Urgent Help Required - Front End Damage
 

Hi Folks,

I'm a little shaken up tonight and could really use some help & advice.

On the way from home from work this evening some clown in a battered old BMW slammed on his brakes without reason or warning and despite my best efforts I couldn't brake hard enough to avoid rear-ending him. I'm 99% certain its an insurance scam as he'd clearly been hit in the back before (silly me for not noticing as I was following).

Anyhow, its made a mess of my stunning 75 tourer and I am at a quandary what to do next. I know the insurance will take one look at it and write her off, but I've lavished so much time and effort on keeping her pristine that I'm loathed to let it go. I am however pretty good with my hands (an aerospace engineer by trade), and I reckon I could probably make a decent job of repairing it for less than the cost of my excess.

The damage, so far as I could ascertain in the failing light, appears to be confined to: the grill (smashed to pieces), the bumper (multiple splits), the bonnet (a small but noticeable crease around 1ft from the front edge), the slam panel (not exactly mangled, but it's bad enough to have jammed the bonnet release), both headlights (all the clips look like they've snapped but the lenses are still in situ) and although not currently visible, I reckon the crash bar must have sustained some damage too.

However, the damage has not extended as far rear as the radiator or fan and the wings appear to be un-affected, so I'm hopeful that this is the full extent of the damage. The trouble is, with the bonnet currently jammed closed and the snow limiting my enthusiasm, I cannot tell if any of the forces might have been transferred back through the structure. Just to add to the complications, I am due to move house imminently, and whilst she's not at all pretty, she could actually make the journey as she stands now, but definitely will not once I start pulling bits off her.

So, my questions to you wise folks are as follows: In your experience, when a 75 sustains a front end shunt (fast walking pace), is it likely that the crash bar will have absorbed sufficient energy to protect the structure behind? How likely is it that the front chassis legs will have buckled? Also, does anyone have any of the afore mentioned parts for sale? Most of the bits I can see available on ebay, but a good copperleaf bonnet and pre-facelift bumper might be trickier.

I'd be hugely grateful of any assistance at this miserable time.

Tom

You will probably be able to replace all those bits in a morning (assuming that you can get the same colour).;)

I have a Mk1 grill if you want it and a bumper but it is scratched . Wedgewood

You probably will be able to repair this, concerning what you described. Once you took off the parts, have a close look at the main frame/ front chassis legs (magnifying glass?). I would search for (Hairline) cracks etc. Make some images and post them for advice. Good luck with repairing!

We’re police called?

If you suspect it’s ascam report and make them aware as they or insurance will be able to check driver and car to see if he’s been at it before also do you have a dash camera?

By the sounds of it car is repairable drop the traders a pm or put a wanted advert up with all the parts you require.
It’s all bolt off and bolt on parts so easy repair.

Sounds like the bumper, slam panel and hopefully the crash bar has taken the impact. It would be best to check the large radiator fan and housing, this does sit close to slam panel, check to see if it turns freely.

I had similar damage to my ZT, I had to replaced bumper, slam panel, crash bar, fan/radiator and air con radiator. All very straight forward, job looks worst than it really is. ;)

I have also just had to do the same with my TF, thankfully the crash bar crash cans took the impact, so I only had to replace just the bumper and crash bar,

Take a better look in the morning (daylight), everything will seem worst right now, hopefully its not as bad as you think.

At least no one was hurt, and before you go dismantling everything, take photos of the damaged, and speak to the insurance first. Hope it all works out for you regarding the suspect third party.

Glad no one was hurt. :}

The truth is... You wont know what damage has been done until you get the bumper and slam panel off and then check the chassis out.

The easiest way is to get another crash bar and offer it up and see if it all bolts together nicely.

I have seen low speed impacts that bend a chassis leg, and 30-40 mph ones that don't! Hopefully there wasn't any sideways forces at the point of impact, fingers crossed you will be ok.

I very much doubt that the chassis arms would have taken any damage at all by what you've explained.

You'll need a front bumper which you can usually get hold of with the grill included, bonnet, slam panel (which often comes with the crash bar attached still) and headlights if the mounds are broken.

Shame you're so far away otherwise I would have changed all those bits for you if you needed help.

PM Sent.

Thank you for the kind offer.

Thank you everyone for your comments and assistance. I'm feeling a lot more confident that I'll be able to put her right.

The impact was absolutely dead central, so I don't think there will have been any sideways component to the impact.

The police were indeed called, but since both cars were still (just about) driveable they elected not to attend. I have literally just bought a dash-cam too, but its currently adorning dining room table, having not yet been fitted to the car :duh:

A more strenuous search of ebay and gumtree have yielded some positive results this evening and I think I've now tracked down everything but the bonnet. Could anyone suggest good rover breaker who might have one? I've used Best of British Rover Spares with some success in the past, but a bonnet is a pretty big item to keep in stock.