I have had better days

after seeing how they pulled the 1/4 on my 59 i wouldnt worry to much

 

Sorry to hear about your bad luck. We were pulling a Chevy wagon that we bought in Richmond Virgina that same day. Winter weather advisory caught us by surprise. Nothing like towing a heavy car in a snow storm in the mountains.

 

You might want to consider getting a private fire insurance adjuster to deal with your insurance company. I gave this advise to a friend last Christmas, when his house suffered from a burst pipe. His insurance company, was dragging their feet, and he was left with trying to find contractors to do the work. He finally decided to take my advise in March, and now, everything is being repaired to his satisfaction. You are always better off having someone else represent you in these matters. They usually charge 10% of what they recover, and they can get more out of the insurance company than you ever will.

 

Thanks for the advice on getting an Agent, I actually had 2 other people sugest the same thing, and Friday I decided to speak with one and hired them. You are correct they charge a flat 10% and I am beginning to think it was a good idea already as I had a disagreement with the insurance adjuster today, and decided I am all done dealing with them myself.

On the car side Haggerty seems to be on the same page with me and the shop doing the repairs on the wagon, so no bad feelings on that side so far.

 

Well the Catalina Safari finally made it into the Body Shop on Monday, and the owner that thought finding parts for this "newer" car would be no problem has had a not so great experiance tring to locate parts for my latest Orphan.
Had alot of fun getting the car and trailer out of my back yard Monday!!!! Iloadedthe car up last week when it was 20 degrees and parked it were I normally leave the trailer, well this weekend it warmed up andstarted raining, the trailer with the 4400 lbs Catalina on it sunk almost 8 inches into the yard,then sunday night the temp dropped and the ground froze.
What should have taken a 1/2 hour to get out of the back yard turned into a 3 hour fiasco. I had to jack the trailer up 1 wheel at a time, place a wood plank under the wheel, repeat 3 times as my Dogs were heckling me!!!!!
At least the car is being worked on, and the shop says it looks like the car had been broad sided in the drivers doors a few years ago, the Drivers dooors are a slightly darker color, and the VIN sticker on the door does not match the VIN on the car. So I don't feel quite as bad about damaging the car, as I wasn't the 1st one to do it!!!!!
Now I need to locate the drivers side wheel well trim, and a 78 Catalina Glove Box door. Wish me good luck with that last one!

 

Good luck on getting the wagon repaired and finding those pieces of Unobtainium.
If I were there when you moved the trailer I'd joined the dogs in heckling you.

 

Unobtanium.

No matter what the situation, I always place planks under the tires of any vehicle I park on dirt/grass/gravel/etc., just for this reason. My '89 Bronco I sold last Summer was a pleasure to move out of the backyard after 6 years of parking in the same place because I took the time to place blocks under the tires. It also allowed me to get the Weedeater under the running boards.

 

Never had a problem inland 30 some miles from the Gulf. Our yard still looks like beach sand. But my flatbed trailer, RV's, and other wheeled nite mares don't sink in the sand. Mostly because no matter how hard it rains the water is gone in minutes. When stored for a long time I put my flat bed up on jack stands which are on boards.
But my son in central Illinois told me he sunk in the soil just walking to his mail box. Sounds like I'll need cement or planks there.

 

Well the cars looking better, the repair panel they made for the spare tire well looks good, and they found some more damage (slight) to the bottom of the passenger side rear door. So now they are respraying the tailgate, Rt rear 1/4, and the lower surfaces of both Rt doors. I am also having them youch up some small surface rust spots on the leadingedge ofthe hood, and the Lt rear wheel well lip. Now the fun begines, color matching, and finding the unobtainium glove box door.

 

If the shop is good, they will be able to match that colour with no problems. Ma's Volvo is a 90, and got hit a few months back. They matched the 25 year old light blue perfectly. That repair is looking great! For the glove box door, are you certain it is that model year specific? These Pontiacs used the same dash design from 77 through at least 82, or so. If the model designstion is on it, then you do need the Catalina door. If not, then the Bonneville door from the same years will work too. I believebthey all used the same wood grain pattern. Good luck on the hunt! At least it is not wagon specific, so the glove box door from any body style works.

 

From what I remember, Pontiac used a different wood grain pattern and color shade on the Catalina, then they used on the Bonneville's.

 

You just don't go out and find "77-82" anything body/interior wise these days, you have to hunt BIG time.

As for colour match, big difference in "match" than "blend" new paint with old, especially if it's blending to 25 year old paint. may look great now but you can still tell...and then just wait a year...........


BTW, glad to see the wagon getting taken care of, looking forward to pics of it all shiny and in the drive way, allways had a soft spot for those Pontiacs.

 

Well I just received anE-mail fromthe shop doing the repare work that the car should be finishedlater today. I got to see it Thursday as they were mounting the repaired and recromed Bumper, the Body work looks Fantastic, I had them take carof a few other small area's while they were spraying the car. It had some small creases in the Left rear Quarter, and a couple of dime sized stone chips on the front flat surface of the hood that were starting to rust. I also had the respray the semi gloss black paint that had wornoff the rear Quarter glass trim.
I managedto find a NOS Left Front Wheel well Molding, and a Good used rear, The car looks much better with all 4 moldings installed!!!! I also found NOS Tailgate emblems that had been damaged when gate hit the small trees on the back side of the ditch. Found a decent used ashtray to replace the one broken in the wreck, and suposedly I have a good Glovebox door on its way from Idaho. The only thing still missing are the Sunvisors.
The shop did a bretty good job blending the Paint color. It matches the original paint very well. It does not match the fairly recently replaced drivers side doors paint. I will have to live with that.
Unfortunatly I left for 2 weeks in Japan on Saturday so the shop said they will store it inside at night, and I will have a Shinny newto me car waiting for me whenI get home!!!!
As for the house the repair work has started, the windows have been replaced, and some of the siding isup, but the big snow storm a couple of weeks ago, and the sub zero temps have put a hold on the outside work. Hopefully the worst of the weather will have past by the time I return.

Thanks for all the good thoughts everyone. If only I could reach an acceptable agreement with my home owners Insurance. I know they will have one less customer after this is settled.

 

Enjoy your trip. It will be more fun now that your wagon is finished and waiting for spring.