Signal Orange 914-6 3.8, (was: rebuild after Willow Springs bump) Options

[siverson]

I've been slowly sorting through the mess I made for myself about a month ago at Willow Springs, and have 1 quote to fix the dent.

I'm trying to decide between (A) repairing my chassis, and (B) getting a new chassis and moving all my parts over.

I feel ridiculous even considering scrapping my chassis when I see some of the crazy "rustoration" threads here, but the fact is it's probably going to be about the same cost to straighten this chassis versus buying a donor chassis/car and building it back up.

I'm going to take this "opportunity" to fix/improve some other things on the car while I have it all apart, but I need to figure out my chassis plan first. Here are my options:

A: If I repair my current chassis ($10k - $12k):

- Find front clip
- Remove Brad Meyeur kit (to be replaced with Engman kit)
- Remove/cut existing reinforcing tubes
- Celette bench, weld new clip
- Fix front right fender/flare (it was also damaged, that strut broke)
- Add Engman kit
- Add back reinforcement

B: Build up a donor car/chassis and move over all my parts ($10k - $15k):

- Find a donor car/chassis
- Remove all rust/prep chassis. Rust repairs.
- Add 4 steel GT flares
- Maybe also put this one on a Celette bench first too to make sure it's straight.
- Add Engman kit
- Add chassis reinforcement
- Lots of small modifications I had already made: lower drivers floor/seat, close up a bunch of unused holes/make it cleaner, lots of seam welding, dash modifications, etc, etc

... plus full R&R on the front suspension/etc, but I need to do that regardless of my chassis plan.

With A it "my" original car, but with B I actually think I might end up with a nicer end result because I'm going through almost everything again, but it's probably a little more money and A LOT more work for me (versus 95% of A is just me writing a check). Am I off on my prices?

So, what do you think? A or B?

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

-Steve

p.s. And... the other strange factor is that this car/chassis was my first car and I've had it for almost 20 years. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) But, given how much I've already modified the car, most of those "original" parts aren't there anyways. I think if I got a new chassis and moved over all my parts, it would still feel pretty much like "my" car... I'm not super attached to that specific VIN... Or am I? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

[siverson]

Some progress was made this week.

First, the Celette jigs arrived, but they only work on the "old style" Celette bench. The shop's bench is from the late 80s, and evidently that isn't old enough. So then we had to rent an old bench too (which was remarkably less expensive than the jigs - go figure).

Anyways, it's all bolted up and the suspension points were quick to line up. The rear was correct to start, and once the front fender got pulled out, all the suspension points are perfect, except for the top front left shock tower (where the main impact was) is forward on the car by about 1/4". That should be easy to dial-in, but where there is still a significant gap is the between the top of the door and windshield frame. Larry @ European Auto Body is working on it more today, so we'll see what happens...

-Steve