please help a SHO in need?

[kevinatd]

Hello St. Louis guys. I live about 100 miles south in Cape Girardeau. A couple of weeks ago, I was headed home from St. Louis and hit a deer. It destroyed the front end, condenser, radiator, hood, fenders, and all the lights. It also blew the airbags! It was quite the butt-puckering experience to have airbags blow up in your face at 70 miles an hour! (this happened on I55 south of St. Genevieve) I think I can rebuild it, but I am going to need a lot of parts. Money is tight, and insurance is useless on this car, so it may take me a while. what I am asking you guys, is there anyone around who might have a 94 ATX parts car with no front end damage that would sell whole or part out to bring my baby back to life! I'm not ready to let go! Thanks, Kevin

 

[St Louis SHO]

How bad is the core support torn up? We just aquired a 95 parts car with all the parts you need to reassemble yours if the core support isnt toast.

 

[kevinatd]

It's caved in pretty bad. I am going to drill out the spot welds, remove it, and see if I can get a new one. Once I figure out how to do it, I will post some pics of it. I will have to get it off anyway, because whats left of the radiator is molded around the front of the engine, and I need to get all that out of the way. Believe it or not, the condenser is holding a charge and the engine still runs like a top! I have airbags, but I am having trouble locating a airbag diagnostic monitor that isnt toast. I am getting DTC 51, indicating an intermintent short causing the thermal fuse to blow inside the unit. (not servicable)

 

[St Louis SHO]

Well, I have a complete front end sitting here. Make a reasonable offer and its yours. Also have the Airbag module and crash sensors.

 

[rooster]

I'm headed to Memphis Friday....

 

[kevinatd]

Wow, thanks St Louis SHO! I definately want everything! Give me a few days to see what I can come up with for funds. At this time, I can't afford "a reasonable offer". lol but I will see what I can do! Just out of curiousity, is there anything you might be looking for? I have few parts lying around, just not what I need to fix mine. Probably the most valuable thing I have is a 93 3.0 engine and MTX transmission if anyone is looking for one.

 

[St Louis SHO]

Looking to get rid of stuff myself, not add to the collection lol.

 

[kevinatd]

Here are some pics of the damage. I never even had a chance to slow down when I hit the deer. the force of the airbags blew both my hands off the wheel! I immediately went into a skid, and had to get my hands back on the wheel to get it back under control. I managed to keep it on the road and get it stopped. the car had filled up with smoke from the airbag detonation so as soon as i stopped, i had to bail out to catch my breath!

 

[93rev2sev]

What a crappy experience. Hope you weren't too far from home and good job keeping it straight.

GL getting it all straightened out. I'd hesitate to remove the core support if it can be straightened on-car. Deer don't have a lot of mass, so the squish factor is probably a lot less than you might imagine. I use a 4 foot section of metal fence post to straighten core supports that look pretty unsalvageable. I plant the end on the frame rail and strap the core support to the post about 1/3 of the way up. Standing on the bumper and leaning back, with the top of the post in hand yields surprising results.

 

[St Louis SHO]

Yes, that core support looks salvageable to me...

 

[HotRodKid]

It's caved in pretty bad. I am going to drill out the spot welds, remove it, and see if I can get a new one. Once I figure out how to do it,

tools required: grinder, drill, come along, hammer, screws, screwdriver, socket set

i can either do a write up on the metalworking or find a good thread about it, theres some things to avoid and some tricks to making it easy on yourself .... as long as theres no frame damage.

 

[-DVP-]

Wow and red. I will be in Cape on the 9th so I can haul some shit down.

 

[Inkertinker]

95 parts car..

 

[kevinatd]

Now I understand why you said "wow and red". I couldnt ask for a better donor car! What happened to this one? wrecked, blown engine?

 

[Inkertinker]

rear-end, not bad but totaled, needed other parts from the car.

 

[-DVP-]

If you figure something out with Dave and James before this Friday I am willing to take some parts down to you. The sooner the better. I can pull some stuff the next 2 days if needed.

 

[kevinatd]

Sorry I dont know you guys by name yet. I PMed St louis SHO and made a deal to take anything I need off of it. The list is probably too numerous and I am not sure what all I need yet. I appreciate the offer to bring me parts, though. I had planned on getting contact info and directions and coming up on Sunday if possible to take stuff off. St louis SHO told me he is in Denver and would contact me when he got back. I am not in a huge hurry to get the parts, I just don't want this opportunity to slip by.

 

[-DVP-]

Sorry I dont know you guys by name yet. I PMed St louis SHO and made a deal to take anything I need off of it. The list is probably too numerous and I am not sure what all I need yet. I appreciate the offer to bring me parts, though. I had planned on getting contact info and directions and coming up on Sunday if possible to take stuff off. St louis SHO told me he is in Denver and would contact me when he got back. I am not in a huge hurry to get the parts, I just don't want this opportunity to slip by.

Sounds good.

 

[kevinatd]

Is anyone going to be available this Sunday to point me in the direction of this car? I will have all the tools I need, I just need contact info, and someone to pay money to. If no one is available, just let me know, and I can make it a different weekend. I was just free this Sunday and its supposed to be nice weather, so I thought I might try to get it done. Thanks, Kevin

 

[St Louis SHO]

8700 burton ave
st louis mo 63114