Date:         Sat, 1 Aug 1998 22:19:08 EDT
Reply-To:     Westys4evr@AOL.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Karl Mullendore <Westys4evr@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Bus crash
Comments: To: Vanagon@VANAGON.COM
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

BT,DT: My WunderWesty,OTTO,an ' 87 Syncro,was stricken with similar damage in
Feb. in the middle of a snowstorm in Colorado-the driver of a state snowplow
backed directly in my path,mangling the right front corner to the tune of
$4500!!! Of course Colorado has a no-fault law covering their butts,and
refused to pay for it. I couldn't afford to shell out that much,so being a
former body repair-person myself,I tackled the seemingly impossible task.
First,I pulled and twisted the metal back to as close as possible to it's
original position,THEN,using a SAWZALL,lopped off the entire corner beyond the
damage.Cut a larger section from a scrapped van,being super careful to cut
both vans exactly the same to 1/16 of an inch.MIG welded the entire section
into OTTO,including part of the bumper beam and frame sections.Just finished
the filling and priming,and I'm proud to say,the right side is as
dimensionally perfect as the left! The kicker?I have a total cost so far of
$300! SO-I guess I'm saying anything can be repaired,witha little work and
determination.If you'd like any advice if you tackle this job,feel free to
email me.Good luck!

Karl
w/OTTO soon to return to service from major surgery
(only to go under the knife again for a new TD 'heart')