Just curious cause mine was just stolen and smacked into a mountain. The insurance is going to fix it and I'm gonna be driving a crashed FD. It's sucks, but I'm gonna do my best to get it repaired by a very good body shop.

So who's driving a crashed FD and how does it drive.

Thanks,

Anthony

 

The first owner, a doctor who obviously couldn't handle a car like this FD, rear ended another car.. He wasn't going very fast, like 25 mph or so and only damaged the bumper, hood and both front quarter panels. Title lists it as $5k damage. No frame damage or engine damage however, the shop did a good job fixing it and everything is a perfect fit.

 

That really sucks Anthony ... Sorry to hear of it... You need to make sure they get the car on a good frame aligner before they start to repair it, then everything else should fall in place (if they know what they're doing).

 

I too am in the same position... however, i am negoiating a $3-4K payment to me, as lost value when i sell my car(if i do) As it's no longer pristine i'm good with driving it the way i do. However, as a collector car( which the fd is) i have lost value........ cartercs

 

Thanks guys. Good points from all. A really good body shop is #1. Unfortunately, my car did suffer frame damage which is why I'll slave to find the best Doctor for this procedure. Too bad this had to happen, I also was going to make this a life long collector project.

Any others?

 

bump

 

I would try to find a shop with one of those laser guided frame alighnment machines (don't know the real name).
I'm told they can get everything back to factory specifications on those things.

 

You'll want to talk to a good frame straightening shop, which isn't necessarily the same as a body shop, although sometimes a business will be able to handle both jobs.

There are a couple of things to keep in mind. 1. Can the bent frame be brought back into factory specs, or are they just going to get "kind of close"?
2. When metal is bent, then bent back to its originial shape it loses some strength. This is where a judgement call comes in. You'd want to ask the frame straightening guy if the car is going to lose any significant amount of structural integrity.

The 3rd Gen RX-7 is a very precise handling car. Think about the strut bar in front. Can you imagine the minute amount of chassis movement that is meant to prevent?If you've ever been around an alignment machine when a car is hooked up to it, you'd be amazed at the way the numbers move on the machine when you do something as simple as press on a tire with your hand.

On a wallowy Buick, frame damage can probably be corrected to the point where you'd never notice it. But on a tight, precise handling car like the RX-7 the job has to be done very well otherwise you lose the great handlling the car was designed to deliver.

 

I would get it totalled.
Sometimes, a shop and the insurance company prefer to fix the car. I will give you two different view from these two entities.

Shop: They will quote a pretty low estimate, so that the insurance company will just pay the repair. Because any repair cost > 75% car value will be totalled. Then whille the shop is working on the car, they will start jacking up the price, saying more is damage, than they thought. So in the end, it may end up > 75% car value.

Insurance Co.:
They prefer to fix the car because it cost them less than totalling the car. Say the car is $12K(KBB). Cost to fix $8K, they will fix it, better off than paying you $12K.

I never like insurance company. They are there to basically rip us off, and the federal would not touch them. I heard too many stories of people getting ripped off.

Reza

 

Thanks everyone, I'll keep all this in mind. I know going into this that some of the structral integrity will be lost. Hell, it's already gone due to the idiot driver that smashed it. I'll try and work into a relationship with the frame shop so as to get the most reliable truth about my cars future. I wish there was a way to get it totalled though.

 

Mine was in a front-ender but was repaired pretty well. The front bumper does not quite line up with the hood, but it's anyone's guess as to which one is truly bent. Look CAREFULLY. You will see the tell-tale signs of a former collision. However, they are still difficult to spot.

Here are some visual aids in my usual 56k-friendly thumbnails:

 

Anyone else driving a front collision repaired FD that had frame damage?

 

i'm in the same boat as jonski, down to the front bumper lining up a little off. I recently bought a fd with a salvage title- it was rebuilt and painted in maryland and it looks great. however, i dont have a clear title yet, the process takes a while, so i only got to drive the car once locally. I drive an 88 legend right now, so i'm not exactly sure what the handling of this awesome car is supposed to be, but it feels like a ferrari to me. not that i've ever driven one, but anyway. the alignment is near perfect, which is a good sign. hope everything works out man, that really blows.

 

Here's one. This took 6 months and a ton of time and money - but came out perfect.

 

Actually, I know someone who is getting her FD repaired right now (I think it was in a front end crash). She is having a FEED front end put on right now. I'll call her and ask for the info.

 

Piston Pete:

I don't know if you read Sport Compact Car's Project RX7 series a few years back, but they a had a mechanic take their car for a joy ride unbeknownst to them and crash it, and it did get a little frame damage. But, they did take it to a body shop somewhere in Concord (I saw that you're in the Bay Area), I don't remember the name of it, it was some sort of Chinese guy's name I think, but if you find the article where they document the repair process you should find it. Go to www.sportcompactcarweb.com and see if they have the Project RX7 series online or find a buddy who has the mag. The guys at the magazine were very impressed with the job this body shop did, so I'd say take it there since they've fixed at least one FD well!

Good luck man

 

Thanks again. If mine was only a fender or bumper type deal well, I'd say no biggie. It's not though, it has frame damage. I mean the friggin front right shock tower bent and put a nice hump in the front strut brace. I'd appreciate the info on the woman getting hers fixed.

 

90% of the fd's i see have been in some sort of accident, and most repaired poorly.

mike