thank you Edmunds dot com!) regarding total loss, actual cash value, etc and prepared myself for the worst. Then I acutally located several other similar 1983 Mustang GT's, to get an idea of current asking price.
The adjuster didn't really say much, just poked and prodded along the entire car, opened the driver's side door, nodded, then did his thing for an hour, and handed me an estimate in the thousands of dollars. Then I got my instructions: get the car to a body shop for a more detailed estimate, and DO NOT total the car.
Structurally and mechanically, the car is fine. There is a fair amount of damage on the outside and a lot of damage to the interior.
So, I stopped by my friend's body shop on the way home from work Thursday night to break the news and schedule an appointment, still resigned to the worst, but confused by the comment of the adjuster.
Actual Cash Value of the car is relatively non-existant. This is not a show car by any means. It is a single owner, well maintained, and fully documented 28 year old vehicle, with 119,000 miles. Stored every single winter. Definitely falls into the daily driver category. I take it out on really nice days, run errands, rip around town, then put it back away.
The original paint is a tiny bit faded, and there is some minor wear and weathering on the exterior. It runs unbelievable. The interior is immaculate. I had the seats re-upholstered over 10 years ago, blending the original material from Ford with custom seat inserts from a Shelby Cobra, where the fabric was no longer available. I got extra material and replaced the cheap vinyl headliner with matching fabric. I have lightly modified the car with Ford Motorsport parts - suspension, brand new high performance clutch, even swapped out the transmission support frame to upgrade from the single exhaust to a custom-bent dual exhaust. Killer custom-installed sound system, done myself.
Here is where I got a big surprise. Replacement Value, is something entirely different. At this time, for the insurance company, the cost of replacing the car with a like vehicle far exceeds the cost of repairing the car.
So, in three weeks, my friend will have a large part of his shop cleared for the car to be brought in, stripped down and restored. And, I was told, the car will need to be restored back to the condition it was in prior to the accident with exact matching parts. If a part doesn't match, either other parts are replaced, or a compromise will be made. This could get very interesting ...
And here I was thinking back to my 'almost Mustang' purchase, and feeling so sorry for you.... Lucky dog.
You'll have to post before and after pics!
Good for you Rob!
tom
Cheers Pat.
tom
My friends wife was nearly killed when one landed in her lap after busting entirely thru the windshield. Deer avoidance is serious business.
From the day I got my license, I've always made sure the three-pointer is latched, but there was one incident I witnessed in 1992 that sealed the deal for me. Full-size Chevy Van was on I-80 westbound, blew the left front tire at speed in the left lane. Van got sideways, then rolled 5 times when the back tires hit the grass median, two of those rolls in mid-air. All the doors flew open, all kinds of stuff came flying out - and when that van came to a stop in the median (just a few feet from the eastbound left lane), its roof was crushed to half the original height. All 6 lanes of traffic came to a stop and easily 20 people got out of their cars and trucks and ran to the van to help. But no people were ejected (which would have been really awful to watch at 60+ mph). That was visual reinforcement to make sure my butt is strapped down.
kcram - Pickups/Wagons Host
Anyway, they just commissioned an air-based thermal search inventory.. We have just over 200 deer, which works out to about 37 per square mile... double what the state forest service says is sustainable.
So... we really keep an eye out, when driving through town.. One thing that helps, is 95% of the streets have a 25 mph limit.
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Harry has now contracted MRSA, your basic hospital staph in his already damaged lungs. Not looking good.
I was driving a Dodge K-car, Reliant IIRC, rental.
Minor damage to the front fender. I was lucky. So was the deer.
tom
My mother and her then-husband did not make a point of seatbelts when I was a young child. As a result, we didn't use them and often were doing some pretty crazy (read as "stupid") stuff in moving vehicles. However, one day, when I was probably five, a vehicle backed into us while we were parked in a parking lot. It hit the rear quarter panel just outside my seat and even that slow impact tossed me from my seat into the back of my mother's (driver) seat.
That scared the heck out of me and I have always used a seatbelt since then. In fact, my '69 Econoline van did not have seatbelts when my Dad gave it to me, but driving it made me so uneasy that one of the first things I did was buy a set of lap belts for it.
I'm sure that habit served me well the night I crashed the '96 Outback; the car was torn up pretty bad but my passenger and I walked away with minimal injury (mine were all from exiting the car and having to wade through glass in the process).
Long story short... My 14 year old is a big fan of Christian Chenoweth (original cast of "Wicked"), and now starring in the revival of "Promises, Promises". My wife is taking her on Saturday, and after the performance they are going to hang out backstage in hopes of meeting her. Originally, I was going to stay home with the 7 year old, but then got to thinking..... So I'll drive them into the city, park near the theater district, take the little one cross town to the auto show for a few hours, then meet up with them afterwards for dinner, then we drive back upstate.
I'm jealous!
On one day they row had an Audi, the Aston Martin, two BMWs, and .... a new 2010 Legacy sedan.
That's respect. :shades:
Bob