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We spent several days working on gravenge and getting the interior dried and things cleaned.
When we got done, she wanted to go to her friends house and of course, she needed gas. I gave her my card and sent her to the gas station and she was on her way home when she had a spider on her leg. She took her eyes off the road for a second and looked up to see a F550 with a flatbed stop in front of her. She was only doing about 10mph when she hit him.
Not sure what we are going to do yet. I just spoke to a local body shop and believe it or not, they can still get OEM parts to fix this. The labor alone if I supply the parts is $1200 just to fix the structural part, not the hood fender or bumper. If they provide the structural parts and the labor it will be around $3500.
The truck only ended up with a bent tail light/license plate bracket. The hitch with a ball on it went right into the right headlight. The police officer did not give her a citation. He said the main reason was because the other guy was in such a hurry to get out of there.
She is pretty upset right now and can't stop crying. She really loved this car and doesn't want to let it go.
OMG, at least she is ok. Is it sad the pictures brought a physical tear to my eye. I know people may disagree. But fixing it wouldn't be the worst I idea. After letting my 99 go and getting the Caprice, I regretted it not only because I spent more money on it then it would have costed to get the 99 fixed. But I also hated my 2nd car.
Glad she's ok and Gravenge still did the job of protecting her. I hate saying it but repairing that will be a LOT of work. If at all possible, try to avoid grafting another passenger support and opt to have that straightened. Radiator support will be relatively easy to replace, though drilling through the spot welds will grow tiresome after a while.
Look on the bright side, now you have an excuse to get a NEW coolant overflow bottle
2005 GXP - White Gold Pearl, no mods...yet.
2000 SSEi - Resurrection in progress. Built L67 w/L32 fuel rail, ported heads, and cam. Camaro front brake system, GXP cluster, and much more in planning.
BonneMe wrote:Looks like a Volt, Sonata, and Taurus got it on.
PITA or not, I would fix it... Don't let it go because of something like this. Glad everyone's ok.
Will
91 Riviera | S2 L67 Swap/4T60E | 127K mi | Antelope Met. w/ Tan Int. | Saved From Death By Crusher
92 Bonneville SSE | L67/4T60E | 77K mi | Med Slate Grey w/ Two-Tone Grey Int. | Low Miles Time Capsule
92 Lumina Z34 | LQ1/4T60E | 177k mi | Torch Red w/Grey Int. | Rusty In Odd Spots
99 Tahoe LT | L31/4L65E | 276k mi | Spiral Grey Metallic w/Grey Int. | Truck for Truck Things and Portable Concert Hall
02 Bonneville SSEi | 171k mi | Black w/Neutral Int. | Backup and road trip car
03 Park Avenue Ultra | 212K mi | White Diamond Met. w/ Shale Int. | Southern Time Capsule
05 Acura RL | 165K mi | Carbon Grey Pearl w/Ebony Int. | The Super-Hooptie Daily
I wouldn't scrap a car unless it had rust issues, but then again I'm special like that.
Best bet is to let the body shop replace the supports. Un-bending metal is cold-working it and makes it brittle and likely will crack it, not good on a body support that bears the load of spirited driving or if it gets hit again.
Good luck!
Boost addict
The Fleet: '93 SSEi - Twincharged + manual Build thread '97 Camaro - Top swap '05 STS - V8, AWD, her DD '92 Trofeo - Fair weather DD '99 Montana - top swap 3800 '04 Sierra 2500HD - LLY Duramax
Ouch, that sucks Matt & Kathy. I'm glad she's alright. Reminds me of when I totalled my 00, something about putting that first bonne out that really hurts.
Hope they can get it all fixed up and you get it back on the road.
Bye Bye: RIP sandrock
Sirius wrote:Think about it. You’re tooling down the road in your Prius, knowing full-well that this thing being green is as big a sham as federally mandated ethanol-enriched gas, Russia pulling out of Ukraine, and Obamacare.
Sorry to see what happened, but glad everyone's ok. I really hope that you can get it fixed and back on the road - it'd be a shame to let a car like this go.
~Ben
2010 Chrysler 300 Touring Signature Series, Cool Vanilla - chrome 18's, MyGig touchsreen, all the toys. 2004 Chevy Avalanche LT 4x4, WBH, Arrival Blue Metallic - CAI, MBRP cat-back exhaust, lots of mods and all the options. 2004 Ford Mustang Premium convertible, Screaming Yellow - 18" staggered Bullitt wheels, 1.5" drop Eibach springs, CAI. 1973 Cadillac Fleetwood Series 60 Brougham, Antigua Blue - 23 ft, 5200 lbs, and 472 cubes of luxo-barge goodness. 1998 Chevy Corvette convertible, Light Carmine Red Metallic
There is no law in any state that I know of that leaving a receiver/ball in is illegal. Hell, a lot of the farm trucks around here have the Brute bumpers with permanent tongue hitches. How would you remove that when not in use? Kind of an off-the-wall post. She was either going to hit the hitch or smash into his bumper. I'd bet he's sure glad she didn't smash the whole back of his truck in.
Bye Bye: RIP sandrock
Sirius wrote:Think about it. You’re tooling down the road in your Prius, knowing full-well that this thing being green is as big a sham as federally mandated ethanol-enriched gas, Russia pulling out of Ukraine, and Obamacare.
The hitch is what caused most of the damage. She swerved at the last minute. The big tear in the top of the bumper is where his "bumper" hit the car. If she would have hit square, it would have taken out both sides and the hitch would have gone through the radiator and possible engine damage. The hitch was actually above the bumper.
Been doing some work and it looks like I will be getting it back on the road soon.
I'm on the other side of the bridge, I wouldn't fix it. Even if it is Gravenge, it just doesn't make sense financially. If she had owned the car for years and years and was very attached to it, then maybe. But she has only owned it a few weeks. Save the $1500-2000 to get it back on the road, and put it into another car.
Andrew - owner/operator of Bonnevilles Unlimited 2004 Bonneville GXP | 60k | White Gold Tricoat | custom built supercharged 3800 hot rod | garage queen 1997 Corvette | 57k | Silver Metallic | Z06 wheels | Date-night Hauler/Parts runner 2014 Town & Country Limited | Cashmere Pearl | 115k | Family Hauler 2002 Ram 1500 Quad Cab Sport | Black| 280k | Official Bonneville Hauler
I would see what I could do with it myself or check out craigslist for adds of people that do bodywork on the side. The guy that fixed up that part on my old '93 (which was MUCH worse) did it for about $800 and it looked great afterwords, didn't have to replace anything structural.
The worst part will be finding the other necessary parts to repair it...
I am not necessarily on either side of the fence on this one, rather sitting right on it. As someone who spent likely triple what my old '93 was worth to repair it and get it back on the road despite the financial aspect of it, I can totally understand wanting it back on the road. However, I can also see where it really isn't smart to put that kind of money into a car this old....
Ryan 2003 Bonneville SSEi - The Black Mirror SOLD! 2002 Bonneville SE - The MuttComplete 2004 SLE interior, drivetrain, and body harness swap, ECC swap, HUD swap, black GXP wheels, GXP headlights and tinted tails - SOLD 2003 BMW 540i M Sport, 2001 BMW X5 4.4i, 2010 GMC Acadia, 2017 Grand Design Imagine 3150BH 1982 Cutlass Supreme - The fun one
MattStrike wrote:It was the worst week of my life! *pause, drinks beer... smiles* But I'm better now!
harofreak00 wrote:I'm on the other side of the bridge, I wouldn't fix it. Even if it is Gravenge, it just doesn't make sense financially. If she had owned the car for years and years and was very attached to it, then maybe. But she has only owned it a few weeks. Save the $1500-2000 to get it back on the road, and put it into another car.
Another car, that will probably be less reliable and more of a money pit. Trust me, from experience. It'll be better off fixing a car you know was well maintained then buying another car with an unknown history. My Caprice was perfect proof like I said before. Biggest car mistake I ever made. I would have been so much better fixing my 99.
I want everyone to know that Matt told me first about the accident and how awful he and Kathy felt about it. But I reassured him, and Kathy, there is no hard feelings with whatever happens to Gravenge. She has had a good life and whether or not this is the end of the road, it makes no difference.
Unlike the midwest cars, there is no rust issues and overall the body/structure of Gravenge is VERY sound. Unfortunatly, she is an old car and you have to think about how much money you want to sink into such repairs.
I understand completly no matter what happens.
-driverjohn2005 "Gravenge" -1992 Pontiac Bonneville SSEi- Sold 4/29/12 to "myfirstbonnie" Current Rides:2015 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport GT AWD & 1999 Ford F-150 Lariat 4x4 SuperCab
As John stated, this car is great shape. It runs great and still looks good. I am not going to be putting the money in it through a body shop. I will be doing all the work.
sandrock wrote:I hate saying it but repairing that will be a LOT of work. If at all possible, try to avoid grafting another passenger support and opt to have that straightened. Radiator support will be relatively easy to replace, though drilling through the spot welds will grow tiresome after a while.
After getting the battery and overflow bottle out, it is not that bad. The structural frame was not damaged at all. It didn't no damage to the wheel well or the strut tower. I have already started to straighten out the corner and it is not going to be that bad. The worst part is what Sandrock mentioned. I will get a closer look at that when I get the radiator and AC cores out.
All the parts I need will be readily available from 3 local pick and pulls. We already visited them last weekend and there is a total of 9 cars between the 92-95 years.
I have made my mind up and it will be back on the road. It gives me an excuse to use the welder and air tools I have laying around. Although, I don't really need another project to add to the list.
Reminds me of when Jerry sold his,
LUCAS 
Member # 534.
