Date:         Fri, 23 Jul 2004 09:57:37 +1000
Reply-To:     Stephen Overmyer <S.OVERMYER@UWS.EDU.AU>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Stephen Overmyer <S.OVERMYER@UWS.EDU.AU>
Subject:      Re: More Woe is me ! !
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

 

Date:    Thu, 22 Jul 2004 12:17:39 -0600
From:    "J. Stefanovich" <jstef@FLASH.NET>
Subject: More Woe is me !!

        Thanks for all the advice on the insurance angle with this
problem but=  filing the claim with her insurance is really out of the
question unless=  she absolutely insists.  When my wife died
unexpectedly several years ago=  this lady took care of my kids day
after day while I made all the=  arrangements and had been lots of help
to me since.  I never charge her=  for anything I do for her.
        What I really need is advice on how to proceed fixing this
myself.  I have=  a little experience doing body work - bondo stuff -
and own most tools,=  but I've never done anything this major before.
My first question is=  whether I should try to fix what is there or
start should I start looking=  for new metal.  The corner is pushed back
just enough so the door pinches=  when I try to open it.


Joe,

With repect......a home repair job on a crunch like this isn't ever
gonna look right again.
Bogging the corner after an attempt to pull it out with a slide hammer
is never satisfactory and cutting the corner out of a junk yard van and
welding it in is a tricky job for anybody not doing this stuff all the
time.Then you still have to match the paint...
Your van sounds like the body was in good nick and with a relatively
fresh coat of paint.
That corner of the van is always going to look real sad compared to the
rest of the van if it isn't done (and repainted) right....by
professionals.
Covering it with a car bra after some sort of repair will only damage
the rest of the paint on the nose of the van if it stays there for any
extended period of time.

From the pics you posted,I would have thought the estimate you received
for the damage to be rather high.
If claming on her insurance is really out of the question, I would be
talking to some body shops to see what they could do for you as a cash
job, not involving insurance companies.

Perhaps it's different where you are but over here in Oz, there is
usually a considerable difference between what a 
repair shop will quote you as a private (ie cash) customer compared to
how a bill is padded out for an insurance claim.

However you decide to proceed, I trust you have a satisfactory
outcome...

Steve O
NSW Austraila
'92 Transporter WBX Kombi
'00 Transporter Double Cab
'03 Transporter Double Cab (work truck)
'78 Landrover Series 3 Soft top (ex-Aust Army)