my wrecked 96, worth fixing or part?

[scott9050]

It was dark when I took these pics. As of right now the engine starts but stumbles at idle, I am guessing a sensor of some type was smashed. The brakes barely stop the car, I am guessing a brake line ruptured in the wreck. I can not get the hood to unlatch so I will be using a sawzall to cut out the part that latches to get the hood off. So far I can tell that it needs:

a hood
drivers side fender
drivers side headlight
drivers side corner light
grille
chrome strip
header panel that retains headlights
bumper cover
Airbags
windshield (usable as is)

I do not know if the core support is bent or not, if it is it can't be too bad. Keep in mind that I hit this guy doing 50 mph without time to hit the brakes, so I am amazed that this is all the damage the car has. I would be doing most of the work myself if it is worth it and I would be willing to spend up to $2500 (minus paint) to get it up back on the road. Even if I spent that much I would only have $4200 in the car. Does the damage look like it's worth fixing?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v603/scott9050/100_3902.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v603/scott9050/100_3908.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v603/scott9050/100_3907.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v603/scott9050/100_3906.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v603/scott9050/100_3904.jpg

 

[Kevin McManis]

Ouch that is a quite a bit of damage. You may be able to keep within your budget with bone yard parts. The air bags will probably be the most expensive part to replace.

Unless you have really low miles you may be better off parting the car out and buying another. We all love these cars but as far a market value they are pretty low.

Whose fault was the accident? Any chance to get the insurance to help?

I do wish you luck but it does look pretty bad.

If you decide to part it out, I would be interested in the climate control unit.

 

[scott9050]

I most likely will be parting it out, I have my eye on a 95 for a good price that I have to call about Monday. It was his fault, but this is a no fault state so I can only collect $500 from his insurance. I did not have collision. The next Mark I buy will have it though. I will be putting an official for sale ad here in the next week or so as soon as I get it into the garage. I unfortunately was around a lot of sick people in the ER and caught a nasty virus that's had me off my feet for the past few days.

 

[sleeper]

part it out, get a new one.

 

[scott9050]

I will be parting it out by the end of the coming week, the fractured wrist and flu I caught at the hospital is slowing me down.

 

[sleeper]

You call an ambulance chaser yet?

if you part it out i may have some people interested in a part or two. Is your front suspension bent up? How are the brakes? If the spindles and brakes are good, a friend of mine might want them for an upgrade to his thunderbird. Have to be cheap though, he's not a big fan of spending money.

Is your tranny stock? I have a friend who needs a tranny in another thunderbird, but he was looking for a '98. If yours is in good shape though and he can save a few bucks off a junkyard '98 he might go for it.

 

[scott9050]

The drivetrain is already spoken for and anything that needs to keep the car rolling will be the last things to go as I need to get the car back out of the garage when I am through.

 

[PHRANQUY]

Lemme know what you descide to do with the wheels when all said and done. I'm in search of an extra set for a project.

 

[scott9050]

I finally managed to get the hood open today. I had to peel off part of the outer liner and then drill out the rivets in the metal retainer for the latch. What I saw then sealed the deal. The core support is bent to hell, much worse than what it looked like on the outside. The fan is in decent shape but it is pinning some metal parts against the crankshaft pulley, hence the rough idle on the car. Once I get that stuff out of the way it should idle smooth as butter again. That matters to me since I am keeping the drivetrain. I plan on swapping it into a fox chassis car of some sort, preferrably not Mustang. Other parts are available though (except the wheels/tires brakes/spindles) if anyone needs them. I just need to be able to keep the car rolling.

 

[93linc]

Hey scott, I would like to get ahold of the shifter bezel, ashtray and the cupholder assy, if they are wood grained. I would also like the climate control unit. shoot me a price for all of it shipped to my e-mail. michael_southwells@hotmail.com



Thanks for your time. Mike

 

[scott9050]

[div class="dcquote"][strong]Quote[/strong]
Hey scott, I would like to get ahold of the shifter bezel, ashtray and the cupholder assy, if they are wood grained. I would also like the climate control unit. shoot me a price for all of it shipped to my e-mail. michael_southwells@hotmail.comThanks for your time. Mike
[/div]

Sorry, All of the above is sold. I sold the entire console on Ebay (went for $128) and sold the climate control unit to someone on another site. I'm currently parting the car out slowly but surely.

 

[93linc]

That's allright, I was hoping the would be going a litle cheaper. I found one in a salvage yard, but they wanted 150 for the whole thing, I was hoping to find something cheaper around on the net. I'll just go there. Thanks for the response. Mike