Looks like a very good start. Glad to see the direction it's going. Has the buckle in the roof buttress been pulled yet?
Do you mind sharing details about the actual incident? If not, I understand. Let your friend know that we all wish him the best with the fix and that he can get behind the wheel soon.
Hi Kurt, yes the pull on the bodywork has removed about 80% of the crease that was in both of the roof buttresses. The body shop said that they will have to work that area some more from the inside. They are confident that they will be able to smooth the area so that only a very minimal amount of filler will be needed. Of course, they will have to pull down the headliner. The Duke: Aloha! The owner was stopped in the right hand lane with his right directional signal on. He was turning into a NAPA store and was waiting for the NAPA delivery truck to exit the driveway. He was hit by a mid size sedan (I think I heard Ford Taurus). The NAPA driver said that the driver of the sedan was looking out the side window of his car. The driver of the sedan apologized a hundred times. Fortunately he had good insurance and readily admitted his fault to the police. Things could have been worse. When we got the Dino safely settled into a parking stall at my shop, my friend was feeling a little "woozy" with some stiffness in his neck. He went to the doctor for a check and everything was OK. In a couple of days he felt fine other than the awful feeling he got looking at his car. It is all pretty ironic. My friend stopped by the shop about two weeks prior to the accident and we had a discussion about the wisdom of driving the car daily. The Dino is his only car. Aloha Larry
Hi dmaxx3500: I called the body shop to leave some information about a source for some metric sized square and rectangular tubing. I had to leave a voice mail message. I also asked about the frame machine. They called back, but I was out of the shop and they left a message. It is a "Global" machine. There was also another word that ended in "..ack". Perhaps "rack" or "jack"? I listened to the message a dozen times, but could not be certain of the word. I will try to clarify this when the opportunity arises. Michael: I reached the owner on his cell phone. He is OK with sharing the number, but he wasn't sure what it was. Rather than give you the guess, I will wait until we know for sure. smestas: Thanks for your comment. I agree 100%. Pass: The car is on your island. It is at Autobody Hawaii. I am pretty sure that they are in the Kona area. Aloha Larry
What a terrible experience. I can't imagine how the owner felt. Does any insurance cover "loss of value"? I would think that no matter how well done the repair is, there will be some decrease in the value of the car simply because it has now been in an accident. How does that get compensated?
Hi Mark You bring up an issue that I have read about. How does one "un-ring" the bell? I think it was in the "legal files" column in "The Sports Car Market Letter" that I saw discussion about "diminished value". I really am not smart enough to have any answers in the macro sense. The issue has not even been considered in this case. My friend will be content and delighted when he can drive his car again as long as it performs, handles, and looks as good as it did before. I don't think that it ever entered his mind to ask for more than the repair of his car. Aloha Larry
The damaged sub-frame tubing has been removed. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
The sub-frame is under construction. The owner said that the body shop was able to find a new rear panel at one of the mainland suppliers. I asked, but he didn't know where it came from nor whether it was a Superformance reproduction. He did say that the body shop said that it was rough. It looks pretty good in that low resolution picture. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I'd give a call to Ferrari UK Classic parts, to inquire on the availabilty of factory rear sheet metal. It would save tons of hammer hours and be closer to the 'before accident" integrity. They had some for my 308GTB when I needed it.
Hi BigTex Right after the accident, in an effort to be helpful, I called and e-mailed as many places as I could think of to inquire about sheet metal for the car. One of the calls was to Algar. I have the highest respect and admiration for the people there and the way they do business. They checked with England and said that any part of the bodywork could be made, but NO stock was maintained. I was told to expect a six month time frame. I would have been inclined to go this route, but the decision was not mine to make. I will say that I have been impressed by the shop that is doing the car. They seem to have a level of "can do" competence that is all too rare in Hawaii. Aloha Larry
It looks like the body shop is working on getting all the parts to fit and be aligned. The second picture is the latest available and it shows that neither the sub-frame nor the new rear panel have been welded in place yet. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
It has been a long time since I have added anything about the Dino repair. As one would expect, it has been a long, sometimes painful, process with many difficulties to overcome. One of the first issues was the rear panel sheet metal. Although it looks pretty good in the pictures, everyone came to the conclusion that it was just so badly made that it was unusable. The piece that was finally used was custom made by a shop on the mainland. This same shop also built a mold and reproduced the fiberglas piece that makes the rear compartment floor. A set of USA exhaust headers was also made. Right now there is an issue with the sheet metal heat shielding interfering with the differential housing, but that is going to be corrected. It looks like most of the really hard repair work is done and the car is off the frame machine. I noticed that there is still some damage in the roof. The owner said that most of it came out when the bodywork was pulled back, but the metal was stretched there and it will be worked out and shrunk when the headliner is pulled. The only sheet metal that was replaced is the rear panel. Everything else was straightened. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Incredible you were able to locate a shop willing to take on that job in Hawaii. Looking good and look forward to the results...
I would have thought the shop that would take a job like that on would be on Oahu, not the big island. You learn something everyday! At least the owner can do a shakedown run on the big island.
Here are a couple more pictures. The right side of the car was not as badly damaged as the left. The remaining damage in the roof is visible. The owner is going to have the whole car stripped and repainted. The car was very nice before the accident, but the paint was old and it was lacquer. It was starting to show some cracking in areas. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Years ago, I remember seeing that car all over the place and wondered what happened to it. The only other one I see is TT's.
Hi WPOZZZ Yes, the owner of the brown car has had the car a very long time and he drove the car regularly. There was even a picture posted on F-chat some time ago of the car when it appeared on Google's street view. TT is another true gearhead that drives his cars. He bought his Dino from me and I get a very strong twinge of regret every time I see it, but it is very good to see it getting used. There are at least two other Dinos on Oahu, a GT and a GTS, but they rarely see the light of day. Aloha Larry
This Dino came out to play a few weeks ago. It was great seeing one in person Image Unavailable, Please Login
