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MG Midget and Sprite General - Wrecked with photos

Well I got back up to Orlando today and had my car towed to my garage there. The insurance adjuster looked at it and will have his report ready early next week.
The ins. company stated that at about $9300, they would call it totaled, and give me first right of refusal


Phil Burke

Another, You can see I went under the bumper of the other car, and all the damage is above my suspension

Phil Burke

One more

Phil Burke

Though it looks terrible I'd say no structural damage was done.
The only welding needed are the radiator suports.
The rest is bolt on stuff.

By the looks of it you can save the LH wing so all you need is a RH wing bonnet and front valance.

By the amount of crush I'd gues that the rad fan amd water pump took a hit and need replacing.

You now need to start unbolting the front
9 or 10 bolts hold each wing (4from inside the car) and the front should have 4 additional bolts in the rad supports (iirc)

But if you just search a bit you will find them.

Looks like a nice theraputic afternoon of work
Onno K

You're very lucky Phil. Fit a flip front, lick of paint, you'll have it ready in no time.

Thank goodness you went in no further. Strong little blighters aren't they!
Max max-at-midgetmax-dot-com

Ouch! But in human/spridget terms, I'd say it's a badly grazed knee. It's all repairable, and if the insurance is paying, you can make it better than it was. Although it looks pretty good to begin with.

So Keep keep keep.
Lawrence Slater

Phil,

the voice of doom now :)

as the impact isn't completely square on the front with one side impacted more than the other you need to check the whole chassis is true

I'm sure, the same as many of us older ones on here, I've seen low speed impact damage that's caused a disproportional amount of repair

I had a mate buy back a his written off car to have it repaired and it ended up costing more than buying an equivalent to his car and then he never settled back with it so sold it at a loss

on the other side another mate had a low speed impact to one corner that looked easy enough to sort out that he initially thought not to go through the insurance and have it repaired himself but luckily he changed his mind and put it through the insurance as it needed a lot more work than thought and the car came back better than before the accident the insurance having spent a lot of money to repair it

I’ve no idea of repair costs in USA or car prices but now things have settled in your mind don’t rule out all options

over here as I’m not looking for a Spridget I’ve noticed others looking at good value cars available and I’d have thought the choice is wider over with you but perhaps spread out more
Nigel Atkins

I see your point Nigel. I had a BMW, in which I drove over a small log in the road late at night. The car jumped a few feet in the air it felt to me, and then landed pretty hard. I got out and looked, to see the front wheel buckled, hub cap gone and lower valance damaged (by the log). Fitted spare, drove home, the car seemed alright, and in the daylight it looked ok, apart from the damage I describe above.

I Took it to BM dealer, they stuck it on an alignment jig, and although not obvious by looking at it, the front chassis leg was now a 1/4 inch higher than it should have been. Insurance fixed it though, but it was expensive as a crumple zone had come into play and absorbed the damage.

Looking at Phils car in the pics though, I would say the front valance, wing and door post have absorbed the damage, and not transmitted it elsewhere. Assuming the drivers door still opens ok, without catching the door post, I'd say it's not that serious beyond pretty much what you can see. But I agree, I'd get the alignment checked out.

Speaking of which, what is the simplest method to check a Spridget chassis for true?
Lawrence Slater

"The ins. company stated that at about $9300, they would call it totaled, and give me first right of refusal"

First right of refusal for how much? Certainly
not $9300.
chuckc

I think they have machines no doubt with computers connected that check things now

no disrespect to Phil but photos can tell a thousand lies - you wouldn't(?) chance buying that car for repair just based on those photos

speaking as a person who normally spends thousands on keeping car(s) each year in the end they're just lumps of metal (and fibreglass sometimes)

ETA: you get salvage value over here
Nigel Atkins

No of course not Nigel, you see it in person.

And some people think they have souls, and personalities, he and she etc. Not me, and not you by the sound of it. lol.
Lawrence Slater

Jesus mate you were lucky, thank goodness you are OK.

Looks like you can repair that Phil or next time I am over I could extend by a week and we can have a go together!! (wishful thinking or what!!)
Robert (Bob) Midget Turbo

Phil

I got to tell ya.... The insurance company is going to fix this...theres no way they are going to total it

Id echo the above and DEMAND that the car be checked out on a frame machine... I stated before... Id have it bolted toa kansas jack system...if there is any warpage, they will find it and on a kansas jack systtem they can easily repair it

I 2 X the flip front clip

Prop
Prop and the Blackhole Midget

Don't listen to the doom brigade!

If the car was structuraly sound it should not be twisted so far that it is unrepairable.
Sure it won't be cheap (if it involves painting it never is)
But what would you pay for a good hot 1275 with 5 speed.....
Onno K

http://www.kansasjack.com/

Well i certianly hope its not bent, and id lay odds that its structrally sound but there is a big money differance between hoping its okay and knowing okay

With that kind of damage it would be piece of mind knowing there is no structual damage...and having it checked would be a good investment
Prop and the Blackhole Midget

Above $9300, they will not repair the car, they will get a salvage bid, and sell it back at that price. Typically, wrecked cars don't go much over $1000.

Both doors open and close fine, however the passenger door appears to have been tweeked a little. When I get it stripped, I'll check the frame, however I don't think it's too bad.
Alignment will be mandatory.
Phil Burke

Phil.
The passenger door might be nipped a bit by the wing being popped back and hitting the front of the door skin.
darnoc31

Phil-
Ouch! Damn shame, but it's certainly worth investigating to see if it can be fixed.
Stephen Strange

25 mph ??? ...

Id hate to see 75 mph
Prop and the Blackhole Midget

Echoing the above, it looks like most of the damage was above chassis level, so hopefully you'll get lucky and not have to worry much about chassis work beyond just checking things for alignment. Fingers crossed... Once you get the mangled bodywork off, you should be able to inspect the structural stuff visually and get a better idea what to expect.

And again, very best of luck getting things sorted. You and the Midget have been through too much to call it quits.

Cheers,

-:G:-
Gryf Ketcherside

Easy way to check.

Look at the chassis rails which extend from where the engine mounts... at the front they have an "initiation zone"... a small 2 inch indentation designed to deform in a crash... if they've deformed... its a write off... period.

C
C L Carter

CL

Sorry for my bluntness but that is BS

Plenty of spridgets have had new chasis legs fitted and if done properly it is no problem at all!
You can get them both with the bridge as a replacement part.

If the rest is fine it certainly is worth the effort
Onno K

from an earlier comment, it's not the wing that's touching the front of the door it's the A post, that shows the impact damage on that side travelled that far back at least

it can be repaired but it's best to know at the start, as much as you can be known, what will be involved in the repair so you can consider your options

if you've very certain you want the car back that’s perfectly understandable but you might want to accept that it might not be economically the best path to take and it might cost more in time, money and frustration than you initially expect

you might take the view you’d sooner not know the full extent and just get on with getting your car back which again is perfectly understandable

on the other hand, you may well be lucky enough to get the salvage at a low price and full repairs well within your insurance money
Nigel Atkins

The impact looks to be well above the chassis rail.

The wing has been pushed back, and deformed the outer skin of the door post, and that's why it's touching the door.

I'd get it checked for chassis alignment, but I reckon it's ok. For as much as you can tell, from looking at a pic on a bbs that is. :)
Lawrence Slater

Surprisingly similar, though a little worse, than mine when some **** reversed into me.

http://www.eatworms.org.uk/mg-midget/galleries/72-midget-general

Mine was written off and sold back to me. Ebay & BBS parts + doing the work meant I came back well ahead though lost a year in the admin, acquiring panels and doing the work (so ploughed the excess into a better engine shortly afterwards!)

I took a variety of measurements as best I could. I was happy the suspension points were within tolerance of what I expected for a car that had as much patching as mine had previously had in every corner previously.

As the front grill has gone so far back, I should imagine the uprights that hold the radiator etc will have been pushed back which may have had an effect on the chassis rails so will need a good check there aswell as the A posts.
Dean Smith ('73 RWA)

This thread was discussed between 18/12/2011 and 20/12/2011

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