sreams Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 Well... big bummer last week. I was driving near where my wife works. I looked over for a second to see if her car was there, and when I looked back, the truck in front of me had suddenly stopped to turn without using a signal. I hit the brakes hard to stop quickly. The brakes worked for a split second and then the pedal went to the floor and I had no brakes at all. The front of the car is now crunched. Got the car towed home... and yep, confirmed that the brakes no longer work at all. Anyway, this was a -really- nice RL411. Ran perfectly. Nice 5-speed conversion. Really nice custom upholstery. Beautiful paint. Was even featured on a RockAuto magnet. So here's where it stands now: The front grill, fenders, and hood were crunched. The inner fenders are also damaged. The front bumper was -not- touched at all, and is in beautiful condition. There appears to be no frame damage, since the impact was sustained above the bumper. I have one very nice spare driver's fender that goes with the car. The driver's fender was shifted back a little bit, and the driver's door rubs it when you try to open it. The door appears to be totally straight, however. The rest of the body is perfectly fine, with little to no rust and -very- straight panels. The rear bumper is straight but needs to be rechromed. The engine looks to be fine, other than the bent fan. I expect that it will run perfectly again with a new fan, without the radiator blocking the fan, and with a new fuel filter (the nice glass one broke). This motor was running like a sewing machine before this happened. The five speed works perfectly. I had the transmission crossmember modified to support it (see pics). The only issue is the transmission has always had a very slow fluid leak up near the shifter. It is a later Borg Warner 5-speed from a roadster. The custom exhaust was just done a couple of months ago. The car is slightly lowered on roadster springs and has lowering blocks in the rear. The upper ball joints are brand new. The lower ball joints have been very recently cleaned and re-booted, and are in excellent shape with no slop. Front shocks are brand new KYB Gas-A-Just. The car rolls and steers just fine after the damage. It has really cool alloys from a '79-'80 710 in excellent condition. The upholstery is really nice. Black and white with piping in the same color as the car. Carpet is nice. Headliner is nice. The gauge cluster is very nice. I have a box of extra parts as well. I know I can get more by parting this car, but my preference is to not eat up my limited space with it while that happens. I'm open to offers to take the whole thing. It is located in Sacramento, CA. Send me a private message if you'd like to see the car or shoot me an offer. Before: After: Quote Link to comment
tr8er Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 Damn. Front clip and straighten? Too beautiful to scap!! Seriously. Quote Link to comment
danfiveten Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 Dude thsi can be fixed. My dads red 510 was damaged WAY worse than this when my mom smashed into a truck, a good shop will have NO issues straightening that out, save it. Quote Link to comment
Swedishcadillac Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 Wow! Real sad to hear. Obviously a lot of love went into the car. I Could use a lot of parts for my wagon restomod.... But I just closed on a lot and am scraping together cash for a construction loan. Good luck with sale. : ( Quote Link to comment
tr8er Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 ^Swedishcadillac sighting Quote Link to comment
sreams Posted March 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 I agree that the car is fixable. It's just something I can't take on right now. Hopefully, whoever ends up with it will make it whole again. -Scott Quote Link to comment
Swedishcadillac Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 My Datsun-itis kept me thinking of your situation. I remembered a 510 guy that has posted some pictures of a 411 horde he uncovered and trailered home recently. His name is Joey Gossens, is on Facebook, probably here as well. He lives in Occidental, Ca. The cars have back-taxes and are not running. I believe there is 2 wagons and 2 4-doors. I don't know if it will work out but, I figured I'd let you know there is 4 parts/project cars close by you locally. If I remember he wanted to make one complete car and part with the rest. It would probably be cheaper to repair the damage to yours and be driving, than pour through an entire restoration... I tried to copy a picture to post but my photobucket is acting up! Quote Link to comment
MikeRL411 Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 My Datsun-itis kept me thinking of your situation. I remembered a 510 guy that has posted some pictures of a 411 horde he uncovered and trailered home recently. His name is Joey Gossens, is on Facebook, probably here as well. He lives in Occidental, Ca. The cars have back-taxes and are not running. I believe there is 2 wagons and 2 4-doors. I don't know if it will work out but, I figured I'd let you know there is 4 parts/project cars close by you locally. If I remember he wanted to make one complete car and part with the rest. It would probably be cheaper to repair the damage to yours and be driving, than pour through an entire restoration... I tried to copy a picture to post but my photobucket is acting up! SREAMS, this looks to be the best option for you. That is one nice RL411 and deserves to live! Have the front subframe checked at an aligment shop first, they can be straightened or replaced from the above "horde". You put a lot of ingenuity into this car, you deserve to drive it for abother 47 years. If you decide to fix, I have a spare glass gasoline filter bowl for you, if not, I will keep for the day I screw my filter bowl up. Best of luck! Quote Link to comment
Lunatik Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 Hi Call me, txt me or PM me... I have something for you if you are interested. I will hate to see that one goes to waste. Im about 40 mins south from you. Thanks Well... big bummer last week. I was driving near where my wife works. I looked over for a second to see if her car was there, and when I looked back, the truck in front of me had suddenly stopped to turn without using a signal. I hit the brakes hard to stop quickly. The brakes worked for a split second and then the pedal went to the floor and I had no brakes at all. The front of the car is now crunched. Got the car towed home... and yep, confirmed that the brakes no longer work at all. Anyway, this was a -really- nice RL411. Ran perfectly. Nice 5-speed conversion. Really nice custom upholstery. Beautiful paint. Was even featured on a RockAuto magnet. So here's where it stands now: The front grill, fenders, and hood were crunched. The inner fenders are also damaged. The front bumper was -not- touched at all, and is in beautiful condition. There appears to be no frame damage, since the impact was sustained above the bumper. I have one very nice spare driver's fender that goes with the car. The driver's fender was shifted back a little bit, and the driver's door rubs it when you try to open it. The door appears to be totally straight, however. The rest of the body is perfectly fine, with little to no rust and -very- straight panels. The rear bumper is straight but needs to be rechromed. The engine looks to be fine, other than the bent fan. I expect that it will run perfectly again with a new fan, without the radiator blocking the fan, and with a new fuel filter (the nice glass one broke). This motor was running like a sewing machine before this happened. The five speed works perfectly. I had the transmission crossmember modified to support it (see pics). The only issue is the transmission has always had a very slow fluid leak up near the shifter. It is a later Borg Warner 5-speed from a roadster. The custom exhaust was just done a couple of months ago. The car is slightly lowered on roadster springs and has lowering blocks in the rear. The upper ball joints are brand new. The lower ball joints have been very recently cleaned and re-booted, and are in excellent shape with no slop. Front shocks are brand new KYB Gas-A-Just. The car rolls and steers just fine after the damage. It has really cool alloys from a '79-'80 710 in excellent condition. The upholstery is really nice. Black and white with piping in the same color as the car. Carpet is nice. Headliner is nice. The gauge cluster is very nice. I have a box of extra parts as well. I know I can get more by parting this car, but my preference is to not eat up my limited space with it while that happens. I'm open to offers to take the whole thing. It is located in Sacramento, CA. Send me a private message if you'd like to see the car or shoot me an offer. Before: After: Quote Link to comment
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