Post crash: Some good news

[Paul Workman]

I pulled the plenum to inspect it for grass an such, and found it to be essentially clean except for a couple flecks of grass...and a crack in the plenum gasket (that I've re-used "a few" times).

The impact had pulled the ECM loose from that little rail they sit on, and I worried too about possible damage to that pricey little gem.

New gaskets from Jerry, and rolling the key to the "ON" position and all the initial check lights and the shift light winked their familiar "hello", fuel pump ran for a couple seconds and stopped as usual. Seems ok. It even put a nervous smile on my face. But, now the big question...

I rolled the switch over to "START", she cranked for a heart-stopping 4 seconds - seemed like a long time - and then a short, loud high-pitched shriek - sounded like metal being torn - before she came to life and purred like nothing ever happened. It's hard to describe the feeling of relief I got. But, what the hell was that noise???

I had masked the front of the air horn off against dirt or whatever getting in there, and I had forgotten to remove it before I hit the starter. The shriek was only the air making that noise as with the tape tearing under stress of the BEAST trying to draw her first breath since the mishap.

I could only let her run for a few seconds - as most of the coolant had gotten away from somewhere under the front right corner. But, considering how sick it makes me to see her this way...that sound of the LT5 roaring to life and settling down to a smooth idle was a real rush of something I've needed ever since "it happened". She WILL get past this!!

P.

[Corbusa]

Geeezzzzz I couldnt imagine going thru this. I would be a wreck myself.. I'm glad it wasnt as bad as it could have been.. Cheers ..

[Hog]

That's good news that there is no "permanent heart damage". Good luck with the plastic surgery, all will be well.

[Blue Flame Restorations]

Hopefully, in a couple of weeks, we'll get her put back together again.

[Paul Workman]

Originally Posted by Blue Flame Restorations

Hopefully, in a couple of weeks, we'll get her put back together again.

Yep!!

Robert came over today, and we got the bumper cover and bumper off, giving us a chance to really see what was damaged.

The frame "horns" (that support the bumper) don't appear to be tweaked, in any big way. But, if they are, it is barely perceptible. That frame brace on the bottom that the radiator etc rests on seems to clearly be pushed up - maybe an inch or so, which is what seems to have tilted the radiator back toward the motor about an inch or so and broken the bolt tabs on the fiberglass radiator shroud.

The force of all that mud being packed up behind the air dam area, must have been what cracked the bottom outlet pipe on the radiator, right where it attaches to the radiator tank. I was actually quite happy to see that, as I the thermostat housing was what I was worried about - resting very close to that outlet pipe, and I was praying it wasn't that. Apparently it wasn't. WooHoo!

Sooooo... I'm pretty confident now the major damage was to my wallet. Oh, well... Even that could have been a LOT worse!! Most of the broken stuff rests with the driver side headlight recess area and that corner of the hood as well. A new bumper and skin and fog lights and the left side marker light, radiator (which might be repairable?), and perhaps some "Brett majic", and the hood can be repaired. Then some paint, and we're back in bitness!!!

For the first time since it happened, I can start to see a path to restoration. Not nearly as bad as I once thought (but what do I know about body repair???).

[HAWAIIZR-1]

P,

Glad to hear not as bad as it could be and good to hear your spirits are up about this, regardless of the situation with a positive outlook. I hope all goes well to get it back to the way it was. Best wishes, Craig

[LancePearson]

Sounds good. Once the dimensions are known it takes on the shape of a project more than a disaster so you've got a good start, Paul. Coulda been tres worse!

[Paul Workman]

I got a long straight edge and took some measurements to see how much (if any) the "horns" on the frame were tweaked.

Using jack stands under the frame and correcting for measured floor level variance, it appears the driver side is only about 3/8" higher than the passenger side. That isn't very much, and would explain the little 1/2" pleat in the seam by the A-frame; suggesting a slight tweak may have occurred.

We also noticed the bumper itself on the passenger side had slipped to the top of the adjustment slot. The bumper appeared to be in the same relative position on the driver's side, and if it had slipped to the top of its adjustment slot, it wasn't apparent.

That is encouraging. I'm hoping this w/e I can get it to Brett's where we can put it on a frame and see what is what and maybe tweak it back. Then the process reverses!

P.

[rhipsher]

I guess I've been out of the loop. Did the car get away from you Paul? Or did someone hit you?

[Paul Workman]

Originally Posted by rhipsher

I guess I've been out of the loop. Did the car get away from you Paul? Or did someone hit you?

Pure driver error. Lulled by experience with several "unlimited" stopping distance runs (checking tire balance etc) prior to the 1/2 mile run, I got caught coasting, looking at the spedo, looking in the rear view mirror at the guy I ran with and at 143 mph there's little time for that before needing to get on the brakes.

Ran off the end of the runway, doing about 40-50, I guess, ran through some water and up and over a bank and into a ditch on the far side of the runway. But, someone else did the same thing the day before, and there was a GT-R that spun out too.