My project.....bring my car back to life
 

so to make a long story short, i was in an accident on my way to move back to school. i hit a 95 chevy 1500 and they barely had any damage...my car wasnt as lucky. but being the person i am i refused to give the car off to a salvage yard and decided to turn it into a project. because of my college student type budget, its probably going to take me about a year, but with any luck i can get her all fixed up sooner.

Attachment 16954

Attachment 16955

Attachment 16956

Damn bro. I feel your pain, trust me!

I know you're attached, but just think of the financial aspect too and if it is really worth it before you do decide anything. If it's worth it for you, by all means, go for it!

As far as the damage goes, it hard to tell merely by photos, but it doesn't look too bad. As long as your engine is fine I'd say you got somewhat lucky. Just remember, it could have always been a lot worse. The body work won't be cheap, but if it's worth it to you, like I said; go for it.

yea, luckily the engine is completely untouch, except for the power steering pulley cracked. the radiator, fan assembly, and the radiator support bracket are all trashed. luckily i have a lot of friends with some good connections. i've already got a guy who will fix the bracket for a better price than any of the shops around my hometown, and he'll let me buy my own parts so i can save some extra money. the radiator and fan work i'm going to do myself with some help from my friend who knows cars inside and out. other than that, and the airbags, it mainly cosmetics haha. at this point i'm just waiting for the overages from my loans to be put into my bank account and i'll be good to go.

another thing is that i've found that for buying a decent car that will get me from home to school in one piece will cost about the same as the repairs, so i might as well just keep what i have. plus i think rebuilding it will be a good experience

That is a shame, sorry to see your car like that. Hopefully you get things shaped up soon! good luck

That sucks so much. What is that shiny thing on the passenger side front in the last picture??? Is that your side marker bulb hosuing?

thats exactly what it is

that cars an easy fix,, hood, fender, radiator support, headlights, and bumper cover and some paint work. u can do most of it yourself. First thing to do is to start taking ur radiator and condensor out. lay it on top the engine, un bolt ur driver side fender, and pull ur bumper cover and bumper off. drill out the radiator support, remove it. hook to trees, whatevers strong enough and use a comealong or ratchet system to stretch ur frame back out straight, put the new radiator support, weld the spots together, place other fender on, throw engine together, put the bumper cover n hood on. Its simple, ive had to rebuild mine.

Thats the second time I've seen you give that kind of horrible advice. What kind of person hooks there car up to a tree to straighten out the frame. Just because you straighten it out this way, doesn't mean it's going to be back to normal.

uhhh yeaaaa...if that frames bent, i'd probably just say fuck it dude..

For the time and effort it probably isn't WORTH it to actually fix it... keep the motor, tranny, whatever, and find another mustang IMO..

Collisions like that generally say #1 the car will never be the same again #2 it may actually be cheaper to just get a different car..

Or strip the car down, and when its ready take the thing to a shop, have them check the frame, and have them straighten it...if they can..

Totally agree with 00blkstanggt - thats a bad way to do things and it is also a way to get someone seriously hurt:eek:. My suggestion would be the same as SnTBakosFinest - take it to a shop after its been stripped down and see if it can actually be fixed. Especially if you don't have any or have limited body/collision skills, a shop is going to be your best friend.

Keep in mind to that Mustangs are like other smaller cars - once they are wrecked to the point where they are damaged like in the picts and they may have either structural defects or they have frame damage it becomes a safety issue (even after it is straightened) and it also becomes an issue of the fact that the car will never be the same. (For example - I have a buddy who had a Ford Explore that was hit in the front at an odd angle. The insurance didn't total it:eek: - if you would have seen it you would have been like **** - but they did pay to have it fixed - yeah right! - anyway, after he got it back they have never been able to totally 100% align it and the truck no longer tracks exactly straight.

well just to clarify on what everyone seems to be assumeing, the frame is not bent aside from the radiator support, and i already have a guy that can fix it. i've gotten several estimates done on the car and not one place has said that the car is done for.

If the frame isn't bent then body work isn't that bad but if you staighten anything back to the way it was you had better make sure you reinforce it with some welding from someone that knows what they are doing or you are asking for problems

yep. the guy i'm going with knows exactly how to do the pinch-welds that the support bracket is attached with. after that when it comes to the radiator, bumper cover, fenders, etc, i can take it from there.

people can choose what advice to follow. I got my entire front end redone for nearly 700 dollars doing it myself. Ill post pics later. And for the record the blackstanggt guy just hates me. And it is straight, the wheelbase is the same on each side, and it alligns perfect each time. Ive drove it for 25k miles since it was rebuilt. AND it was wrecked before i got it as well. But it definetly doesnt drive as well as it did, or either i keep getting warped wheels.

Just because your frame doesn't look tweaked doesn't mean it's not, btw.

That's what everyone is trying to say. If the frame is bent it expensive to fix properly if even possible. I don't have any problem with you at all but I do agree with Blackstang that winching off of a tree isn't a safe or reliable way to fix frame damage.


If you are confident you can fix it and save some money go for it. GL in your project.

It'll never be as solid as it once was, just no way around it. Will never handle the same, and you may hear some noises you never had before. I understand what you mean by being attached, but idk man, I'd rather have a fresh start. Doesn't look like you had a whole lot invested in it anyways.

Attachment 12376

Attachment 12377

Attachment 12378

Attachment 12379

Attachment 12380

you cant tell me that doesnt look right.. just because someone isnt certified to do something doesnt mean they cant do it. and i believe its sturdier than before.

holy crap, that one looks a lot worse than mine. suddenly i dont feel so bad. haha

Just because it might have straightened out for you doesn't mean it's the smartest way of doing things. Who really ties their car to a tree and straighten out the frame? Seriously. And then you say everything is lined up perfectly and whatnot, but then mention it doesn't drive as well anymore. I don't think anyone with a brain would take your advice on fixing something. I don't hate you like I've said before, but you've had some dumb ass suggestions on fixing things on this board.

well i dont need it to handle like a real race car. and while it may not look like theres that much invested in it to you, with my college student budget its a lot to me. also i wouldnt be able to start from scratch because i wouldnt be able to afford another mustang, i'd be stuck with like a weak camary.

Wow if you did that yourself, thats pretty good man. But WTFH you didnt take off your silencer for intake? D: Also ill disagree on the tree straighten thing but, whatever gets the job done right? and blackstang that was prbly a bit harsh imo.

First off it is difficult enough to see minor frame damage in person, it would be impossible to see it in small pics. You just said it doesn't drive like it did before the accident so how do you think it's sturdier?

Attachment 12384

Attachment 12385


theres the finished product. but remember this is 2 years ago, that explains my gay projectors n stuff..

the only problem i have out of the driveability is a little bit of added wear on my passenger side tires on the outer edge.. it can be either the fact somethings messed up OR the fact that i drive fast for my curvy roads.

the tree thing was really a idea if you had nothing else to do, theres many ways of making hoists to pull the rails upwards. I did it in my barn, and to pull the rails sideways i hooked to support beams and pulled it sideways. all the work was done where u see it sitting. even the paint, which turned out wayy better than factory.

so about how much did you end up paying for parts?

i was out 2 headlights, radiator support, front bumper cover, and an allignment to make sure.. maybe 700 dollars plus paint supplies.. my cousins a painter.

pretty similar to where i'm at, except i'm also out a radiator. thanks man.

lmao others misfortune normally makes us feel better. MAN your car got wrecked?! who was at fault and im guessing they had no Ins?
i woulda fixed stang for price of lame car too

actually i was at fault, so my insurance covered them. but just for my convenience i had taken my collision coverage off my car for a little while to save money for a few months and just had the required Liability......funny how life works, right?