Ok I was at the mall and trying to get in the right lane so I could exit the mall. A smart *** honda flew up beside me and would not let me in front or behind him, so I sped up to about 40mph and got in the right lane and as I did something went wrong I dont know if my left front tire locked up or I just lost traction on all the damn salt on the road, but there is a 60 ft black mark from my left front. Then you can see where I applied the brakes and there is 2 black marks. Now I hit a tree going about 35mph, my question is when replacing body panels do I have to get panels off my specific year or are they the same, because I know the doors are the same. Ill have pictures later of the car, but basically the damage is: hood, both fenders, the entire front end from the radiator forward. Good news is me and the girl with me are ok and my engine is fine, just cracked the radiator.

 

I hate r**ers.

 

Who doesn't...sorry to hear bout your car dude! I know how ya feel, my bird is all mangeled too

 

did the accident mess up your subframe. it is very expensive to have the car put on a frame machine

 

The question here is why did you let the watermaid get under your skin??? Yeah he cut you off, but if you would have been patient and let him be an A$$ clown (instead of you doing something a watermaid would do), you would have your car in good shape. I hate to hear your ride is busted up, but after having to plunk down money you probably had for other things, you most likely learned a lesson.

Sorry again bro.....next time.....Let the watermaid be the watermaid.

Later

Oh yeah....We all know what I mean by watermaid right???

 

I don't. What's a watermaid?

 

....no, but I bet you're gonna tell us.

Sorry to hear about your bird. I know it's cliche, but it coulda been worse. It's easy to say you're thankful, but stop and think, a fender.....or a life.

 

Watermaid, Uncle Ben's, Mahatma (sp), Minute ****..........


I think you get what I mean.....Can't say **** ooohhhhh Too scary

j/k

Later

 

Sorry to hear bout the car man, I too wrecked mine and its still waiting to be fixed.

Definitly check the frame, unfortunatly there is most likely frame damage. It is expensive for frame work too. The body panels dont have to be from the same year. All fenders from 85-90 should probably work, except for TA fenders. GTA fenders could work in a pinch but they might have the holes for the GFX. '85-90 bumpers should work, '82-84 may bolt up but they may not look the same, they had the grill inserts i think.

Good luck with the car and I'm glad you and your passenger are ok.

Matt

 

Sorry to hear that man..I've been in your shoes before I guess you could say it...crashed like a led zepplin?

 

Moving to Body.

 

Before you even get your car fixed, you may want to look into this:

Bondurant School for High Performance Driving


And yes, I am being serious. Hitting a tree in a mall parking lot while trying to beat a Honda to the exit is practically the definition of "low performance driving."

 

Brakes worked improperly and it looks like my left front wheel locked up before I applied brake. Seeing there is a 60 ft black mark, something mechanically went wrong. Thanks for the encouragement though...

 

Sorry to doubt your "mechanical failure" explanation, but everytime someone crashes, it seems the story goes: it was someone elses fault (if a 2-car collision) or mechanical failure (if a 1-car wreck). Your math just doesn't add up. You were going 40mph and your wheel locked up for 60 ft... THEN you applied the brakes and left 2 black marks (for however many feet)... but you still hit the tree going 35mph! Hmmmm.

If there was salt on the road and you were driving 40 (considering most mall parking lots are 20-25mph or so) and within 60-80 ft. of your turn-- my guess is that you panicked and locked up the front brake & then let off and locked up both sides. You were going too fast to make the turn. Either way, I don't think my driving school comment was out of line.

I'm sure you'll post pics though. And please let us know what failed.

 

First of all there is no speed limit at any mall, they are privately owned and no enforced speed limit. I know this because we argued with the cop and finally realized we were right. And I will post pics soon...

 

They're privately owned, but usually have a speed limit posted and enforced by security. Usually around 20 MPH. Common sense tells you not to do 40 MPH in a parking lot, especially if there could be icy conditions.

As for the body, I would check to make sure there is no structural damage. Look at the doors. Do they still line up? and the hatch, same thing. Do the doors drag when you open them or are they hard to shut? All of these are ways to check for a bent subframe. The only real way is to actully get the car on a frame machine. Chance are that it was already twisted a little bit to begin with before the "failure". As long as the damage is cosmetic, you should be able to replace the panels that are damaged. If the frame is bent, you'll definitely want to get it straightened, or else you'll never be able to line up the new panels. Good luck, and fix your brakes.

 

It wasnt in a parking lot, it was the road that circles around the parking lot, a 4 lane road. And the passenger side door lines up, everything still does.

 

well even if its a mechanical failure maybe you should have made sure your car was in good enough shape to handle your agressive driving

 

And the awesome power of the L03

how much damage is there?

 

 

That is fixable, but it will be expensive. The impact looks like it hit right at the frame rail. So the frame is gonna need to be pulled.

Dont take it to the insurance company. They wont fix it. I can tell you right now they will total the car out.

Matt

 

That'll buff right out

 

the issue with these cars is theyre not worth all that much so he can probably buy a new one for the cost of fixing the old one. And yeah the insurance company wont think twice about totaling that one

 

Car already has a salvage title from a previous wreck before I purchased it, and Id really like to keep the car, the car means alot to me

 

If it really really means that much to you, buy another bird as a parts car, you are talking probably over 1k in parts should be able to get a parts car for less, plus 1k+ to have the frame fixed. Plus paint (1-2k)at minimal, assuming you are correct and it didn't crack the block or transmission housing. You will be better off to let the insurace total it if you have full coverage as long as u can keep the car. Part out the one you have and buy another one. Between parting it out and insurance you should be able to buy a good 3ed gen. And you will then have a car with a clean title not a salvage.

 

No collision insurance, paying for it out my pocket. Its just that the rest of the car is in excellent condition, it'd be a shame to let her go

 

MAN YOU SURE SHOWED THAT CIVIC DRIVER

 

totally uncalled for. Not only does im sure this person know they should have eased off not to mention probably feels bad enough about what they did to their car, you just make your self look like an idiot with smart assed comments like that.

 

i look like the idiot..well i might but my car still runs.. and i took responsibility for my actons when i wrecked it

 

fair enough and as much as it is BS for him to come up with a "mechanical failure" you making comments like that dont really help anything

 

you would think that if your front brake was locked up BEFORE you applied the brakes, that hitting a speed of 35 mph would cause your car to be extremely sluggish, and stop damn near instantly once you applied the brakes and the other 3 kicked in...

just from what I gathered, it was not mechanical failure that cause you to hit the tree.

I've driven my share of cars and trucks with a collapsed brake hose (most recently a 79 C10 pickup)...one caliper remained locked (passenger side front) and while it was not actually stopping the wheel, it made acceleration a complete pain in the ****, and would not really get to too high of a speed because the wheel was NOT moving freely whatsoever. (it wasn't completely locked because it wasn't, thankfully, a rotor or hub problem)

from the looks of it, you were driving in sub-par conditions and trying to show off and you, having bald tires with zero traction on ice or rock salt, hit the brakes and went uncontrollably into a tree.

That car is written off, and you'll spend about $6k to get it to drive straight and look nice again.

 

Guess you should have used your brain, sucks to see the car bashed up like that, looks to have been really sharp before this. So did the Honda guy stop and laugh his *** off at you?

Sure it could be fixed but unless you have lots of spare cash lying around it would be easier/cheaper to just buy another one.

 

im not gonna make any negitive comment cuz sh*t happens.....
u live, u learn...blah blah blah
sorry about ur car

 

Yes I made a mistake, I didnt come on here asking for comments on my judgement. And mechanically we do not know yet if something went wrong, if nothing went wrong then so what. My car is still f**ked up and I have to fix it. I came on here asking about body panels, not whether you think im a good driver. And still noone has answered my question... I mean sh*t wheres the parential opinion section, lets move this topic to there, and ill start a new topic here about the car.

 

yes all the panels should fit from any other 3ed gen year bird, just stay away from trans am's and pre 84's the parts will fit but they look different than what you have on there. And unless you are putting gfx on the car you will want a non gfx car for parts, unless you want to weld up the holes.

 

Closed, by popular demand!