Need help repairing accident damaged differential housing

[rbickle]

I happen to have a ford 9" solid axle removed from a Lone Star with only a couple thousand miles on it. The brackets are set up for the Lone Star 4 link, but could easily be swapped out by a shop to whatever you need. The axle is at my shop in Cedar Hill TX, just outside of Dallas.

[cycleguy55]

Originally Posted by YerDugliness

That is the course I shall pursue...there is a hot-rod shop about 30 miles from where I live now that I will approach regarding the project (although I would rather have the work done by a reputable shop in the Hoiston area, where the car is located and where I own a home in which I could stay while the work is being done). There is more to the job, though...the rear suspension is parallel 4-bar with coilovers, and the car has 4-wheel disc brakes, so there will be lots of brackets to fab and locate on the replacement housing.

Dugly

I don't know about your suspension brackets / mounts, those may well be custom fabricated or at least custom located (perhaps part of the narrowing process). The 9" axle on my WCC is from a 1978 Thunderbird and is a bolt-in, using all the mounts for the control arms and rear stabilizer bar that came out of the factory. WCC is unique in that the rear axle is not narrowed, but yours will obviously not be the same.

As to brake mounts, I converted my axle from drum brakes to disc brakes, and all the mounts were bolt-on. Hopefully yours is the same.

[jolsen42]

Originally Posted by jhv48

You're bad mouthing State Farm insurance because you chose to save a few bucks and not to properly insure your car? Basically, you gambled and lost.
Since you didn't have collision coverage on your car at the time of the accident, then you opted out of being able to have your insurance company represent you in case of an accident. If the company does not experience a covered loss (read that a monetary payout) then they cannot represent you in your claim against the other party. They have to have a dog in the fight. No company would help you out of this situation. You chose not to have the proper coverage on your vehicle. You gambled and lost. Your only recourse is civil or small claims court.
Don't blame the insurance company for your screw up. Accept responsibility and move on.
And, yes, my wife is a State Farm Agent and she hears this complaint weekly. Clients want to save a few bucks by reducing their insurance and then blame either the agent or the company when their decisions come back and bite them in the butt.
And, don't worry, since you reported the accident to your agent, they might just cancel you anyway.

Originally Posted by jhv48

You still don't get it. They didn't screw you, you screwed yourself. If you have no coverage (collision) they can't legally represent you as they have no loss. It doesn't matter whether the other car was at fault or not. YOU HAD NO COVERAGE! Has nothing to do with their bottom line. It's the law. If you had purchased collision coverage, then they would represent you in the claim. You didn't, SO THEY CANT!
Suck it up. Stop trying to blame others for your decision not to carry the proper insurance coverage. Like you said, State Farm paid where they should. You just feel that they should be responsible for your bad decisions.
Was it worth the money you saved on your insurance premiums?
Hope this is a lesson to us all. There are places to save money. Insurance isn't one of them.

WOW! Two great insightful and helpful posts. You must be a graduate of the Henry Kissinger school of diplomacy.

John O

[YerDugliness]

Originally Posted by rbickle

I happen to have a ford 9" solid axle removed from a Lone Star with only a couple thousand miles on it. The brackets are set up for the Lone Star 4 link, but could easily be swapped out by a shop to whatever you need. The axle is at my shop in Cedar Hill TX, just outside of Dallas.

I might well be interested...but I still need to find a shop that can do the work.

When I go to Austin (4 or 5 times a year, it seems) I always pass by D/FW on Hwy 287.

Cedar Hill sounds familiar...because I pass Midlothian and there are signs showing the way to Cedar Hill.

There MUST be some shops in the D/FW area where the work can be done. I just need to find out about them...I can stay with my daughter in Austin for as long as I need to while the mod's are being done.

I'll send you a PM regarding the assembly!

Thanks!

Doug

[Prof]

Doug,

I'm a teacher also (college professor), so no sermons or lectures from me. I get what you're doing here, and I thought I'd throw in my two cents.

First: To get the rear end right,
In Houston, call Glen at Rosehillperformanceparts 713-742-3673
Rosehillperformanceparts
He's in Tomball and does A LOT of work for the Houston Cobra guys. Excellent welder, fabricator. Very very competent. He's built all of my racing T-5s. Recently-retired and has the ability to get the Cobra to his shop for repairs.

The frame: In Dallas, call my street rod restoration guy, Andy Krause, in Garland.
972-597-5436
At $50-$60 an hour, he's not cheap, but he is the best. High-end custom car builder. Builds lots of spectacular SEMA cars. Has a heart for teachers in the car hobby. He's done my '67 Shelby, my '50 Chevy half-ton, painted my mini-me Cobra 427 go cart, and soon to start my '70 Boss 302.

Since specialties like this create a semi-"closed" network of referrals only, tell either guy that Paul May referred you to them with the highest praise.

I'm in Dallas. I have three perfect Ford 9" housings/axles of varying widths, a new Lone Star 4-link on a Versailles Ford 9", and an 8.8" with new Explorer 3.73 posi. You're welcome to look. Or I can deliver to Houston.

Keep posting the progress of your repairs. Even if shops say, "Um like, no, thank you...", we can still use our other contacts to help you get back on the road. And I hope others will chime in with HELPFUL assistance.

Best,
Paul

[YerDugliness]

Thanks for the info, Paul!

I'm a couple of months away from being able to get down that way again, maybe only 6 weeks, but until I can get the car examined I won't know if it is even worth fixing or not...the body shop guy I had look at it suggested it would be a great donor car if I wanted to start all over, but I'm not sure I want to do that if I can get the car going. Everyone who has ever worked on the car just marvels at the way the chassis is constructed (it is not a tube frame, actually looks more like a production vehicle) and they all believe the car was constructed to be a race car...little (?) things like heavy gauge aluminum fuel cell with foam blocks inside, pro-quality electric fuel pump and filter, 4-wheel Dynalite disc brakes, and a very compliant parallel 4-bar rear suspension with coilovers. It deserves to be resurected, if at all possible.

I will certainly start in the Houston area, since the car is only about 30 miles from the south end of Houston...and your recommendations are all close enough that once I get a differential in it that will allow me to bolt on wheels I should be able to get it on a dolly or car-hauler trailer and up to the Tomball area.

Again, Paul, thanks SO much for the referrals, and I will be sure to mention your name when I call them. Another TCC member has contacted me with recommendations near Austin, too...so I'm sure there will be a way to get it fixed...but first things first...I may be in touch with you regarding your spare parts. Since I just spent so much rebuilding the Traction-Loc 9" pumpkin I'd like to use it if at all possible. That Versailles rear-end is interesting, for sure!

I do have a pickup and so I can transport things, but thanks for the offer to deliver to the Houston area if I need it. I recall the Versaille also had 4-wheel discs, too...once I get the housing out of the "wreck" I will know more about brackets, etc...I figure if the pumpkin is OK I'll keep it in storage while I send my current differential housing to whichever business I choose to transfer all the brackets, etc., so that they can make their own measurements.

It all sounds so expensive...especially on a teacher's salary, but it is important enough that I am dedicated to getting it back on the road as soon as I can (which, given all the damage and perhaps other damages I don't know about yet, will be a LONG time, I think).

Cheers!

Dugly

[JUS BIT]

Dugly, my apologies if I over looked an email from you about this incident. But I never received any emails or phone calls from you here at Radical Roadsters. I don't spend a lot of time reading through the forums, so I missed this thread about your incident and need for repair. Someone asked me to take a look at it to see if I can help.

I would be happy to discuss this with you to see if I can help, or if I can point out some specialty shops that can do some of the work here in Houston. I specialize in the Backdraft cars but I service and work on all the brands of Cobra replicas. Send me a PM and I will see if we can help.

James
(El Presidente)

[G-Pete]

Pictures?

[Howard Jones]

When you can. Take a lot of pictures of the overall damage, then small area pictures that center the issue being highlighted and finally as close as necessary single piece damage pictures.

Prepare a document that includes all the individual parts that you think you might need and as many part numbers or sources as you can scrape up. Add a short coversheet that states what your goal might be for the car and your ideas about sharing the repair if that works better for you and ALL your contact information.

You can then simply email the complete package to several shops after you have talked to a few that would be interested in doing the work and then depending on the responses, make a informed decision.

I would concentrate on the chassis repair first and see where the estimates take you. Lastly ask what you can do in advance to defray costs and if the repair shop would be willing to do all the stuff you can't do and then give the car back to you so that you could finish up as funds/time become available.

Things like removing the fuel tank so that damaged rear suspension pickup points can be removed and then new ones welded back on for example. Or even sending them the bare chassis, get it fixed and then later send it and the body panels to a fiberglass guy who does cobras to do the remaining portion of the repair.

Shops sometimes don't like to have body's taking up space in the shop for extended periods while they work on the chassis.

The more information you can provide to the repair shop the easier it will be for them to give you a accurate bid and helping them with their process can get jobs done that otherwise would be declined.

Good luck with your car. Anything can be fixed, sometimes a lot less expensively than you would think.

[YerDugliness]

Thanks, Howard! I am stuck in KS right now completing another year of teaching and it will be late May/early June before I can get down to the town southwest of Houston. I did not have time to really inspect the car, other than having that body shop owner come look at it (however, he did say his frame machine could absolutely handle the frame squaring and leveling process once I get usable axles on the vehicle...they have to mount their laser measurement gear to the area where the wheels bolt).

He doesn't need the body removed...and while I may be wrong, once I get a replacement rear differential housing I think I can probably get it mounted to the chassis. Once the frame is squared and level I can then get a dolly or trailer and tow it where-ever it needs to go for the remainder of the work...most of which I HOPE will be fiberglass body work, but at this point I've not been under the car except for behind the cockpit, so I still have to inspect the drivetrain forward of the driveshaft. It took one hell of a beating and I know I'll need new sidepipes...that will be the last thing I pursue because I have always wanted to switch the 5.0HO Windsor's heads to Cleveland style heads and as long as I have to replace the sidepipes that seems like the time to replace the heads, too...

Like I have said, I am prepared for it to be a long and expensive row to hoe, but I am also committed to the project as long as the drivetrain is intact. If the engine's reciprocating assembly took a beating and the short block is not usable, well, it may be time to reconsider that philosophy...I'm hoping I'll know once I get back down to Rosenberg.

Thanks, all, for the helpful responses on the forum and through the PM function. I need to get time to respond to quite a few PMs, but at this point in the school year about all I can do is try to get everything related to work done. Please, if anyone has sent me a PM and has not received a reply, do not think I am ignoring your message, it's just a very busy time of the year for a teacher.

Originally Posted by G-Pete

Pictures?

Yes...once I get down to where the car is stored. I was on the way back to KS, driving the car when the accident occurred, so I had to scramble to get it into safe storage and get a different vehicle to drive home to KS. I do have a few photos on my iPhone, but have not tried to upload them to Photobucket yet, so I doubt they will be ready to post on the forum in their present condition.

Cheers, all, and thanks, again!

Dugly

[JRoss]

I have used https://www.peytonperformance.com/ for both my Cobra and my Mustang.

They are one of the best shops anywhere for ford 9 inch. They are located in Waxahachie near the drag strip. I know that is probably 3 hrs from Houston but they are very good and will get it fixed right.