Last night was by far probably the worst night of my life..

I wrecked my car because the rain got the best of me and caused me to do a 180 smacking into another car then bouncing off it and into a power line.

I was just about to do the finishing touches on my engine swap this week and this is a huge set back for me. I dont even know what to do at this point. I can only be grateful that nobody was seriously hurt and my motor is still intact.

Here is pictures of all the damage. I want opinions on what i should do, and about how much of an expense im looking at.

Front View







Driver Side Fender



Passenger Fender


Quarter panel



Bumper off



Should i repair it? Get a new body? im lost guys thanks for the support.

find another car,unless you can weld and do the bodywork yourself,even then, you have some serious hours of metal work to do.

Looks to be alot of damage on the front passenger side, I would pull fenders off and take some measurements to see how bad its off, the core support from the pics you posted doesnt look too bad, I have seen worse. Might want to look into parting it out, stripping everything good off of it for yourself and find a good roller.
Best thing is to take everything off and see what the cross member and core support and front frame horns look like. It might actually be worse then it looks. Might take a couple hours on frame rack, but this would be a good time to make your upgrades you have always wanted.

you need to figure out if that hit swayed the entire front end over.it appears to have hit the tire,so you most likely have something bent there also....... strut,control arm,crossmember or the shell of the car itself.

if you have to pay to have this fixed,its cheaper to get another car.

I agree with the others, find a new car, after an accident like that you never know how much stress really went through the body of the car. If you like swapping parts get a roller as mentioned above.

The rains fault..... REALLY???
If the rain gets the best of you then you're saying the rain is smarter.

One of the most memorable excuses I heard while working in a body shop was from a guy who rearended someone. It went like,
"It was raining. What could I do"
By his rational, when it rains everyone would get into a wreck because there is nothing anyone could do.

But anyway, I digest.
Like mentioned, get a shell or a cheap on off craigs and swap parts. Back in like 97 I bought a wrecked Z28 and had the parts to fix it (quater panel and straighten the floor) and the shop to do it in. But I found a shell at a wrecker for $300 and since the car was near all apart I just swapped everything.

Mads right. Best to just admit you faulked up and charge it to a lesson learned. Pick up a roller and swap everything over. Lots of work to fix that and it would probably cost more to do so.

we all know what caused this............

im sure he learned one way or another,those are good hits.

he just wants our opinon on fix it or strip it.

Well nobodys given you an estimate yet, but I had half(or maybe a quarter?) the damage and it cost me $3000....

So for you, $5,000 maybe... For that price you might be able to buy an even better thirdgen than what your started with


So sorry about your Camaro, I hate seeing good thirdgens get so tore up...

Bought a new aftermarket fender, an OEM front bumper cover, replaced bottom two light lenses, performed major plastic surgery on bottom ground effect, and also had passenger fender repainte while she was all torn up. $3,000 just for that.

Selll the car keep the motor and trans.I'll buy some parts off you? interior.

I too am sorry to see that. I remember when you first came into TGO, and I know how excited about your car you've been since day one.

Didn't you just buy a roller 'Bird the other day for $400? Or was that someone else? If you, you could part the 'Maro and build the 'Bird.

From a cash standpoint, it would probably be cheaper to snag a roller and swap parts. In your case, you want to find a 'Maro with a good nose cone and straight body more than anything else - the nose cones are getting harder and harder to find without cracks.

sorry to hear about your loss, always liked the look of your car!

Thanks for the support guys.

@camaronewbie I did manage to buy a bird two days ago to try and fill the hole left by my car. I was depressed up until when i got it.

The bird needs paint and my maro's motor.. but other than that its in good shape. It looks like it was never crashed so that's certainly a plus. My plans now are to swap whatever i can from the maro into my bird then part out the rest of it hopefully giving me a decent start.

Thanks for the help camaronewbie, you were one of the first ones to help me out on the TGO forums and ive come a long way since then. Just thinking about the night of the crash still makes me sick to my stomach, i really really loved my car.

If it were me, I'd find someone to straighten out your car. My car has a ton of significance to me though (and not just because it's a first car that I bought or anything like that as I've bought many more that meant little to me overall). It will be expensive, but if the car's worth it to you - you can fix the damage. I've seen worse fixed.

From what i can see in the pics,looks very repairable-
really doubt front rails are knocked out of square by
the pics.It's a thirdgen,these are stupendiously
awesome cars when done right-i'd give it a 2nd chance
(and fixup and enjoy the 'bird as well)

I have a couple of straight bodies laying around if you need one here in the Phoenix area.

Please don't drive the bird in the rain.