Crunch! the Buick, My son and a Stratus...

So a week after my '79 Ford pick-up is hit, while parked, and pushed into my daughters new/old(97) Civic, while parked in from of my house, I receive a call from my 17 year old son. First wreck. Backed into a parked car and spun it 10º in a pit maneuver type manner. $2200 buck-a-roos damage to the Stratus'
door and wheel well while the wagon sustained a scuffed bumper pad and a broken tail lamp and trim piece. Sheet metal seems to have survived, unscathed. Anybody know where I can get some replacement parts?

I'll get pictures of the Buick just for the fun of it. Here's what happened to
my truck, in the mean time... Not sure I'm going to fix it but I got a check for $1650.00, probably more than I'd have gotten for it as I was about to sell it @ $1,500 obo...

 

... more...

 

Your P/U can be fixed, but it will probably take all (maybe more...) of the $1,650 they gave you. Fender and bumper should be easy enough to get. That grill could be a bit expensive. Might need a radiator support, too.
Did the sheet metal get shoved to the right any?

 

Yep. Enough that when I open the pass. door it chipped the paint on the fender and door. I'm sure the whole core was moved. I can't open the driver's side door. Driving it, it tracks well so, in spite of the wheel taking a direct hit and the truck being moved 6 ft, it seems mechanically sound. I need to have it looked at more closely though. I'm concerned about unseen damage that may rear their ugly heads later like cracked spring, shock mount, brake issues, tie rod end, etc. Plus, the u-joints and running gear took quite a shock, tho they seem fine. I just rebuilt the whole left side of the suspension not too long ago. I really don't think it is going to be worth salvaging so I may sell it as is for a couple hundred bucks and use the money to fix my '90 Accord's heater, windshield and some other issues.
The other thought is to give it to Ian and take my wagon back. Not as punishment, which is what message he might get, rather, to fix and take ownership pride in, plus, learn that gas isn't cheap and ownership is hard. Just thinking out loud.
It is a damn shame, the Ford is really in very good condition and worthy of fixing.
Only 150K miles on the 400 and about 6K miles on the rebuilt tranny.

 

Seen a lot of hits like this on P/U's and had a '79 F-350 C/C for a while...
I doubt the front rails were pushed over from the way it was hit. Should be the sheet metal only.

Looks like the tread area of the tire took an impact, so I would check the location of the left I-beam - may have been pushed rearwards. If so, would be a bent trailing arm. Other stuff should be OK.

 

Yea, I thought of that too but I did the old alignment test and drove down the road at a moderate speed, hands free and it stayed straight as an arrow, even over some bumps.
No rattles or thumping right now. Off to the mechanic she goes just for safety sake.

 

hey it could be worse? remember what happened to this poor 79!



this was the movie "the mexican" btw

 

try these guys for the parts. I've got a few things for my sonoma from them.
http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/fc/t.aspx

 

I have their catalog for both the Ford and my Suburban. Their prices are great and the stock is impressive. Thanks for the link, others should definitely check them out.

 

I'm sorry to read this, al least it was parked and none of you got hurt. I love those Fords and for a short time years ago owned a 7? extended cab just like yours but lite green on white. Many of my friends still have trucks like yours. Sorry this happened

 

The nose from a 79 on back to a 73 will fit that truck perfect but the difficult thing is gonna be finding the inset trim ... might have to remove all the trim for a good match. the frame rails on the f-250s were like a pair of railroad tracks ... probably no problems there.

 

ow

glad i dont live close to you guys


sorry to hear about the luck tho

 

-----------Bought a new 1977 3/4 ton supercab end of 77. Loved the new 1978's better. Ordered all parts to replace with 1978. Needed inner supports also but was bolt on job.-------- By luck? After only one week, before new parts arrived, got hit head on by drunks on glare ice. Insurance ended up paying for my conversion and Ford garage did the work............ Few months later went for oil and check up. Mechanic came in and told me my 1977 truck wasn't in lot! I told him to try the key in that 1978 outside. So, yes, parts do interchange and your truck looks worth fixin!

 

what I'd do with the truck is find a complete donor for a couple hundred bucks then swap what you need over and haul the rest to the crusher

 

In 1979 I had a 76 Ford that coulda used a brake job ... I rear-ended a backhoe. a friend worked for a offroad racing group that was building a 79 ford Baja 500 (or 1000) pre-runner for Dan Gurney.

Since his prerunner had fiberglass fenders, hood, and a tube bumper someone had to end up with the take off parts. <wink>