Wrecked and repaired...finally

[Kevin ACR]

Well, those that said it would be expensive were right on the money. $40k + for a non airbag off center hit into the rear of a camry. All systems worked, alignment slightly out, top frame horn bent (thank goodness) and hood went to hell.

The car is definately not designed to take minor hits like your family driver. Hit it and your gonna know it where it counts, in your pocket.

Unreal, but spectacular work at Autometrics for those in Michigan. The most caring and best work ethic I've ever seen. Everything is back to good as or better than new. Hard to believe, but I'm actually glad I didn't follow through with trying to get it scrapped. Before and after.

Plus I'm selling my stuff to get my deductible back $1,000 on ebay if you know anyone that needs some nice stuff. Some not so nice but has a purpose.


<font color="blue"> Ebay link for my parts, plus I have a drive side headlamp complete in great condition that I have to list...and some other parts too: </font>

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewSellersOtherItems&amp;userid=00viperacr&amp;include=0&amp;since=-1&amp;sort=3&amp;rows=50

Before ...July 1, 5:45pm

After Crash, Before Repairs

After ..now

New Hood, frame section, lights, $45K, beautiful paint, beautiful mechanical work!!

If you get the right people you will be amazed at the talent out there!!!

This group knows their stuff. Thanks to everyone that gave guidance along the way! It was invaluable, and to Paul Scharf of www.viperwrecks.com for being able to deliver the one backordered part that had held up repairs for a month.

 

[YouWish]

Beautiful. She is looking bad-*** again!!!

 

[AviP]

Kevin,
Hope you came out with cash from the incident. Enjoy your "new" ride.

 

[Hisserman]

Kevin --

Glad to see you back on the road again! I know it seemed long for you, but that was fast for the work that had to be done. Congrats!

P.S. I hope it's faster now than a certain red one with stripes that likes to autocross a lot!

 

[GraphiteGTS]

$40K! Incredible.

 

[DodgeViper01]

Tell me if I am wrong, but you only really damaged the hood and the front bumper. $40,000? I guess it is possible because the hood is $17,000 right and the bumper is $10,000 and all the labor. I guess so. Let me know if I am right.

Talk to you soon

 

[Bernard]

I think you were *****

 

[ChoiceViper]

He wasnt *****. That's just vipers. It cost AAA insurance company 14K to replace and repaint entire rear bumper cover from a measly parking lot tap.

 

[Kevin ACR]

No one was ***** here, someone sounds challenging, maybe a little angry. Thanks for your candid input!

This post is for those that have an interest in why these cars cost so much to fix, not to prove anything to anyone. I think we're all smart enough that we managed to get a Viper, odds are we're not typically going to get ripped off.

Some of the facts are the hood is $18,000 from Dodge, the ACR wheel $3,035, the nose $2,000, the frame section from Dodge to get a frame horn is $6,000, hinge assembly &gt; $600, inner fender &amp; extension $1,000, headlamp capsules $600 each. I could go on, it's all legit including flat spotted tires and $500 for corner weighting and full careful alignment.

Here is something interesting I hope you never have to experience, if you take your car and buy a new hood from Dodge and drop it into place, you probably have less than a 50% chance it will fit without some modification. These hoods fit like a bad kit car.

Take a look at the following. It's kind of hard to see but the hood was actually 1/4" too wide for the mirror riser. The hood had to be built up on the underside to be shaved. The door had to be built up on the outside and the inside shaved...to maintain body thickness.

Nothing just "bolts in place" on a Viper, it's all shimmed and fitted.

I found it hard to believe when guys on this site told me I might be totalled when I didn't even deploy air bags. This car is not designed to be hit, period. It is not the family sedan.

I had several people tell me $40,000+, I was in denial. They were right on. The folks on this site really know their stuff.

I appreciate the fact that there are others that know more than I do and am pleased <font color="blue"> </font> to have this site as a resource!!

After hours of aligning the hood, it was brought down to one area that needed attention.

Hood is larger than the MIrror base

After the body and door have been matched


When the hood first went on the curve of the leading edge and that of the new nose cone were different. Think about the difficulty and time involved in doing the smc work to make the gaps even, and level the components to each other.

Hours went into matching the radius of the hood and bumper as well as leveling them to each other


You get what you pay for. Oh, and I had insurance too.

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

Need brakes?

 

[DodgeViper01]

I hope that brake joke is not about me Tom! LOL!

 

[hemibeep]

I am going through the same thing with the hood/bumper/door alignment. It has been 2 days so far.....as you can imagine, that 1MM adjustment at the front of the hood is quite a bit more by the time you get 7 feet back where the door is...
trying to get the front bumper to cooperate is a very special treat as well..oh and did I mention that the gaps change in the sun with the front bumper...BUT, when it is finished it will be worth every minute.

 

[Kevin ACR]

Need brakes? ABS wouldn't have been bad, a new driver for that day would have helped too. Wish ABS wasn't such an expensive retrofit!

 

[TacDoc]

Looks like I will be getting a fiberglass hood for my track use and put the OEM piece in storage.

 

[Bernard]

"No one was ***** here, someone sounds challenging, maybe a little angry. Thanks for your candid input"!

Sorry, no offense intended.

 

[Kevin ACR]

As far as "no offense intended", that's fine. No problem.

I want to pass on what my Tech came up with for the fascia, I thought it was brilliant.

A hint for aligning the bumper and hood. The tech put rivnuts in internal fiberglass bumper. Forget about those Christmas tree fasteners the factory uses to secure the fascia to the f'glass bumper. They won't stay as stable, especially as the fascia grows from heat of the sun.

With the rivnuts installed, he used stainless hardware and was able to then use shims/washers under the fascia to bring it up to the hood. You can't do that too well with the barb fasteners because they aren't as reliable in staying put.

I thought it was a great idea, and allow him to get the nose and hood dead even. I would require removing the fascia, but that is a quick job anyhow.

Just a thought if you are having any issues with adjusting hood to fascia.