Help someones hit me!

Post by **dannymac** » Tue May 09, 2006 9:56 am

I have just got my minor looking good and someone crashed into the back of me at a round about last night. The damage didn't look to bad and i said that i could sort it myself ( didn't want the hassle of claiming). The person looked relieved and we went on our way. On a closer look at home the damage is as follows:
Very small dent in bumper blade(i was surprised it survived so well)
Valance is pushed in on one side quite badly and is about 10mm from the body.
Bumper iron bent, cant tell how badly until i take the valance off.
Slight crease on the boot floor.
Slight crease on inner wing
slight crease near spring hanger.
Sorry this is long winded, should have just took a photo. I want to repair this myself and was planning to hammer it out for now. Has anyone attempted anything similar? Thanks,
Danny

Post by **Rob_Jennings** » Tue May 09, 2006 10:56 am

Hi Danny,

Years ago I had a fiesta mark 1 and it was shunted while parked up. Fortunatly the damge stopped at the bumper so not serious for me (especially because they never bothered to leave a note on the car grrrr). All I remember about trying to beat out the bumper metal was that after a few sweaty hours hammering away I gave up and bought a new one from a scrappy.

panel beating is hard work and creases in a boot floor can mean more serious work like replacing sections, as beating it out would weaken the whole thing further.

I hope you got the details of the person that hit you, you might find that its would be less cost to make the claim and get it done by a pro. After all if they hit you from behind you are generally not at fault and it should not effect your next insurance policy too greatly.

what ever you decide to do, good luck.

--
Rob

Post by **brixtonmorris** » Tue May 09, 2006 11:47 am

Slight crease on the boot floor.
Slight crease on inner wing
slight crease near spring hange

its big.

insurance inspection is needed and it wont be good news
you may be buying it back of them.

sorry to be a bringer of doom and glome.

it happened to me last year and i had a rsj with a tow bar fitted to the back. bumper.

Post by **paulk** » Tue May 09, 2006 11:48 am

Trouble with all old cars is Rust.
This will have weakened the structure so creases that would be serious on a new car become fatal to an older vehicle. Im not sure but would imagine if you've creased the spring hanger its an MOT failure.
If you've creased the inner wing you've at least bent the rear wing itself as it is bolted to it. Even if you only

have to replace the spring hanger that is a major job and will cost serious cash if you get someone else to do it.

Hope you got their details

Post by **dannymac** » Tue May 09, 2006 8:16 pm

Thanks for all the advice, i had the afternoon off work today and have been out trying to hammer out the damage. i took the bumper off and bent the bumper iron straight. The tie rod that it is attached to was forced outwards so i hammered it back. Hammering it back made the crease on the inner wing better but like you say its probably weakened it. It all looks petty tidy now but my concern is the spring hanger. I did the bushes only last weekend and notice some rot so they probably need doing. I was considering getting a mig and having a go myself. I suppose i will have to now because i don't think its going to go through the next mot.
I never got the details from the driver that hit me, it didn't look to bad at first so i said it was alright. Didn't check it properly until i got home, a lesson for the future i suppose, could have got my spring hangers done. Anyway I'm still going to use her until a weld in new hangers, got no choice now because its my only transport, will let you all know if i have a major failure. Good job they made the cars so strong!
Danny