Not so much about modifying the car as it is about rebuilding it.
Had a little accident with a BMW in early July... BMW lost... Basically a badly signposted roundabout that deviates from standard (without warning) and a young mid 20's plonker in a BMW 320 coupe trying to overtake and go left on the roundabout... As I approached he was 2-3 car lengths behind me... and decided to floor it and attempt to overtake... crashing into the side of me as I was going straight on.
I ended up on the central reservation after clattering up the kerb and managing to just turn and miss a signpost... which scraped the mirror.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0sdvzffrp09ujj3/2017-07-10%2018.37.54.jpg?dl=0
His ended up across the other entrance onto the roundabout.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ms5nutwf9wkmrnv/2017-07-10%2018.22.53.jpg?dl=0
I was able to drive the car home, after stopping to rip of a section of the undertray that was dragging. The bushes and the kerb had damaged it in one corner where the kerb had ripped the head of a bolt off.. was just one in the corner securing the undertray on... there's a slight ding/scrape in a non structural part of the sub frame, but hasn't bent it out of alignment or anything.
The BMW is a write off, suspension, axle and wheel damage along with the wing, bumper, wheel and so forth.
Show how flimsy they are compared to the tank like structure of the Accord.
It was about an 8-9 mile drive back home, didn't notice any major issues... but didn't take it above 40mph to be safer. Insurance wrote it off immediately... but I had it inspected to see if there was any frame damage (there wasn't) so I bought it back and after doing that I had a little over £1450.
A few days later a friend came over to take a look and give me his opinion on either repair or part out and get something else... Whilst he was here we managed to remove the undertray, and pull out 80% of the dent in the wing, I cleaned up the wheel and he did the door/wing and what we discovered was this...
Before
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xaetwpy0gkaeiwf/2017-07-12%2018.41.51.jpg?dl=0
After
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7gxkdjpqwon1z8r/2017-07-18%2011.37.11.jpg?dl=0
The wheel had suffered no damage at all... all of the marks were rubber from his wheel... I got lucky as the angle/position he hit me seems to be his tyre hitting my door and his bumper hitting my tyre.. and then a little bit of scraping along the car as he goes of in another direction and I go the opposite way to him. That's pretty much how the wheel looked before the accident and all I used was some autoglym wheel cleaner and a brush.
We then pulled out most of the wing and using some white spirit, cleaned up the marks on the door and wing.
Before
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xhtfr3di866gi1u/2017-07-12%2018.42.48.jpg?dl=0
After
https://www.dropbox.com/s/u08l2ozvzj2qc80/2017-07-18%2011.37.06.jpg?dl=0
The door itself was structurally undamaged, and nearly unmarked... there are half a dozen little dings and at the leading edge a slight bend and crack in the paint... some minor scuffs that we couldn't clean off... but the door operates perfectly with no damage to hinges, frame or A/B pillars.
My insurance told me it had to have a fresh MoT if I wanted to drive it, as it was registered as Cat C now... So I did that and all it needed was a rear drop link... a common thing on most cars that I've owned in the last 20yrs... So I replaced both rear links and the ARB bushes at the same time for a total of £97 inc labour... The MoT cost a further £35, so the car was back on the road for just £132.
I then started hunting for parts.
B507P front wing £48
B507P door £50 (it's a FL door with chrome trim, so that needs sorting as mine has the black trim... Looking into either replacing the trim at a cost of around £70-80, plastidip spraying the trim, or vinyl wrapping the chrome.
Undertray £50
Various clips and fixings £20
I got the wheel powder coated for £66... I'd already done 2 on the other side a few months earlier as they were getting pretty bad, so the ins money allowed me to do the other 2 wheels as well. I also needed a new tyre as I'd picked up a nail probably from going up the kerbs onto the central res. Luckily it was the one tyre I still needed to replace on one of the rims that was being refurbished... So that added another £65 to the bill + another £66 for the second wheel refurb.
Other jobs that need doing include a full Hunters 4 wheel alignment to make sure everything is as good as factory specs, and I need an aircon regass... So I expect around another £130 for those.
A friend is going to help replace the wing and door.and bring his DA polisher to give the car a mop and hopefully minimise any paint fade/difference between the parts. I helped remove the door from the donor car and it's not that hard... especially if the wing is already off the car.
So I'm expecting the bill for putting the car back on the road and fixing some other bits that weren't damaged in the accident.. and refurbishing a couple of rims... to come to a little over £600... Which leaves plenty left over to cover a few other bills that I need to pay and repairs to the house that desperately need doing.
I'm considering replacing the front bumper as mine was already slightly damaged before this incident after some one hit it slightly and ******ed off whilst it was parked... But it's something I will only do if I can find an undamaged facelift one in the right colour for the right price, or a dirt cheap facelift one that needs painting.
I'll update the tread with pics as and when the rest of the work gets done... It took me almost 7 weeks to find a door... which I finally got at the weekend through a member on here... Almost tempted to go back to him and get a few more parts.... like the tinted glass.
Had a little accident with a BMW in early July... BMW lost... Basically a badly signposted roundabout that deviates from standard (without warning) and a young mid 20's plonker in a BMW 320 coupe trying to overtake and go left on the roundabout... As I approached he was 2-3 car lengths behind me... and decided to floor it and attempt to overtake... crashing into the side of me as I was going straight on.
I ended up on the central reservation after clattering up the kerb and managing to just turn and miss a signpost... which scraped the mirror.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0sdvzffrp09ujj3/2017-07-10%2018.37.54.jpg?dl=0
His ended up across the other entrance onto the roundabout.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ms5nutwf9wkmrnv/2017-07-10%2018.22.53.jpg?dl=0
I was able to drive the car home, after stopping to rip of a section of the undertray that was dragging. The bushes and the kerb had damaged it in one corner where the kerb had ripped the head of a bolt off.. was just one in the corner securing the undertray on... there's a slight ding/scrape in a non structural part of the sub frame, but hasn't bent it out of alignment or anything.
The BMW is a write off, suspension, axle and wheel damage along with the wing, bumper, wheel and so forth.
Show how flimsy they are compared to the tank like structure of the Accord.
It was about an 8-9 mile drive back home, didn't notice any major issues... but didn't take it above 40mph to be safer. Insurance wrote it off immediately... but I had it inspected to see if there was any frame damage (there wasn't) so I bought it back and after doing that I had a little over £1450.
A few days later a friend came over to take a look and give me his opinion on either repair or part out and get something else... Whilst he was here we managed to remove the undertray, and pull out 80% of the dent in the wing, I cleaned up the wheel and he did the door/wing and what we discovered was this...
Before
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xaetwpy0gkaeiwf/2017-07-12%2018.41.51.jpg?dl=0
After
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7gxkdjpqwon1z8r/2017-07-18%2011.37.11.jpg?dl=0
The wheel had suffered no damage at all... all of the marks were rubber from his wheel... I got lucky as the angle/position he hit me seems to be his tyre hitting my door and his bumper hitting my tyre.. and then a little bit of scraping along the car as he goes of in another direction and I go the opposite way to him. That's pretty much how the wheel looked before the accident and all I used was some autoglym wheel cleaner and a brush.
We then pulled out most of the wing and using some white spirit, cleaned up the marks on the door and wing.
Before
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xhtfr3di866gi1u/2017-07-12%2018.42.48.jpg?dl=0
After
https://www.dropbox.com/s/u08l2ozvzj2qc80/2017-07-18%2011.37.06.jpg?dl=0
The door itself was structurally undamaged, and nearly unmarked... there are half a dozen little dings and at the leading edge a slight bend and crack in the paint... some minor scuffs that we couldn't clean off... but the door operates perfectly with no damage to hinges, frame or A/B pillars.
My insurance told me it had to have a fresh MoT if I wanted to drive it, as it was registered as Cat C now... So I did that and all it needed was a rear drop link... a common thing on most cars that I've owned in the last 20yrs... So I replaced both rear links and the ARB bushes at the same time for a total of £97 inc labour... The MoT cost a further £35, so the car was back on the road for just £132.
I then started hunting for parts.
B507P front wing £48
B507P door £50 (it's a FL door with chrome trim, so that needs sorting as mine has the black trim... Looking into either replacing the trim at a cost of around £70-80, plastidip spraying the trim, or vinyl wrapping the chrome.
Undertray £50
Various clips and fixings £20
I got the wheel powder coated for £66... I'd already done 2 on the other side a few months earlier as they were getting pretty bad, so the ins money allowed me to do the other 2 wheels as well. I also needed a new tyre as I'd picked up a nail probably from going up the kerbs onto the central res. Luckily it was the one tyre I still needed to replace on one of the rims that was being refurbished... So that added another £65 to the bill + another £66 for the second wheel refurb.
Other jobs that need doing include a full Hunters 4 wheel alignment to make sure everything is as good as factory specs, and I need an aircon regass... So I expect around another £130 for those.
A friend is going to help replace the wing and door.and bring his DA polisher to give the car a mop and hopefully minimise any paint fade/difference between the parts. I helped remove the door from the donor car and it's not that hard... especially if the wing is already off the car.
So I'm expecting the bill for putting the car back on the road and fixing some other bits that weren't damaged in the accident.. and refurbishing a couple of rims... to come to a little over £600... Which leaves plenty left over to cover a few other bills that I need to pay and repairs to the house that desperately need doing.
I'm considering replacing the front bumper as mine was already slightly damaged before this incident after some one hit it slightly and ******ed off whilst it was parked... But it's something I will only do if I can find an undamaged facelift one in the right colour for the right price, or a dirt cheap facelift one that needs painting.
I'll update the tread with pics as and when the rest of the work gets done... It took me almost 7 weeks to find a door... which I finally got at the weekend through a member on here... Almost tempted to go back to him and get a few more parts.... like the tinted glass.