carterb Posted December 2, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 2, 2017 The original police responder in an SUV took our licenses, registration, and insurance, then passed it off to these two guys who got statements, finished the paperwork, and issued the young girl a ticket. Nice guys. I talked to one for a while about riding motorcycles vs. squad cars. He said they are really handy this time of year when traffic is backed up everywhere for shopping. Apparently one of their cruisers was stuck in the parking garage for 1 1/2 hours last week and coudln't get out, even with lights and sirens!! Then we talked old cars - he has a 55 Ford Pickup and I have a 72 suburban. Then we talked about upholstery and he gave me the name of a guy in Arlington that does good work. Then he mentioned "you don't see many Datsuns on the road anymore". I said "Well, this doesn't help." He went on to explain he used to have a neighbor with a yellow 2dr 510 that was low and fast! Turns out it takes a while to process the paperwork so we had some time to chat... 1 Quote Link to comment
hang_510 Posted December 2, 2017 Report Share Posted December 2, 2017 Well... Turns out the cracked windshield would be the least of my worries. She quickly apologized and admitted fault and one of the first cars going by offered herself as a witness so that was nice. I didn't think it'd be necessary though.Hope you got their number. The girl will change her story, garunteed. The girl who admittedly rear ended me, told her ins it was my fault. 1 Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted December 2, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 2, 2017 When I got home I surveyed the damage and noticed that it just about knocked my muffler off! The front end damage looks mostly superficial thankfully! I will need a replacement bumper, right front fender, right front marker light, right front turn signal, bluebird emblem, mirror base, and eyebrow trim. The lower valance is tweaked a little but I don't know if I can get a replacement for the early cars. May just have to be okay with repairing that. Remarkably the grill may have escaped damage. It is dented in a little but thankfully thankfully thankfully that's it. I think the headlight bucket assembly may even be okay. I need to look at my left front wheel and suspension and see if there is any curb damage from making contact with the median strip but I think it's okay. People... Stop hitting my Bluebirds!!! 1 Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted December 2, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 2, 2017 Hope you got their number. The girl will change her story, garunteed. The girl who admittedly rear ended me, told her ins it was my fault. She already told the cops it was her fault and they wrote her a ticket so that's pretty much case closed. I was impressed with how well she held herself together. She was a little frazzled you could tell. She couldn't produce a registration or insurance as she was driving her parents car and didn't know where they kept the documentation. Tough day for her. Hard lesson to learn. Hopefully she only has to learn it once. Getting a ticket and being in an accident as a 17 year old is not going to go down well with her insurance company. Quote Link to comment
Icehouse Posted December 2, 2017 Report Share Posted December 2, 2017 Shnikes!!! Quote Link to comment
tr8er Posted December 2, 2017 Report Share Posted December 2, 2017 Dude... Dude.... This sucks Quote Link to comment
WallRocket Posted December 2, 2017 Report Share Posted December 2, 2017 Damn. That sucks! This is what I think about when I daily some of my more rare cars.I would rather daily them and get into a fender bender, then not drive them at all. Cars setting in storage is the worst thing to do to them in my mind, worse then a fender bender. Quote Link to comment
q-tip Posted December 2, 2017 Report Share Posted December 2, 2017 Carter, I think you should just give me all your bluebirds so people stop hitting them. You're luck had been bad as of late good sir, hopefully it turns around....for your cars' sake. Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted December 2, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 2, 2017 I think I should get a free pass for a while now don't you? :confused: 3 Quote Link to comment
tr8er Posted December 2, 2017 Report Share Posted December 2, 2017 Hood actually survive? Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted December 3, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2017 Looks like it. And I found no damage on the left front wheel from being pushed up against the median. Quote Link to comment
Icehouse Posted December 3, 2017 Report Share Posted December 3, 2017 HMMM maybe you should drive the endure car last... :) 1 Quote Link to comment
]2eDeYe Posted December 3, 2017 Report Share Posted December 3, 2017 Dang, well you did say you were getting new fenders. :( Quote Link to comment
r0p0doe Posted December 3, 2017 Report Share Posted December 3, 2017 Wtf man you seem to be taking it better than I have I would of lost my shit Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted December 4, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2017 Well I can't say I'm thrilled with it but it happened and there is nothing I can do about that so what's the use in getting irate about it. I love these old cars but people are more important and no one was hurt so there you go... I'll fix the crash parts as soon as the adjuster has a look at the car in its current state. For the short term, I'll probably pull out the fender, mount a new bumper and side marker light and call it good for the winter. Oh, and that muffler... :rofl: --carter 1 Quote Link to comment
mrbigtanker Posted December 4, 2017 Report Share Posted December 4, 2017 For sale by any chance. Just asking for. Friend. Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted December 4, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2017 No but there are plenty here: http://community.ratsun.net/topic/72652-bluebirds-for-sale/ 2 Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted December 9, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2017 The insurance adjuster came out on Wednesday morning. Same guy as last time. Since they had a valuation done on Granny already, it made this settlement very quick. After he left, I made an itemized list of all the damaged parts with links to those parts for sale (Futofab/ebay/etc) and sent it to him. He simply added them up, added labor, and cut me a check. A couple items were difficult as the parts were not available for sale at the time so I gave him a price range which he felt was reasonable and just used my numbers (eyebrow trim for instance). Also, he can't reimburse for shipping until the parts are actually shipped so that's kind of weird but there is one sticky point. The grill. The beautiful grill. (thanks for the image Spriso) The last one I had a sale record for was from 2014 Tokyo-2U for about $1200 US. I'm sure they are more now if one can be found. I have two years to do so. The hunt is on. Let me know if you have one you want to turn into cash or know someone who does. In the mean time, I found a replacement mirror and I'll be making yet another order with Dave at Futofab. Anyone have a set of '68 side marker lights? '68/69 front turn signals? '68/69 front valance? 1 Quote Link to comment
Lockleaf Posted December 9, 2017 Report Share Posted December 9, 2017 Glad to hear the road is a little less rough this time. Good luck on your parts hunt. Quote Link to comment
q-tip Posted December 10, 2017 Report Share Posted December 10, 2017 I wouldn't be shocked if Craig at tokyo2u has another one he just hasn't sold yet. Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted December 11, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2017 Before ordering too many parts, I needed to see what I already had as I thought I remembered ordering front turn signal lenses before. Sure enough, an NOS right side turn signal lens! Imagine my feeling of good fortune. And I also have these that I bought from a seller in Kuwait a few years ago. I have a set of aftermarket arrow sidemarker lights coming in just to see how they look. They are cheap enough to buy them and evaluate as NOS assemblies are a pretty penny! --carter 2 Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted December 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2017 Finally taking time to work on Cooper again. Found a decent replacement bumper in my garage to get me by 'till I restore the car correctly. The old mounts were super twisted! Of course - so was the rest of the bumper It was hiding some pretty ugly damage Grill was cracked! Turn signal a little moreso Note headlight "alignment" Retention spring had broken so the headlight was just sitting in the hole - secured by its wiring Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted December 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2017 Pulling the grill off let the headlight fall right out Not so handsome naked front end Still - as best I can tell, the damage does not look like it extended to the core support or any other part of the unibody This pinch is a little annoying. Anyone have a clean '68/'69 front valance? Grill Crack and dent 2 Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted December 29, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2017 Found a grill on yahoo Japan. Thanks BrandonS for pointing it out. It has a broken tab and a safari badge fastened through the grill centerline :no: but it was available so I can't be too picky. 1 Quote Link to comment
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