The problem all began on Friday, March 11th 2016. I left work early so I could head over to Chipotle' before bowling. My daily driver is a 2006 Brazen Orange Metallic GTO, M6 with 152K on the clock. Though the car is kind of rare, it had a crapload of miles. It's not perfect, has some minor dings and dents...the usual for a daily I think.
Anyway, while en route, within seconds my car went from this:
To this:
I managed to hit some woman who decided to drive her rusted out minivan without brake lights. She went to stop, I didn't see it in time because...NO BRAKE LIGHTS...
She was in the process of stopping when I struck her. Her rear bumper went way up and my front bumper dipped a little. As a result, her hitch went through my drivers side headlight and crushed my hood. (CUE ENSUING HEADACHES!)
The insurance wanted to take my car and scrap it, but the car is totally fixable. Sure the frame rails are kinked, but throw enough $$$ at something and suddenly, a fix comes along. Besides, it was close to $7,500 for just the hood, fenders (why they quoted 2, I don't know. The pass side fender was fine), front bumper, supports, brackets, etc. I figured, I could buy an entire salvaged vehicle for that and wind up parting out the engine and trans to recoop some of the $$$...which is what I did.
Here is how the car sits right now after the initial phase of deconstruction:
(note, I did have to pull back the header to get the radiator out easier)
Originally, the frame guy was going to try to straighten out the frame, but once he learned I had a donor vehicle coming, he said we could drill out and re-weld in the new frame rails. The time needed went from a bout a week to a matter of days. All he would need are the donor car's parts to make sure everything is aligned properly.
I managed to find a car from Sacremento CA. which was salvaged. Though getting the car was a total FRIGGIN' Headache (the guy who said he was going to deliver it, turned out to be such a schmuck...but that's a whole other story. Who ever owned this car REALLY pissed someone off. Every window was busted out, the interior looked like Swiss Cheese-with all the holes stabbed into the seats, key marks all around and some dings here and there. The car was completely and utterly TRASHED.
...so I bought it...
In the process of looking for parts, I managed to get a good deal on a SAP (Special Appearance Package) Spoiler, bought a Hinson Short Throw, a set of 3 polished 18" stock rims...and to keep with the "bling" I got a full set of CTOG8TA Chrome Badges with chrome vinyl rear insert inlay.
...
Getting back to the good part (pun intended), while loading up the car we noticed something about this new (donor) car. There was a brand new custom Stainless exhaust (w/ Kooks tips and Magnaflow mufflers), however, there weren't any cats. Also, all the tires were all brand new (still had nubs), there are Strange Coilover's on the rear, brand new drilled and slotted front rotors (coating is still on the face of the rotor), --> the engine block, heads and gaskets are all painted gray. <-- The air box and MAF, as well as drive shaft are missing...but it has a B&M short throw shifter.
A few friends and I managed to get the car started on Sunday afternoon. One of them thought the engine was cammed. I'm not sure how you would know for certain-but I thought the idle was kind of rough.
Anyway, while en route, within seconds my car went from this:
To this:
I managed to hit some woman who decided to drive her rusted out minivan without brake lights. She went to stop, I didn't see it in time because...NO BRAKE LIGHTS...
She was in the process of stopping when I struck her. Her rear bumper went way up and my front bumper dipped a little. As a result, her hitch went through my drivers side headlight and crushed my hood. (CUE ENSUING HEADACHES!)
The insurance wanted to take my car and scrap it, but the car is totally fixable. Sure the frame rails are kinked, but throw enough $$$ at something and suddenly, a fix comes along. Besides, it was close to $7,500 for just the hood, fenders (why they quoted 2, I don't know. The pass side fender was fine), front bumper, supports, brackets, etc. I figured, I could buy an entire salvaged vehicle for that and wind up parting out the engine and trans to recoop some of the $$$...which is what I did.
Here is how the car sits right now after the initial phase of deconstruction:
(note, I did have to pull back the header to get the radiator out easier)
Originally, the frame guy was going to try to straighten out the frame, but once he learned I had a donor vehicle coming, he said we could drill out and re-weld in the new frame rails. The time needed went from a bout a week to a matter of days. All he would need are the donor car's parts to make sure everything is aligned properly.
I managed to find a car from Sacremento CA. which was salvaged. Though getting the car was a total FRIGGIN' Headache (the guy who said he was going to deliver it, turned out to be such a schmuck...but that's a whole other story. Who ever owned this car REALLY pissed someone off. Every window was busted out, the interior looked like Swiss Cheese-with all the holes stabbed into the seats, key marks all around and some dings here and there. The car was completely and utterly TRASHED.
...so I bought it...
In the process of looking for parts, I managed to get a good deal on a SAP (Special Appearance Package) Spoiler, bought a Hinson Short Throw, a set of 3 polished 18" stock rims...and to keep with the "bling" I got a full set of CTOG8TA Chrome Badges with chrome vinyl rear insert inlay.
...
Getting back to the good part (pun intended), while loading up the car we noticed something about this new (donor) car. There was a brand new custom Stainless exhaust (w/ Kooks tips and Magnaflow mufflers), however, there weren't any cats. Also, all the tires were all brand new (still had nubs), there are Strange Coilover's on the rear, brand new drilled and slotted front rotors (coating is still on the face of the rotor), --> the engine block, heads and gaskets are all painted gray. <-- The air box and MAF, as well as drive shaft are missing...but it has a B&M short throw shifter.
A few friends and I managed to get the car started on Sunday afternoon. One of them thought the engine was cammed. I'm not sure how you would know for certain-but I thought the idle was kind of rough.
