Penny Version 1.2
 

Well tomorrow, May 31st, Penny goes onto the frame rack to get pulled back into shape. Hard to believe it's been three weeks already since she was hit.

A check from State Farm arrived today for $21,508.52 so that's a good thing. After the shop goes past this amount (and they will) State Farm said they will do supplemental checks until the car is completely fixed.

When I called State Farm to double check on this the adjuster, Kathy, said "OH! The Camaro!".. turns out everyone in the office had been checking out pictures of the car online. lol. They want me to send them copies of the August Super Chevy when it comes out. I must give State Farm an A+ so far in how they handled the claim. Then again, it was thier guys fault and he had a super high liability limit.

Anyways, let the games begin.. again. I will detail the rebuild of Penny and drop in little tidbits of how it is to deal with insurance.

She will look much the same as she did before except she will have an FUEL SAFE fuel cell with internal Bosch pump. The new tank will hang down less and have a cleaner look. It will also be safer then my old design with the exposed lines. Capacity will be almost 19 gallons. I had wanted 22 gallons but no off the shelf tank fit between my narrowed frame rails. That's certainly enough range.

I also want to take the time to up the gears to 4.10's and drop in some Recaro Seats. I will also have the backspace of the front wheels increased from 6.5 to 6.75 and swap from 600lb to 450lb springs.

The overall look of the car will stay the same except BOS will now have painted the whole car and that's a good thing. ETA is early August. I can also get little things like my e-brake handle, fire suppression system, GPS track system and stuff installed.

So, the first picture will be our starting point...

http://picsorban.com/upload/deadpenny.jpg

Oh, and I plan on adding the CF hood from Stenod. Painted on the top and CF underneath. Might leave an accent stripe along the side of the cowl to show off the CF. It only weighs 19lbs compared to the 50+ pound stocker.

Glad to see its working out. I am definetely keeping reciepts for everything that i am putting back into mine.

Sent you a PM on a item, to the rack with you!

Awsome Steve. I'm glad to hear everything is working out for you.

Hey Steve,

Quick question for you, regarding your decision to change the front springs and drop from 600lbs to 450Lbs. Was it just too stiff up front, as far as ride quality? The reason I ask is Im running 600lb Afcos and it's not very forgiving in the bumps.

Man Im sick every time I look at that pic, you did an outstanding job building that car and I really look forward to seeing the magazine articles.

Rich

The car road great but was very stiff over harsh bumps. I just want to try some different combos and I think 450 might be a good starting point. Total weight on my front wheels is 1700 lbs.

Look forward to reading the rebuild thread!

I'm going to order new springs as well. Right now I have 9" 550#, but I need to raise the car up a bump and need to go to a taller spring to do so. I was thinking 10" 575# would be good...but now you got me worried that that might be too stiff. I know DSE SBC springs are 550#...perhaps I should stay there and just get them in 10"...your thoughts?

My bad- I just checked the springs in my car they are 50lbs more than I thought at 650lb/in @10". This thing rattles my teeth when it goes over bumps, Im a afraid the paint is going to crack off(maybe Im exaggerating a little). The car does handle like a go-cart, perhaps a 500 or 450 is the best comprimise.

Rich

Keep us updated with working with State Farm. Unfortunately, you are experiencing all of our worst fears, other than theft.

Steve,what's the total weight of Penny?

Jerry

Total weight with nearly 20 gallons of fuel is 3,340 with 1700 on the front and 1640 over the rear.

That's without me in it. I should be knocking 30-lbs off the front with the CF hood and I will going lighter in the back with the new tank. My goal is the have the car under 3,200 lbs dry.

About a year ago, I sent out a buttload of frame-dimension chart copies to those who requested them here... PM me if you need one. :)

Steve,

Did you custom design that tank, or did Fuel Safe have something already done? I have a Fuel Safe in my '71 that I designed on CAD to match the dimensions of the stock tank - its a nice piece but it was spendy for the custom tank, and the bladder took up a lot more room than I thought - I bet my fuel capacity is no more than 13 gallons. Now I need a tank for my '69, and I'm not sure whether to go the FS route again ...

They have a ton of "off the shelf" sizes to work with. If not for my narrowed rails they had a 22 gallon that was perfect. 18 gallons will be plenty and the off the shelf tanks are better internally than the custom units.

oohhhoooh hh Do i hear CF trunk lid!!!!!!!:thumbsup:

right direction
 

steven
glad to hear you got your check and have already started redoing penny...
when i saw the recent tail light article in the mag , i thought " damn guy in a truck didnt see them "
i guess youll get to dial her in now ...new article "how to make the best of a bad situation"


radrambler

Glad to hear you got the money hopefully your car will be done soon. And for the new article as mention above it should be titled this is what happens when other people don't pay attention.:wow: I wonder if his ins. company keep him after your bill:lol: :rofl:

Glad to hear the re-rebuild is underway...sounds like State Farm is the shiznit! I will have to check them out when I return stateside.
Good luck and looking forward to seeing the progress! :thumbsup:

Well, I don't know I would insure my classic through them, but they were always very courteous on the phone. They also paid with a minimum of arguing so for that I give them an A+. Then again I had a great case.

And so the road to recovery begins. Penny is currently on the frame machine getting pulled back into shape. As I said they have the dimensions of a 68 Camaro and use that to know how far to pull. I think those dimensions come from a company called Mitchel.

Anyways, they still have some more pulling to do on monday then back to the shop for the real work. There's a 90% chance that the passengers side quarter panel will NOT have to be replaced. It's pulling almost perfectly back into shape. The drivers side is toast though. lol

On the frame rack
http://picsorban.com/upload/fix1.jpg

First day of pulling.. I think the rear panel is toast with those big holes. ;)
http://picsorban.com/upload/fix2.jpg

Should you not remove the tires and rims to prevent damage to them ?

Or do they need to be on there for this process ?

Good luck with the rebuild, can't wait to see her make a comeback :thumbsup:

You can't see it in the second picture but the rear wheels have been removed

mitchell is an estimating program for autobody repair and as an option also comes with the dimensions of any car almost ever made, so it can be pulled back into shape,, i imagine penny only needed to be pulled so the new panels can be installed, or did the rear rails get pushed forward?

They got pushed just a tad forward. The trunk lid was tweaked around as well. By pulling the car "back into shape" it will be much easier to install the new sheetmetal. Like I said, there's a good chance we can save the passengers side quarter panel since it's pulling very good so far.

The dimensional data on the car is pretty cool.

Let the progress begin!!

I would think that the full cage helped keep the car basically in the correct form....I wonder if it would be a total if not for those down bars??

good to see everything are already covered!

its kinda sad seeing a beautiful work getting hit like that. :(

it sure will be better than ever when done!

Steve,

While it is cool to see what a shop can do to pull damaged cars back into shape - it's killen me to watch your finished ride go through the chains. Coulda done the demonstration on a Pinto or a Gremlin - or a Thing !!! What a waste to see your car get crumpled like that. Let's hope she comes out better then ever. Best of luck as we watch the "Full Pull".

Jim

She's off the frame rack and looking MUCH better. They were able to save the passengers side quarter, but, as you can see, the rear panel is a bit.. uh.. beat. lol

The drivers side quarter is a ton better but would be better replaced than messed with. Next week we start cutting and fixing.

Cost for the time on the rack.. over $2000

http://www.lifeinwidescreen.com/siihp/crash3.jpg

I will post a few more later.. from the side it hard to tell it was hit.

u must be pleased Steve seeing it get built again
Good stuff man dont you love steel :thumbsup:

Looks way way better already Steve!

nice work

Wow, looking way better already. You must feel a lot better now that it's on the road to recovery, even if there's a long way to go.

Before:

http://www.lifeinwidescreen.com/siihp/crash4.jpg

After:

http://www.lifeinwidescreen.com/siihp/crash5.jpg

On the frame rack:

http://picsorban.com/upload/fix2.jpg

The before and after pics are pretty impressive! Glad to see things straightening out so well.

Hmmm....
 

Good as new!...... Almost.

Wow...pretty frickin amazing if you ask me Steve!:thumbsup:
You must me happy with the progress so far.

thats looking real good man, glad to see the car coming back together.

Let the cutting begin!

http://picsorban.com/upload/stripped.jpg

http://picsorban.com/upload/pennyshot.jpg

:omg: