Bob Sykes wrote:
>
> Troy,
>
> It's difficult to speculate about the extent of damage to your
> car without seeing it (angle of collision etc.), but in general:
>
> The later US Spits with square rear bumpers ('75 on) should
> survive a rear end hit better. The extra hardware these cars
> had made them stronger, and also implemented an early version
> of today's "crumple zones". The large rear rubber tits should
> be considered sacrificial. They should be replaced if they were
> impacted even slightly. They can be damaged internally and
> still look OK. BTW they are not cheap. These taken together
> with their brackets and the "frame extensions" that support
> them all work together to provide impact absorption.
>
> There have been several comments already on the possible
> condition of these "frame extensions". I'm not sure everyone
> is talking about the same thing. There are the box sections
> welded at the rear frame crossmember, that earlier cars didn't
> have (painted body/frame colour). Also there are the
> "inverted U shaped" extensions (painted black) that are bolted
> on to the rear box sections. These are telescopic wrt the
> car frame, providing additional absorption. They are
> "one-shot" however, and disassembly might be required to
> ascertain their position. All of these parts should sacrifice
> themselves before significant damage to the body tub/frame
> occurs in a straight-on rear impact at bumper height. A Dodge
> truck might impart additional (above bumper height) damage.
>
> If the specified wheel alignment cannot be achieved, the frame
> should be checked for twist and squareness. The procedure and
> specifications for this is in the Bentley manual.
>
> Another tuppence worth perhaps.
> --
> Bob (& '78 Spitfires)
> http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/s1500
Bob,
Thanks for your input. I will print out your note along with Joe's and
Andrew's notes to take with me when i talk with the insurance co. again
and when i eventually go to the body shop. This will certainly give me
some idea of what needs to be replaced and what needs to to be repaired.
Also took a look at your web page. Very entertaining! What a neat
sickness to have had.....sorry, to hear you are getting better!!
Troy Johnson
78 Spitfire
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