ACCLR8N

iTrader: (8)

So my daughter gets in an accident while I'm three states away on vacation. She's ok, but the car isn't. A few days later we are looking over the carnage and weighing options. I know she loves her car, but being a practical insensitive dolt I ask her: "What part do you consider to be Drifty? (Girls always name their cars) "The part thats smashed." Then the crying. Not wanting to give up my status as fixer of anything, "Yeah, we can fix it". Her money, my labor.

Don't ever ask me if its worth fixing.

ACCLR8N

iTrader: (8)

Took almost 2 months to find a usable donor for front subframe in Michigan, Ohio and Idiana. And it wasn't perfect either, had to have it stripped and primered. Drilled out over 300 spot welds to seperate it.

84Camaro_L69

My wife wrecked my brand new truck which forced her (with lots of guilt) to let me dump lots of money into my car ... thanks!!!! Now I know that if she wrecks my Camaro I can still repair it (at least in a frontal collision).

JeremyNYR

iTrader: (2)

it looks like that donor car was in pretty good shape. it's a shame you had to cut it up. have you welded the new front subframe up to the 84 yet?

ACCLR8N

iTrader: (8)

No, its off to the body shop Tuesday for pulling. Something moved on the passenger side enough to crack windshield. Then I'll see how much they want weld on the new sub frame. It'll get done a lot faster if they do it.

The '86 was really beat up, not a single exterior panel was any good. No real loss at all. Somebody hated that car.

ACCLR8N

iTrader: (8)

The car is now at the body shop. They are going to straighten the car, remove sub-frame, install my primered replacement and paint the front structure for $1232. Should have a good rolling chassis again to start bolting parts back on to in a couple weeks.

Toehead

Wow, great progress on that car. Nice to see some dedication!

hotrodln

Your a good man (dad) Charlie brown!.........I might have just got her another one..................but maybe she'll drive more defensively next time!

ACCLR8N

iTrader: (8)

Got the car back. They did great job. My daughter now wants to really fix it up instead of just putting it back together.

hotrodln

what no pictures??

ACCLR8N

iTrader: (8)

Sorry, but it looks like a stripped F-body that wasn't ever smashed.

hotrodln

well I guess that's a good thing..........

AmorgetRS

iTrader: (6)

I spy an Evo hood in the background of the pic with the Subframe in it :-)

ACCLR8N

iTrader: (8)

Sharp eye, my friend.

The_Wraith

Takes dedication for sure! I love 84 t/as however will she ever drive the same again?

ACCLR8N

iTrader: (8)

I hope not!

ACCLR8N

iTrader: (8)

The motor was tore down, transmission scrubbed, every bracket in the front end detailed, steering column rebuilt, wire harness washed...

Its out for paint!

ACCLR8N

iTrader: (8)

Back from paint. The accident was the best thing to happen to that car. It would have never had all this effort and money wasted on it otherwise.

Bad phone camera shot, but it looks better that way.

TAdan

That is truly a labor of love.

Nice to see you and your daughter working together to save the Bird.

Why did you switch to the 85-90 front bumper? (Couldnt find the 84 parts?)

Nice job.

ACCLR8N

iTrader: (8)

I had front sheet metal and ground effects left over from my kit car project. She had to have the hood "with the scoop" though, so we bought that.

Thanks.

hotrodln

That looks great in the picture...........someday I'd love to be able to say " yup it's off to paint...................then yup it's back from paint! in the meantime I get about 1 car painted every two years! I'd like to see some shots when it's all back together ...

ACCLR8N

iTrader: (8)

It took me a year to get it to the point where painting needed to be done. Actually blew the front end apart again fix panel alignment issues. Not going to put it back together until windshield is in so they don't scratch anything. Hopefully this weekend. Loose ground effects still need painting.

ACCLR8N

iTrader: (8)

Found pics of sub-frame repair on camera.

BackInBlack86

with a name like drifty, i wouldnt think so.

92RS(real slow)

looking great when I first seen this I thougt you were crazy for fixing that lol, but you did a damn good job

ACCLR8N

iTrader: (8)

Finished the car last night. Every last light is working, the stereo clock is set and all the lug nuts have covers. My wife's idea to pop for the decal set last week. 18 Months later its going back on the road again tomorrow.

hotrodln

hey looks great! are there more stripes to go on the sides of it? If i remember right, they were a real pain to put on......congrats!

Derth Deboblo

Man, that car was wasted. I would of cut my losses and ran...lol! Yeah, your a good dad, that's for sure

campin1983

iTrader: (4)

Moral of the story: Don't name your car, it costs too much!

Good job, I hope your daughter show some serious appreciation for this one. If it were my own car, i would have cut my losses, so your awfully dedicated to do that for her.

JeremyNYR

iTrader: (2)

it looks great! The only thing i wish is that you had stayed with the 1984 nose and ground effects. the color scheme and everything looks great though!

ACCLR8N

iTrader: (8)

Lower stripes won't work with 87 ground effects.

Thanks. 84 nose was destroyed and I had a good 87 nose and ground effects in the barn. She did make me find a bulge hood and strip it even though I have a perfect black vent hood decorating a wall in my garage. I tried to talk her into all black and no stickers. She made the wright choice on that one.

We went for a short drive today. No problems! I get to take it to work wednesday. Gotta grab my Def Leppard CD out of the truck...

Stephen

iTrader: (12)

I don't know whether to admire you, or hate you...

You fixed a car "beyond repair" & I stripped a PERFECTLY good 89 GTA, that was only missing the interior, including dash, no engine & o tranny.....I feel like dirt now....

ACCLR8N

iTrader: (8)

I wouldn't feel bad. I spent hundreds of hours and $5000 to create a really nice $4000 car. But my daughter loves it. A couple weeks after finishing this, a kid pulled out of Taco Bell without looking and T-boned her. But that's another thread and its all better now..again.

BackInBlack86

i can see the point in putting so much time and effort into the car for your daughter. to say its just a $4000 car is an understatement. anybody who looks at the documentation of this car and sees the labor, and skill involved in its repair will know, this is not just another $4000 car.

whats the status on the car since the Taco Bell incident?

ACCLR8N

iTrader: (8)

It's fixed again. New fender, used door, TDS hinge rebuild, a patch panel for the rear quarter and that side re-painted. Only things missing are the b-pillar bird and fender "Trans Am" stickers. She has this idea if its not "perfect", it won't get wrecked again.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...weeks-2-a.html