Dear Fellow Brickster,
I have had my first accident with my buddy. The story is I was on the on-ramp, which they just asphalted (It was as smooth as glass), and it had just rain like hell a few moments ago (this is Florida and we have squaws like this all the time). So as I was going up it I noticed that the rear end was very, very loose since it was wet and the asphalt was fresh. As I exited the ramp, entering the highway, I lost control of the back end, sending my front end into the next lane. There was a car approaching fast in that lane so I corrected the slide back to the right. At this point all four wheels of my car are skidding, I try once more to correct it but a blink later I was going sideways on JTB with my front end slammed against the steel reinforced cement barrier. The force of hitting the barrier pushes my car back where I regain control and pull into the emergency lane. Putting the car in park (the engine was still running), I look in my mirror to see my grill and front bumper trim piece about twenty feet behind me. I get out the passenger side of the car, as not to get ran over by the speeding traffic, and have to force the door open. The door was behind the fender and it made the lovely bending noise as I opened it. I finally got out and grab my grill and trim, put it in the back seat and looked at the front. It wasn’t pretty. I don’t have a picture of it but imagine the Volvo giving you a smirk and a wink (the bumper is the mouth and the headlights eyes) on the right side and you get an idea of what it looked like. Any who, I got back into the car and started off, to my surprise it drove fine, there was a slight pull to the left and then the hood flew up. The latch was damaged and at the speed of 30 miles an hour the hood bent against the car, bending up the corners. SO for the second time that day, I pulled back into the emergency lane and zipped tied my hood shut. So I got back to the college campus (did I mention I go to UNF?) and took the front end completely apart, which is why these pictures look so bad, and I found this about the frame. Were the metal bumper is attached, the tube thing, on the left side it looks fine, while on the right it is pushed up and back a few inches. Also the right fender (this is all looking at the front of the car) has a huge gap, while the other side is, you guessed it, tight. If you look at the suspension towers, the right one is farther back then the left one. You can see this in all of the pictures I have. SO here is my question, I am screwed? Is there anything I can do about the frame (pretty sure it’s the frame) being bent out of shape? Or is the car heading to the scrap yard? It still drives fine and is in impeccable condition, well except for the front…
The pictures are in the Brickboard Volvo Gallery, and are called Larz's or Lar's.
http://brickboard.com/IMAGELIB/index.htm?model=200
Thanks guy,
Blake