Monday, September 16, 2013

Damage assessment

So it's almost three weeks after the accident and things appear to be moving on fairly well. I've had a quote for repairs to the car, been visited by the insurance assessor and have been told that it will be repaired by Ian at CCR, who did the paint and panel work a couple of years ago.

The GT6 replacement/repair list stands at;
Bonnet assembly,
a new headlight and surround for one side.
Both front plastic overriders are broken,
the bonnet hinge boxes and ends of the front chassis member have been distorted.
Bumper is scrap.
Both front 1/4 valances are slightly distorted on the top rear edge where they have impacted with the wheel, but may straighten out.
The drivers door has been knocked as the bonnet has hit it.
There are small paint chips on the bulkhead from the impacting bonnet and a slight dent on the drivers side bulkhead below the windscreen on the corner where the bonnet has hit it with more force.
Radiator and the coolant swirl pot is mangled.

One thing which has come to light is the personal effect it has had on me, with the usual whiplash injuries (neck, back and arm ache) but my breathing capacity also seems to have been reduced, in part I believe due to the seatbelt.
In my GT6 I have the standard static seatbelts, which I was quite happy to use, having had problems with the recoil belts in my old Spitfire. I am now seriously considering fitting recoil seatbelts as per the later Spitfires in an attempt to reduce any possible future injuries, it will need an extra hole and strengthening plate in the rear wheel arch, but should be worth it should something similar happen again.

So I'm just waiting on arrangements for the GT6 to be taken over to Ian and hopefully by the time it has been repaired I'll be in a better condition to handle the manual steering and brakes. While I wait for my car to be repaired and returned I have been supplied with a hire car, a Citroen DS5. The Citroen is a veritable space ship in comparison to my 40 year old Triumph, packed with various electrical and electronic gizmo's such as auto lights and wipers, reversing camera, built in sat nav and electric handbrake, the last of which I have still not fully got to grip with.