Last night was very bad. I blew a tire going around a corner on the way home. About half way around the corner, I heard the tires break lose (never heard that on this car before) and the next thing I knew, I was trying to miss trees. The rims are now toast (one is just the hub), the lower control arms are pretzels and the front fenders and bumper are pretty badly beat up. The rest of the car looks pretty good. The Blehmco tie bar is scraped up, my lovely new Suspension Techniquies FSB is also scraped, one of the Blehmco rear bars is bent (Matt your stuff is really well made, seriously). All I can figure is that I have just had the roof redone on the house and probably had a nail in the tire.
The good news is that the carbon fiber hood is still very pretty, and most of the blehmco stuff handled hitting the curb without any damage (again kudos Matt)
It is all very repairable, but I am debating. Anyone want to buy a whole bunch of performance parts?
Well, I spoke with some builders that I know and they are all three believing that my accident (and bearing noise that I have been trying to find) is the result of the rim having a weakness (like a possible hairline crack). They feel that no rim shatters the way mine did without a prior weakness, they crack, dent, bend, or break a piece off, but do not normally shatter. They feel that as I was taking the corner (hard I will admit but I have done it harder) I probably hit a pothole just right and the rim gave, which in turn made the tire give, which in turn sent me sideways. With the wonderful roads we have in this world, it is quite possible that my rim had damage.
sorry to hear that. not going to beat you up about driving that hard on public roads, as I would be throwing stones in a glass house, but......................... nah.. not gonna go there. at least you weren't hurt.
let me know which pieces in the rear were damaged and I will make you a deal on replacement parts. I have a complete rear parallel link kit in stock, so I can just send you those and order the replacements. I may also have some other parts you need. let me know and I'll go through my piles of spares and see what I can find.
I appreciate it Matt. I will contact you via your site and we can see how much it will cost. Again thanks.
Yeah, it does suck something wicked, but you know we all take a chance every time we drive our cars, and that chance increases when we drive them as we built them. That is why so many classic muscle car guys don't drive their cars. If I had it all to do again, I wouldn't have pushed her until I figured out the rotational noise I was getting.
Why not? The frame is not bent, the body is still in great shape (except for the fenders and bumper), and the control arms are the only suspension parts really damaged. I can get all of the parts for around $500 and do all of the work myself. Then this winter I can save for a paint job and new rims. That is all a lot cheaper than a new car.
Brian,
When you've done as much to your car(s) as Brian and I have, it turns out to be a lot cheaper and easier to fix a couple fenders than to replace the car and swap everything over.
It would literally take me WEEKS to move everything over from this car to another if I wanted to swap..
stereo, suspension, brakes, engine, chassis braces, complete interior, half the wiring harnesses... and in Jon's case, he's got a lot of cosmetic mods as well. bodykit(?), CF hood, etc.
If the frame was bent I would see it in door, trunk or hood gaps...all are still straight as before and all open without issue. I plan on doing a good looksy at the other parts once I get the control arms off, but it does looks like the tie bar was a factor in keeping the damage to the control arms.
Brian, my view is as Matt sees it, but I do see your point too. The first thing I did was look for a donor car, then I looked at my damage. I considered options and rebuilding appears to be best, if the chassis showed any hint of flex I would have been buying a donor and not looking at repairing. Thank you both for the input.
I got the radius rod today Matt, thanks a bunch. I did some research on my nightmare. The manhole sticks up about an inch and a half right in the middle of that corner. I am waiting for a message back from the manufacturer, and I am considering going after the city for unsafe conditions. I know it is probably a futile thought.
I put the suspension parts on today and took her for a ride around the block. She still tracks well and there are no wierd noises. All looks good. Now I just need to do the body. And get rid of these damn stock rims. Man, even with the car lowered, the stock rims make it look like a family sedan...blah.
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