"Daddy I just wrecked my car!"

[frogman68]

She said she looked at the "Vanzandt" street sign for a second and got into the guardrails. She is a Lynyrd Skynyrd fan and it reminded her of the band. As she realized what was going on she attempted to correct herself by turning the wheel to the left to get away from the guardrails and it sucked her right in.

I got a pair of those slippers too very comfy to drive in.
Those cavaliers are very unforgiving. What was it two or three summers ago when my right front tire exploded lucky I had 4 lanes before the guard rail and I still almost kissed it

[Skunksmash]

Every kid needs to wreck a car once to put the fear in 'em, and make them a safe driver in the long run. I remember what made me wise up: I was running blind red lights (you couldn't see the intersecting streets due to buildings) one right after another just for fun, until I smacked the side of a brand new honda accord at 40 MPH. Still had the dealer stickers in the windows. Totaled my 1989 ford escort, and the new honda. Those poor old people... they tried to sue my insurance company for years, but they never paid.

She'll come away a better, safer driver from the experience.

[Irish_Alley]

cause of stupid stunts like that my I lost a couple good friends and my close cousin cause the driver ran a stop sign and got t boned by a truck three out of the four died and the driver was the only survivor needless to say he was at the same prison I work at for 3 years one year for each life but what he has to face in life everyday knowing he killed his best friend his high school sweetheart and a friend I think that’s more than the law can do

[Skunksmash]

Yep. Some people have no business behind the wheel, I was one of em. But as long as you learn from your mistakes, you don't have to repeat them. It's a good thing no one was hurt in the OP's wreck. Also a good thing that it wasn't a very bad wreck. I've had 2 cavaliers in the past, those things are garbage.

[thirsty]

Thought I should update this. We finally won!

[Altec]

Looking good! Is it the original chassis?

Haha, Skynyrd. Good thing she wasn't flying a plane! 


I think I was lucky enough that I got most of my stupid out before ever driving on public roads. I laid down many a dirtbike, rolled/wrecked four wheelers, wrecked go karts, and even backed a golf kart full speed into a '60-whatever-they-all-look-the-same Mustang... Haha. That one wasn't my fault though! Throttle stuck...

[thirsty]

Altec= That's the same chassis. I took to my buddy's allignment shop and checked it over good before we did anything with it.
Other than her really wanting that same car the reason it was fixed was there is no rust anywhere on it (northern NH winters kill cars and trucks), low miles, ran and still runs perfect, and the interior was like a brand new car. Not including my time total out of pocket cost was just over $1000 to repair it.

Anyway here is how it went.

Crappy phone pic of when it came off the wrecker


Then we got this red one for the roof, 4 doors, and misc parts


Assessing the damage


This is what was left of the donor


New roof ready to weld


Roof and pillar welded in


Doors hung and glass out of the donor car set in to make sure everything fit


Then we did a bunch of work to the mangled front end and test fit the new sheet metal


Then it sat waiting for the painter to take it from there, and sat, and sat!!
After six months I gave up on the free paint job and started to do some of it myself. I never wanted to paint in the garage.




Then I got another painter to do the outside of the car for me thank God.

[bake74]

     So the big question is, is your daughter excited to get her car back ?

[thirsty]

I saw her hugging it yesterday! Seriously. She moved it at the garage got out laid one arm across the trunk lid, the other arm down the rear quarter with her cheek on top of the rear quarter, and said "I love my car"

That's why daddy fixed it.

[VileZambonie]

There's the happy ending! Good Job!

[thirsty]

There's the happy ending! Good Job!

Thanks Vile...That means a lot to me coming from somebody that does that caliber of work that you do!

Now that my garage doesn't have a resident cavalier parked in it I took up the empty space with my 86'. Now where was I a year ago??? Oh yeah body work on the cab. Hopefully I will get something done soon worthy of an update on that project.

[Captkaos]

Very nice job!

[thirsty]

X2 on what I told Vile Capt.

[Blazin]

Yep looks great. Should last her a while now.

[thirsty]

Thanks blazin! It should last her through college...I hope

This afternoon I am going to register it, get it inspected, and hand over the keys to her. All that is left is aiming the headlights and I plan to do that at my buddy's shop when I get it inspected. I've used it to run around with (that's why there is a dealer's name plate on the front...it wasn't registered and the front plate is ruined) and the other night I took it for about a 25 mile trip. I call it good.

I wish I got a picture of her hugging it. I know we have all thought about hugging one of our trucks and I'm sure some of us have.