Teggy takes a Direct Impact -- Moderate damage
 

So, just about an hour or so ago, I was driving home from work. I was on a 4-lane road at about 50-55 mph and all of the sudden a vehicle in front of me somewhere lost a huge "panel" of ice, and yup, it headed straight for me. I tried to avoid it, but it hit HARD -- cracking the windshield further. It sounded like someone hit the car with a sledge hammer. I couldn't even guess what vehicle it came from, so accusations were out the window. I looked up and the sunroof was fine and worked, and the passenger door's window rolled up and down. BUT...

I get home to find significant damage to the roof between the windshield and sunroof, the trim over the door, and it shoved the A-pillar bodywork down and bowed-out the windshield trim. Now I'm worried that a replacement windshield isn't possibe due to the twisting asymetry of the front-end. Pics:

https://pic16.picturetrail.com/VOL698.../223451440.jpg
I tried to capture the wavy nature of the impact result (above)

https://pic16.picturetrail.com/VOL698.../223451432.jpg
Passenger door trim cover dent (above)

https://pic16.picturetrail.com/VOL698.../223451446.jpg
Passenger windshield trim: bowed out due to the compression of the panel (above)

Comparison Pics: Driver's Side to Passenger...

Driver's Door Gap vs. Pass. Door gap (below)

https://pic16.picturetrail.com/VOL698.../223451429.jpg_https://pic16.picturetrail.com/VOL698.../223451441.jpg

Driver's Windshield trim assembly vs. Pass side (below)

https://pic16.picturetrail.com/VOL698.../223451587.jpg_https://pic16.picturetrail.com/VOL698.../223451590.jpg

OK, so any body fabricators out there that can offer advice? My guess is that I can't put a new windshield in a warped car -- or else it would just buckle under the stress (again). Then...how much would it take to repair this? What a buggah :( This poor car has had a rough Winter.

Any input is more than welcomed. I don't want to give up on this car yet -- she's got a lot of life left in 'er (and it's paid-off, so I'm satisfied with it). Thanks guys.

RH77 "Ice sucks"

I unfortunately can't offer any expertise but I can offer my condolences.

This is why it annoys me when I see all those people who only clean / scrape off their windshields and sometimes even their rear windshields.

It depends on what is actually damaged on the car I would think. Anything is repairable if you are willing to put the time into it. If it is just bent body panels then getting a new glass is no biggie just pop out/fill the dents you can or replace the panels. If the unibody is twisted somehow then it is more of a pain to get right. You can take it to a frame alignment shop and have them do it for a lot of money or if you can get measurements from another car or wherever then you can always chain it between two telephone poles and pull it back out yourself. I have done that before and it is a lot easier than you would think it is. Just take off the body panels that are near what you are working on and slowly pull it back into shape. Vise grips can be used to hold the chain in the right position to pull on the unibody so you might need 3-4 pairs of them.

Took me 5 days of work to get this car back on the road after it was hit head on going 60mph. It hit hard enough the passenger side tire was shoved back into the door. 86 t-bird if you can't tell by the pic

https://webpages.marshall.edu/~baksh2/Jul25-05.jpg

Not giving up yet...
 

Wow, that's encouraging! My biggest concern is that they cant get a windshield back in without putting too much stress on it -- it's a really weak design. But after seeing your T-bird coming back to life after that terrible accident is awesome (I hope everone was OK afterward). :eek:

I'll have to first see if the windshield is replaceable without any adjustment to the structure -- I don't really care about the body panels not matching up. It's function over looks at this point (and passing inspection) that I care about at this point. I refuse to let her die!

UfoTofU: thanks man. I never thought a sheet of ice could bust the crap out of solid metal. A fraction faster or slower and the sunroof would've been toast or even enter the cabin thru the front.

I'll take it to a glass shop soon and see what the deal is -- otherwise, I'll be spend the weekend pounding and bending.

Thanks guys.

RH77

I never thought a sheet of ice could bust the crap out of solid metal.

One word Titanic

The Titanic? Is it alright?
 

What's wrong with the Titanic? I sure hope it's OK...

Honestly, the odd thing was the sheet of ice flew up in the air about 20-feet and was airborne for about 2-seconds before stiriking the roof. An image of "lightness" is imagnined in those seconds as it's flying around. After analyzing reaction time and braking distance, I could've hit the brakes hard and the piece would probably have hit further forward on the car: hood, fender, grille/radiator, or through the windshield. I moved over to the left as far I could without hitting the car next to me, which shows the damage on the far right side. I guess I'll be more aware of this in the future -- I'm just glad I wasn't on a bike or in a soft-top convertible.

RH77

yeah try to keep space to either side of you open while on the highway to allow a lane change for just this reason. Sheets of plywood can "takeoff" the same way!
Tough hit there RH.

That sucks. Similar thing nearly happened to me when a 4x8 piece of drywall took off from a truck in front of me several years ago. I remember looking up and watching it float, trying to figure out if I could avoid it without being at the front of a pileup. I was lucky to be able to brake and let the thing hit the pavement in front of me, but sometimes you're just stuck. I hope you can get a new windshield in!

RH77 -

Sorry to hear. Maybe you can use this as an excuse to modify the roofline. Maybe extend some coroplast from the start of the roof into a boattail. Just trying to think of something the might salvage the situation :( .

CarloSW2

Sorry to hear about it RH77. Coyote X's method is pretty good. I had a 00 Camry which hit the rear end of a semi, using a 2000lb boat winch I was able to bend the front sub frame more or less back into its original shape. A few junkyard pieces later its pretty close to being as good as new.

That bites. Are you sure the replacement wouldn't work as-is? I bet it will - they may just have to use some extra adhesive goo to allow for the wow in that A pillar.

As has been noted, you could take it to a body shop and have them straighten it for you.

Alternatively, you can use a large tree, or similar and a come-a-long with a chain. If you need to pull the ripple out, you need to get a grip on the sheet metal and pull it back in the exact direction it was hit from. You can use a pair of vice grips or something like that to get a grip on the edge of the sheet metal. In a auto shop they have a clamp type of device that is basically two heavy pieces of metal with a heavy bolt to clamp them together and a large enough hole to either put the hook into, or a chain through.

If your not concerned with look's, though, I'd check with a class shop. The front window glass is almost always attached with a polyurethane based adhesive, which makes it so their is a larger amount of tolerance in the sheet metal.

If you pull the sheet metal, you need a reference of some kind. You could probably make one from a piece of bailing wire, measured from a weld point on the pillar, to a point which is common on both sides of the car, like a rear door jam, or something. Then you just need to do a relative adjustment to the side that was hit.

Pretty amazing damage, for a chunk of ICE. Glad you were able to dodge it and not take it through the windshield.

Insurance/Body Shop
 

A windshield repair shop said that it was too twisted-up to place a new piece of glass, so I was referred to the body shop. We've kept full coverage on the 'Teg, so insurance was receptive to going to a body shop for an estimate. I'll probably get to the shop tomorrow for an estimate.

What a dumb way to damage a car! I can see losing control and hitting a tree, or rear-ending someone, but the ice was angry that day folks. Later-on yesterday, I went to check the mail, slid backward on the sidwalk and cracked my head on the ice. I'm fine, but my neck's sore. Honestly. I should've taken up ice hockey instead of hypermiling.

RH77

Cost Update
 

Well, I'm back from the body shop. Estimate = $1700. :eek: If the insurance company goes with it, then it should be as good as new. But geez, that's expensive. The plan is to straighten/fabricate the "uni-panel" (basically the rear fender that extends as one piece into the A-Pillar cover) and the roof into spec to allow proper placement of the windshield. These are tolerances that I couldn't even begin to measure and fix myself, but Gary you have a good point. It's my wife's ins. policy -- unsure about the exact amount but probably $500 deductable (ouch) :( which is the cost of the windshield alone -- and better than a series of car payments. :thumbup: I'm hoping to get a couple more years or at least 70,000 miles out the car before something "major-mechanical" goes wrong.

But if the engine goes, it might make a good swap project (but at 130K, it seems to be in perfect shape). The auto-trans is what I'm worried the most about. Just trying to predict the future, but if it fails catastrophically, I'd probably keep it as a project vehicle, and maybe get a older Civic Hybrid Manual if I can find one, for a daily driver. Or even just something used with great FE potential, and a manual gearbox. I desperately miss making my own decisions relating to gear change. :rolleyes:

If it goes through, she goes for surgery on the 29th.

Thanks to everyone with the ideas and support. I'd really like to have the ability to fix it myself with the techniques noted, but with a $500 windshield at stake, if I screw-up once, thats a thousand bucks + time and effort.

Metro - I looked into the adhesive idea as it looked very plausible, but the twisting of the pillar from the impact would have required precise shims and lots of sealant, which may not have provided the flexibility the car needs as it slightly twists and bends over bumps -- the rubber molding is said to provide the cushion for the windscreen glass.

JanGeo- Best advice that I've gotten. Lots of folks that I've talked to have had "UFOs" coming at their car and came away without damage -- keeping space is great idea. The problem is that I was 'driving with load' up a hill and vehicles were passing at about 10 mph more than my speed (2-lanes each way). When I'm out on the Interstate (3-4 lanes each way), I just stay the heck out the way. It's a good lesson learned -- a couple years ago, a truck lost a flat piece of metal it was carrying, which was thrown into a car, killing the woman who was driving.

Carlos- I'd love to alter the airflow, but I already have a low Cd with the hatchback design, and the boattail would need to start at the rear bumper. It's a good idea, but airflow isn't a concern as much as engine/drivetrain efficiency and driving skill practice. I'd love a mast and sail with the winds we get here though! Statistically windier than Chicago :D

Anyways, it's still just a stupid way to wreck a car, and that's what I have to get over. :o

RH77

Well it sounds to me like it was an alround win for the ice. Glad to hear that all you got out of your slip and fall was a sore neck and a head oop's.

Since you still have liability, if the insurance will cover the expense, then I agree with your assesement, I wouldn't fool with trying anything to DIY. With the cost of glass as high as it is, if something isn't quite right, it's a pretty pricy way to test.

Although you have as many miles on the Integra, as you do, I would not be at all surprized if you can go another 100,000, with that transmission. I don't know what is different in Honda's, but I know people who have gotten 300,000 out of them and they were still running.

You figure that chunk of ice could cause that much damage, it's very fortunate it wasn't aimed any closer towards you, than it was. From that perspective $500 is pretty inexpensive and way less painful

just joining late to the party. That's an amazing event (holy sheet), I didn't think it would do that kinda damage. :(

Batman
 

Thanks man -- that actually brought some much needed humor to the situation! :)

I can still picture it -- it looked like a slow-motion kite catching the wind, then bickety-bam! It had to have been 1/2-inch in thickness. On the panel above the door, you can clearly see an indentation line where the edge struck, but the roof took most of the crushing forces after it broke-up. I can't describe the sound -- almost like hitting a huge pothole but x10 and from the top.

RH77

My wife had one of those hit her 97 Odyssey a few years ago. It hit the windshield dead center but luckily it hit flat instead of edge-on: no damage but now I know how it could've been.

All the best to you.

if your insurance will pay for it being put on a frame straightener, then unless there is something really wrong with the car, go for it! if you want to fix it your self and pocket the money, then I would get some solid bar clamps, and a chunk of hard wood 4x4 about 6-8 feet long, clamp it on to your "A" piller, after poping the windshild out, straighten the piller, then use it as a leaver, and straighten the rest of the car.

Drive-Thru Claims
 

I considered this, but anymore, many insurance companies require an estimate and direct payment to one of their approved body shops -- as in this case. We get so much hail here in the summer that this car has all of its panels pulled, pounded, and re-painted at least twice before. My old Civic Si got hit 3 times. It's odd to those not used to it -- but they have "Drive-Thru" claim centers for hail damage: pull in, a rep with a laptop looks over the hail damage, punches it all in, and sets-up an appointment with the shop of your choice with a dollar amount already setup. Word of advice: paintless dent removal isn't all it's cracked-up to be. Go for the full panel fix and repaint -- it helps resale tremendously.

Honestly, until I have a 3rd car as a "backup", I don't feel comfortable doing major repairs on the daily driver. That won't stop me from experimenting though ;)

RH77

On a hail note, last winter my cousin's DSM was totalled due to hail the day he sold it. The guy ended up taking it anyway with the insurance settlement. *shrug*

Why do we go to extremes?
 

This had to have been in Missouri? I'll tell ya, the climate here is viscious. I started a thread for a controlled air intake temp system. Selfless advertisement: click HERE for more details on that. But I realized typing that thread that the temps here have ranged from 1-below-zero a couple weeks ago to 107F this past summer (which is typical for both seasons). Then we get the ice (as we've seen here), snow, tornadoes, hail, straight-line wind and microbursts, rain, flooding, high humidity and heat emergencies. Yup it's a great place to live. Honestly, it's a good town with stuff to do and 4 seasons (albeit spring and fall are a bit short sometimes). St. Louis ended up with the Arch though, darnit (and a winning baseball team, etc.)

RH77

Teggy's Back
 

Well, Teggy's back from the shop and as good as new.

One complaint: the shop messed with my PCV catch jar -- probably curious as to how it worked, turned it upside-down, and ended up sucking the junk back into the intake! There was a decent amount in there -- darnit. :mad:

Now I have to do another cleanse...

RH77