crashed my galant :( I. will. FIX IT!! - 85% fixed

[kirkstanton]

hi guys and girls

on the 17th (the day before my birthday!!) i crashed my galant into a barrier about 800 meters away from my house, at the time of the crash the thought running through my head was "LUCKY I HAVE INSURANCE!", i was insured with CGU and figured that they would fix it. anyway a week later the insurance company contacted me, and decided it was a write off, and said they were going to pay me 2 grand for it, and id have to pay them another $1100 ontop of that. so thats about $900 for my car, and i insured it for a agreed value of $2800. anyway i didnt want to waste my time with loosing my car and only getting 900$ for it so i canceled my claim. last night i pulled all the panels off, and this is the damage





this is what it looked like a couple minutes after the crash


today im going to buy some parts that i managed to find, then im going to try beat that as straight as possible. the worst damage it the headlight mount im just going to cut one out of a old beaten up galant and weld it in there. any advice guys?

[tandanus]

Ouch! Sorry to see.
The top radiator suppot panel has been pushed back a bit on the right - in my experience that is the hardest to get right - but at least it looks like your bonnet is still quite straight so you will have a line to correct against - straight bonnets are hard to find. The stuff behind the grill is out of sight, so pretty easy. Check the engine bay for signs of distortion (cracked paint, rippling). Check your lower rad support and control arms arent out of position. Control arms are easy to find.
Looks fixable to me
T.

[dvsfin]

was that the immaculate gd from SA...?

[kirkstanton]

was that the immaculate gd from SA...?

yes!

[dvsfin]

mate...with much restraint...all i can say is...u dickhead

care to explain how this barrier jumped out infront u..?

[kirkstanton]

mate...with much restraint...all i can say is...u dickhead

care to explain how this barrier jumped out infront u..?

no problem i feel like a bit of a dickhead myself for crashing it. i originally figured it was the suspension that caused the crash (thats what the crash repairer told me when they had a first look at the car.) ive had a look underneath it and it looks fine. ive been through that corner plenty of times, i think that what happened is as i was coming around a bend i hit one of the manholes near the centre of the road and it put my galant into a slide, instinctively i counter steered, and i over corrected. it put it into a spin and i hit the barrier. within saying this it was wet, MANY people have crashed on this corner, and the road isnt particularly wide. its unfortunate what happened, but my galant will be back on the road soon, and thankfully noone was hurt. another reason to why it was so easy to loose control, may have been the tyres? i think those are still the original tyres, and they aren't performance wet tyres

[75wagon]

That damage doesn't look that bad with the front panels off. Any chance of a pic that shows from inside the bay looking at the front right? Just to see how much it's deformed.
She'll be back on the road in no time.

mate...with much restraint...all i can say is...u dickhead

care to explain how this barrier jumped out infront u..?

We all make mistakes. I smashed my Dad's EK Holden when I'd had my license 9 weeks (sorry Dad). He'd had it since new (that's a 1961 model for those that don't know). At least this one is fixable.
Sometimes people have to learn the hard way. Shame the Galant had to pay for it.
I think that's why I'm so precious with my wagon now. I know how it feels when stuff like this happens.

Everything that happens to you is a good thing if you learn from it.

Dave

[colta51]

original tyres

i seen them. thort thay lookt original! need sum new ones for sure...!

[gaz914]

bummer man

Doesn't look too bad underneath - it will come up OK.

Keep up the updates

cheers
Gaz

[A112H]

Bummer dude, although it doesn't look too bad. Little bit of hammer manipulation and some straight panels and you will be on the road again.
If you are after some tyres I have a brand new pair on stock rims you can have if you collect them.

[A112H]

^^^ Make that a set of 4

[tango76hardtop]

That damage doesn't look that bad with the front panels off. Any chance of a pic that shows from inside the bay looking at the front right? Just to see how much it's deformed.
She'll be back on the road in no time.

mate...with much restraint...all i can say is...u dickhead

care to explain how this barrier jumped out infront u..?

We all make mistakes. I smashed my Dad's EK Holden when I'd had my license 9 weeks (sorry Dad). He'd had it since new (that's a 1961 model for those that don't know). At least this one is fixable.
Sometimes people have to learn the hard way. Shame the Galant had to pay for it.
I think that's why I'm so precious with my wagon now. I know how it feels when stuff like this happens.

Everything that happens to you is a good thing if you learn from it.

Dave

I have to agree with Dave on this, My first car was a GD galant and I crashed that a few times from doing stupid things but I learnt car control and the limits of a car from it and in kirkstanton's defense he wasnt even trying to do anything stupid so go easy on him

[81GL]

i originally figured it was the suspension that caused the crash (thats what the crash repairer told me when they had a first look at the car.) ive had a look underneath it and it looks fine. ive been through that corner plenty of times, i think that what happened is as i was coming around a bend i hit one of the manholes near the centre of the road and it put my galant into a slide, instinctively i counter steered, and i over corrected. it put it into a spin and i hit the barrier. within saying this it was wet, MANY people have crashed on this corner, and the road isnt particularly wide. its unfortunate what happened, but my galant will be back on the road soon, and thankfully noone was hurt. another reason to why it was so easy to loose control, may have been the tyres? i think those are still the original tyres, and they aren't performance wet tyres

...So lesson learned is you were going a tad quick for the condition of the car and the road.

Glad to hear no one was hurt mate. & all the best with the repair; don't get dodgy, is such a neat car!
& yes, we all need a wake up call at some point.

Good luck.
Nick.

[kirkstanton]

thanks guys,

after a bit of hard work today ive pulled the front end as close to straight as i can get, tomorrow im heading to u-pull-it and im going to take the fender off another galant, then get in there with a powered hand saw and cut the part of the body off that i need, tommorow ill weld it on and clean it up, probably give it a under coat of paint. then all ill need to do is throw on the fender and a bumper, and she will be back on the road. ill go take some pics of what it looks like atm, there's quite a big fold on the bodywork in the engine bay, but that's part of what im planning to weld on tomorrow. she'll be back on the road by the weekend, im going to be super cautious on wet roads until i can grab a new set of rims and tires (probably next week) pics will be up soon

and yes this was my first car, and im still on my p's. everyone needs to learn somehow. thankfully i didn't learn by someone getting hurt

[A112H]

Not sure if you missed my post or what but I am offering a FREE set of near new tyres on stock rims if you want them???

[kirkstanton]

Not sure if you missed my post or what but I am offering a FREE set of near new tyres on stock rims if you want them???

sure man, that sounds good, i dont feel right just taking them off you for nothing, ill shout you a case of beer for them. ill probably only pick them up next week sometime.



thats what it looks like at the moment, i can ACTUALLY REACH THE BOLTS FOR THE BUMPER NOW!!! i can tell you it was a pain to get off.

[A112H]

All good mate, I don't drink beer and have no need for the 13's. You are welcome to them, seriously it will help me with less crap in the shed

[75wagon]

I have those same tires, and when I put them on my wagon, I'm scared to drive it. No really, it's scary with them on. It normally handles really well, but with them it slides and understeers. I don't think I could drive one with standard wheels ever again, they really are bad. They spin up good though, not that I condone that sort of thing of course.
When you get it fixed, can I recommend you get rid of them and put some wider wheels on it? You wont know it, it will suddenly feel like it handles. New shocks too, maybe?

Dave..

[77GDWAGON]

Its not the skinny tyres its the age of the tyres. The rubber goes hard after a while and the tyres lose their grip. Thats why its best to buy new tyres and not second hand.

[75wagon]

Its not the skinny tyres its the age of the tyres. The rubber goes hard after a while and the tyres lose their grip. Thats why its best to buy new tyres and not second hand.

That's true, but when you widen your wheel track by 6 inches, then go back to standard set-up, the difference is scary...
I've got 2 sets or standard rims and tires. One good set, and a set the same as Kirks, both are scary by comparison to what I normally run on my car.

[dshivan]

Theres a GD in south upull it atm if you still need bits, and a gh scorpion but the front struts already out of it and in my shed

[colta51]

Not sure if you missed my post or what but I am offering a FREE set of near new tyres on stock rims if you want them???

sure man, that sounds good, i dont feel right just taking them off you for nothing, ill shout you a case of beer for them. ill probably only pick them up next week sometime.



thats what it looks like at the moment, i can ACTUALLY REACH THE BOLTS FOR THE BUMPER NOW!!! i can tell you it was a pain to get off.

a hammer and a dolly is all you need to get that out no cutting and welding!!!

[shuggy]

im in love with the perelli's i have on my stock rims, they glue to the ground and dont wear quickly. i drive foot flat and have 1 wheel off the ground around a few corners a day and they are magic. will definatle be getting these next time

[kirkstanton]

120$ and 5 days later, this is how she looks, ill be getting a new bumper & grill on the 11th, ill get the trim and all the badges on ASAP. but right now she will get me to work & back

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3 ... 1420000406

[81GL]

Looking a bit better lol.

Have you re-painted where you have been working on? rust...

[A112H]

Nice one, got the guard in the right colour or did you have to paint it? Just be a bit careful driving around this time of year with that headlight missing, the last thing you need now is a defect.

[75wagon]

So about now you'd be a master panel beater?...
How did you go with it all? Did it come out the way you hoped?

Have you got the rest of the bits yet?

Dave..

[kirkstanton]

yeah everything went well, right now theres a huge hole on the one side (where the headlight should be) id actualy say everything went better than according to plan. thankfully my dad had all the tools i needed to straighten the body. i sprayed some body deadner over all the areas where the paint had flaked. that fender was originaly white and i had to beat it a little straight. i then sanded it down, cleaned it up, put on a undercoat, then put on one coat of super blue paint. yeah i think ive got the panel beating down, i managed to panel beat the front bumper as straight as i could atleast it fits! ill get all my other parts on the 11th and she should be looking brand new by the 15th. thanks for all the help dave

im planning to get my old fender straightend soon aswell then i will have a perfect body panel on there

[tandanus]

Any tips on panel-beating gratefully accepted!
T.

[colta51]

so any updates?