Ouch! Scuffed my Charger!

[JimShine]

Happened in transit from Maine to Indy last night. It could have been worse, so I am thankful it is cosmetic.

[JimShine]

Another

[Mike DC]

 
OUCH!!! 

That's infuriating!
I'm sorry, Jim.  By the tone of the post you don't even seem that mad about it. 

Oh well.  Like you said, at least it's just cosmetic. 

 

[Mean 318]

I am glad that YOU are ok, and the Charger can be fixed! Sorry about the car!!

[Charger1973]

   thats a little more than a scuff...  how did that happen?

[JimShine]

My brother and uncle were bringing it down on a car trailer from Maine to Indy. In Eerie PA they hit some ice and things went wrong. The trailer jack knifed and my car hit the truck, which also pushed the truck into the guard rail. My uncles Kummins diesel dually is a loss. I feel bad for him.

It is heartbreaking, but everyone is okay and my car is fixable. Just going to be a little hard to get all the parts. The drivers side fender was even affected a bit by the shift of the valence (the middle support welds broke), so I will change it if possible, but it could be fixed in my opinion. My grille just needs the passenger side door housing, a new valence and bumper.

Also, I want to note this is my personal car, not Lee1.

[Brock Samson]

ooh,.sorry bout that! 

[69bronzeT5]

Sorry to hear that man.

[Charger1973]

Man that is scary.  After hearing that, I am suprised it survived at all.  No wonder you dont seem that upset about it...  You got pretty lucky on that one.   

[JimShine]

It has a few slices in it and its really tweaked in the area the grille sits in. The whole fender slopes lower now.

Yeah, I feel lucky. I could moan about the damage, but as I said, it could have been much worse. But the most important deal is everyone is fine.

[Shakey]

Wow, I'd also say that's a bit more than a scuff.   

Looks like you have your next few weekends planned for you.   

Hang in there.   

[nh_mopar_fan]

Damn. That sucks Jim. But, as you said, the important thing is no one was hurt.

You'd think you guys from Maine would've learned how to drive in the snow a long time ago.... 

[41husk]

sorry to here about your car,  I envy those that drive there Chargers all the time, but stories like that are exactly why mine doesn't leave thae garage unless the weather is nice.  She has only seen rain a couple of times.

[JimShine]

Yeah, but it was being hauled. The road was real bad (they had a fatal accident an hour beforehand). I wish they pulled in at a hotel or something, but hindsite is 20/20. I wont work on it myself. I am going to let the insurance pay a body shop I know and trust around here to take care of it. And I suspect replacing the fender will be more cost effective. I will see what he estimates.

[Todd Wilson]

I hope the Charger has insurance. Most tow vehicle insurance will not cover whats on the trailer!!!!!!!! Sorry to hear!


Here is a prime example folks on why I PREACH about having a good tow vehicle and properly tieing down whats on the trailer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If they had been in a Durango or GC  or a limp dick Dakota they most likely would have been killed!!!!!!!!!!



Todd

[Chad L. Magee]

Sorry about the damage to your Charger, Jim.  I hope you can get it fixed soon for summer crusing.  Atleast it did not get the center of the grille, although the fender will cost some money to fix (either by replacement or repair).  I think that the valences are being repopped now, but I don't remember where.....

[Charger_Fan]

That sucks, Man. I hope things turn out well for the car, with the least amount of financial impact.

[TruckDriver]

I think that the valences are being repopped now, but I don't remember where.....

Yes they are, I see them on Ebay all the time.


Sorry about your car Jim.

[4cruzin]

WOW sad story but definitely glad no one was hurt.  The car can be fixed and then all is good!  Hope you have a good body shop picked out and they work with the insurance co.  Good luck! 

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

let us know what ins co you have & how well they handled it.  Hopefully all turns out well

[tan top]

    sorry to see that ( JS) could of been worse

[JimShine]

I spoke to a body guy today that I know and have seen his work. My insurance is Hanover, and he says that they have always been easy for him to deal with. He will be around tonight or tomorrow to inspect it.

My uncles truck will be looked at by the claims adjuster tomorrow. He has Progressive. Ofcourse as stated before his insurance wont cover it, so I will hit mine up. The truck is damn close to being totalled. Will get final word on that tomorrow.

[duo-stripe]

hmm...bummer...but it is easy fixable I presume?
good luck

Grtz Marcel

[mikepmcs]

Jim,
I just saw this.  I'm glad Matt and your Uncle are ok.  As far as the damage goes, it doesn't surprise me that you are handling this with an even keel.  Much better than I would of course, but you probably already know that.LOL
I'm sorry it happened none-the-less.  But you can think of it this way.  Now you can do all that other stuff you talked about earlier, like paintng on the decals and stuff like that.  Might as well do it all at once, if you can swing it.  I wish I had the parts to give you.
Once again I'm sorry about the GL and your Uncle's Cummins.  But you'll roll with it and come out looking better than before.  Hang in there brother.  I hope all else is well considering.
v/r
Mike

[resq302]

Jim, having gone through an accident this year with the charger, I know how frustrating it is.  Glad that no one was hurt but it does suck about having to get everything fixed.  Vehicles can be fixed and replaced, people cant.

[RD]

is there a difference between the 68 and 69 valance?  if not, then I know where i can pick one up for you for $75 i believe.  pm me if you are interested.

sorry about your car jim.. let me know if I can help out with the valance.

[MoparManJim]

hey Jim, whats wrong with the bumper? I don't see anything wrong with it bud, or is it the other side that is damage?

[Mike DC]

 
I'd vote not to throw away that crumpled right-side fender even if you end up having it replaced on this car. 

Knowing of your car, I'm guessing it's probably a low-rust panel.  I have a feeling the price of those Charger fenders will eventually climb to the point where that's cost-effective to fix that one before we see any reproductions. 

 

[8WHEELER]

Sorry about your damaged charger, boy you just can't be safe enough these days.

Well if it had to happen at least its in the winter, you should be able to get it ready for the spring.

And speaking from my experience be glad you don't have  Progressive  my   

Dan

[JimShine]

Thanks guys. Mike, I should be back in a few days. Maybe if you are free we will meet up.

Here is an update. The insurance company is sending an adjuster down likely tomorrow. Hanover seems to be very cool about all this. Dwayne (body guy) says they are easy tp work with, so I should be good.

Dwayne says the pushbar really saved alot. He feels it saved the hood and grille center. The inner fender is bent along the mounting edge, but is ofcourse saveable.

Miked, I will keep everything left over. The fender looks kind of authentic now huh?   Jim, my bumper is bent. That was a NOS bumper from old time racer Jim Hylton. Now it will just be an ornament.

RD, I will let you know on that valence. I am somewhat fortunate to have access to many parts here and I still have some parts home. The only thing I know I wont have is the fender(s) if they are not repaireable. I also amd fairly sure I don't have the side marker housing (we had to scrape up a set for Lee1).

My uncles truck did not fair well. The bed is toast, two frame rails are bent, and the drivers side front wheel toes in a weird angle and has worn the tire significantly in the few hours it was driven since the crash.

[THE COLONEL]

I'm glad to hear everyone is OK Jim, but that news is not good.  With that lake effect snow thay have off of I-90, and I-79, it gets real bad up there.  Good luck with the insurance, and getting it fixed.

[bull]

Ouch. Sorry that happened but like you said it could have been a lot worse. Glad everyone is ok and the damage is repairable.

[MoparManJim]

man, Jim, I'm sorry to hear about you charger getting scuff like that, it looks like it slam into the trailer that it was on from the photos. Hows the driver side of the charger? just glad that no one got hurt is all.

[JimShine]

The trailer didn't touch the car. What happened was the trailer hitch broke away from the truck and the whole deal slid down in a V formation. The passenger side fender entered into the rear end of the truck just to the rear of the wheel well, breaking the plastic extension that makes it a dually fender, and hitting the metal underneath. It looks like the valence hit the tire itself. My brother said the truck and car were stuck togetherand they pulled the truck off the car. It dropped as they pulled it away, and that is when the fender was pulled downward, bending the inner fender.

The drivers side fender is twisted up with tears where the valence meets it. As I said, the middle mount that attaches to the center brace had the spot weld break, so the impact affected the other side. It may be repairable though.

[472 R/T SE]

Damn, that sucks!  Gotta hand it to ya', you took it better than most, myself included.  As has been said, it could have been worse.

I hope insurance is a breeze. 

[General_01]

Sorry to hear about your car Jim. Hope everything get repaired with no hassles.

[69charger2002]

same for me jim. that sucks bad and i hope for it's speedy recovery. i HATE seeing a charger get damaged. messed up some serious $$$ parts too. keep your head up it will get better
trav

[JimShine]

My passenger side fender is gone. Driver side can be saved. I posted a WTB post in classifieds. Hopefully it wont take my car out of commission for too long.

[Brock Samson]

when my clip was crunched in '99 it took nearly two years for me to find and repair the bumper, bumper brackets, grill, hood, trim and paint...
i didn't have this site then and i was forced to find my own parts, i was lucky to get the grill and hood from the same guy within a few  weeks but the bumper guards,  the high kind?.. took well over a year...     from Hemmings.
   My insurance Zurich/J.C. Taylor were wonderful... the shop that did the work was awful..
i'm sure your repair will go smoother, you've gotta have better sources then I had and, what a great time to upgrade. 

[Mean 318]

It Could Be Worse!

[SRT-440]

I think I'd just have told everyone I jumped it ..sounds more like a General story. 

Glad no one was hurt. 

[JimShine]

Okay, here is an update:

The insurance company has a guy working for them trying to source the parts. Yesterday he called me (first time I even knew what was going on) and he told me he had been looking high and low for the passenger side fender (he is starting with the worst and working his way through) and expressed he needs my help as he is very discouraged. I told him I would help, but its going to be a tough thing to get.

[SeattleCharger]

         sry about that,    Jackknifing the trailer in the ice and totalling a dually, surprised things didn't get worse for the car, glad everyone is alright,

             

[MoparManJim]

well Jim, if I can be of any help just let me know man. I hope you the best of luck finding the parts you'll need.

[Charger Aficionado]

Good to hear you didn't Loose anyone! 

This is really simple to convert:  http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/68-dodge-charger-right-front-fender_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ140703QQihZ015QQitemZ250081281848QQrdZ1

[JimShine]

         sry about that,    Jackknifing the trailer in the ice and totalling a dually, surprised things didn't get worse for the car, glad everyone is alright,

             

I agree. The pushbar saved my hood and grille center. I heard Dukes fans knocking these small ones, but my bar saved a fair amount of my front clip here and it just needs a new paint job.

dads, I sent a PM. I don't want to hold you up. The fender mod may have to happen. But if I go that road I have tons of options. It is up to the insurance company right now. To them buying an actual 69 for a few bucks more makes more sense than paying for hours of bodywork to convert a 68.

[wLc]

Damn Jim. That sucks. But like others have said it could have been a lot worse. Glad no one was hurt and that it is fixable.

[JimShine]

Alright, my car is just about done (finally). The insurance company realy came through. But I believe it was the fact that the body shop didn't touch it for 5 months made them ansy to settle. On a huge plus note, my entire front clip and doors were redone. The shop didn't want to chase around a paint fade, so they painted all the panels and cowl. The negative side to this is there is an obvious difference between the old paint and new. The front looks so clean and fresh, so this fall I will have the rest done elsewhere.

Some things I learned: Be prepared to hunt down and buy the hard to find parts yourself. If you put it in the garage or insurance companies hands, they will never get it done. Go with someone like Hagerty. They pay out promptly with no question.

[JimShine]

Here is a pic of the damaged area now fixed. What a pain in the ass. But its done and I am not too upset. OEM parts used all around. I still need that taco looking thing that goes with the antenna to mount it. Not too bad to deal with. BTW, I am with Haggerty now.

[69bronzeT5]

Looks great!!

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Who was your orig ins co? 

[tomdroptop]

Good for you Jim! Glad to see it's all back together & almost completed.

He mentioned his original ins co was Hanover. I hear alot of people are with Haggerty and have had nothing but good things to say, hopefully you wont need them though.

[TruckDriver]

Cool Beans Jim, looks great

[Brock Samson]

glad she's back in shape...    good job.
a question jim,  is that actually how the pushbars are supposed to be,.. on the bottom there?. that angle?.. 
your lucky cause took me alot longer to find parts and to get mine back togeather when mine was crunched... 

[JimShine]

Some of the earliest small bars were that style. They are really tight against the valance. It also was made so it was somewhat 'floating' off the face of the bumper as they were attached at the top. This one attaches in a way that is incorrect, but I don't want to mod a bumper. This one needs some final tweaking and adjustment of the valance, the bumper and the bar. I had it sort of bushed up on in these pics to get me through some filming. Now I will be able to really set it up correctly.

The insurance company was Hanover. They put this adjuster on the case with the order to have him find the parts. He was only willing to buy cheap stuff that was junk. After many months, he gave up and we took charge of the parts. He kind of gave us a hard time about the prices, but he caved in quick.

[Mike DC]

 
Yeah, that pushbar is totally legit for early DOH episodes.  The smaller pushbars really didn't fit the front end of a Charger very well. The Generals' pushbars were mostly a cosmetic modification until the switch to the wider ones during season#4.


The cars looks really nice again, Jim.  Glad that the insurance guys were willing to pony up eventually & get it fixed correctly. 
(Isn't it nice when an insurance company actually delivers their half of the deal?)