Haven't Been Posting Much Lately ...

[TomT/Williamsburg]

It's been a while since I posted anything substantial but I have good reason ....

So - the primary reason, is that my roadster was rear-ended while on my way to the Springfield, MA Goodguys run this past June/July. I really did not want to say anything or get in to it while going through the insurance process but she is back together now and once again in my garage. She took a good lick and got bent up underneath pretty good but the body was not touched. The Civic that ran into me actually went underneath me and picked me up, moving me forward about 20 feet, hitting the banjo rear, kicked the frame over 3", bent the 35-36 rear radius rods, and sandwiched the 5-speed as the engine recoiled when hit and actually broke the rubber motor mounts. The Civic went home on the hook but I was fortunate enough to be able to drive the car home but only after my buds at the Goodguys show took a hard look at it, seeing nothing major was broken or cracked, and then I visited Bill Wzorek's garage in Mass for 4 hours after the show to prep the car for the trip home. My good friend Chuck Lessard here of the Barn who met me up at the show (he went to Bonneville with me last year), went over everything with me and although the tranny was making a lot of noise it was still shifting.

Grundy is my insurance carrier and they were great, worked with me as we went along not really knowing what we were going to find. I took the car over to Dave Havlir's House of Fab in Ashland, Va for the repair and he has been great, doing the repairs in stages and working with the insurance folks. My son lives just across the highway from his shop so it is really convenient as I take care of the grands 1-2 days per week. Dave has worked with me in so many ways to get the car back to rights. It has taken a while as we did some upgrades while the car was apart, some that were needed, some cosmetic, some just to make the car a better ride. But, the journey is now over. It's been a long haul but I've met some really great folks and I have had a blast working with Dave so much that I'll be hanging out at his shop 2 days per week learning, helping, hanging out, and working on his stuff as well as my own. There is always a silver lining to everything and with this accident it is spending some really great, fun, and learning time with Dave as I ramp up to speed on all of his cool equipment so I can better my abilities and apply them to my projects.

One of the upgrades was to rebuild the F-100 steering box - big difference - as we rebuild the entire box, made up the column to work properly with a 40 wheel (I had posted here on the Barn asking how to align the wheel) and it does look and perform super. We also got rid of the F-100 "ball" ends and went with tie rod ends, modifying the steering arm so it looks "factory".

No, I did not take any pictures as the repairs went along the way. From the beginning I just wanted to get my car back to the way it was and I spent the entire rest of the cruising season doing so. Taking pics would have been similar to rubbing salt in a wound ..... I just did not want to go there ...

So now that things are calming down I hope to catch up with folks and catch up on my projects .... see you down the road ...

[okiedokie]

Wow, what a story. Glad all is well now.

[TomT/Williamsburg]

Thanks - so am I!

[roadster36]

Glad the car is back and that no one was hurt. It is nice to hear a positive report in regards to insurance companies for a change. Out here in Calif. half the time when you get hit the driver takes off in the car or leaves it and runs away on foot.

[Kahuna]

Great to know that you are OK and got the car going again. Glad it all worked out
Jim

[flatjack9]

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Great to hear you are back on the road and happy with the way things turned out. Congratulations.

[WestCoast]

what the hell is with these starbuck coffee drinking foreign car crap drivers? I think this is the 4th or 5th model a that has been hit by these drivers this year, I think when you put a windshield in front of them they go blind, its not that these cars are micro vehicles, they are full sized cars, people complain about the old cars, being unsafe on the hi ways but we are not the ones hitting other cars, so what is going on?

[WestCoast]

opps, in the wrong room, but my question still stands, why are our old classics being used for target practice?

[JM 35 Sedan]

Tom, I had no idea that that had happened and that you and your nice roadster were going through all that pain and suffering. I'm happy to know that no one was injured and that your car is all back together again.
I am also with Grundy and two years ago had a claim in with them on a damaged front fender. They were excellent to work with and took care of everything very quickly for me.
Take care bud!

[WestCoast]

im with hagerty, when the hood on my 57 chevy blew up I took it to my agent, you know what he said? why are you bringing it here, im not a body man, take it to a body shop and have them sent us the bill, cant complain about that

[BILL WZOREK]

Tom so glad Dave was able to take out the bad & put in the Good.
I guarantee the ride home was way to short ~ ~ ~

[VeryTangled]

Hi TomT, Wow, what an ordeal! So happy to know that it is over and your beautiful car is better than when the poop happened. I know you are feeling much better, especially when you are behind the wheel!

[B-O-B]

Tom sorry to hear about the accident but thrilled to hear that you are OK. You positive that you didn't suffer from whiplash? Good seems to come from bad most of the time & looks like some good came into the roadsters life.
I will also give GRUNDY a thumbs up. I have had nothing but good experiences with their organization.
Keep on V8n
Have a happy Thanksgiving as you sure have plenty to be thankful for.

[Vic Piano]

Glad to see you and the roadster back Tom. Now, are you ready to cruise to the 2015 Florida "Barner's Bash"?

[19Fordy]

Wow! Good news all around.
Really glad all turned out so well.
Glad you weren't hurt and that Grundy "stepped up".

[Ol' Ron]

Tom, glad to hear your OK and back on the road. Sometimes these kind of problems have a definite affect on our learning curve, including making new friends. Now I know of a good insurance co. Thanks Ol' Ron

[Grandadeo]

Tom, glad to hear the saga came to a happy ending. I'm sure you're '40 feels better that you stopped ignoring it for that fenderless hotrod it has to share the garage with. Or is the '40 still relegated to the "house' garage while that hot rod gets to hang out in the back garage where all the fun happens. Remember, old Fords have feelings too. Tell the '40 for me he looked really good at Charlotte .

Lee

[39topless]

It won't be long before they make mandatory apps on all devices that disable the texting function while in any running vehicle, (that's in gear). It's crazy out there.

[supereal]

When my '47 convertible was rear-ended a couple of years ago, the guy who hit me said "I was so busy admiring your car I forgot to stop"! It caused almost $3,000 damage, and left me out of most of a driving season. The first insurance adjuster that looked at it said "it doesn't look that bad". I insisted that an adjuster with collector car experience do a second appraisal. It took months to run down the parts, and all was paid except for my time.

[waterboychuck]

Happy to hear that everything worked out for you. Especially the changes you were able to make to the car, but the best part is you were not hurt.