Crashed galant, repair advise

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05-13-2006, 08:30 PM
_Madman_

Crashed galant, repair advise

I managed to hit a walkway at around 50mph (frontal crash), and got a front wheel of my 1989 (6th) gen badly displaced. It's touching the fender now...

Is it possible to restore the car and what technical difficulties might be involved in the process. I wasn't able to examine the car well as it was night, so I can't give any more details right now.

I know it's probably easier to buy a new car, as repair costs might be around 80% of the value, but the engine is pretty nice, did over 200kmph (GLSi) and the rest of the car is in really good shape.
05-13-2006, 08:47 PM
str8304

its pretty much your choice. i mean anything is repairable, it just depends on how much time and money you want to spend.
05-13-2006, 08:52 PM
_Madman_

Could you also guess which parts are going to need replacing? I hope there is no need for strut tower soldering or something. And is this replace parts scenario or some body geometry correction is probably involved too?
05-13-2006, 08:53 PM
str8304

Quote:

Originally Posted by _Madman_

Could you also guess which parts are going to need replacing? I hope there is no need for strut tower soldering or something. And is this replace parts scenario or some body geometry correction is probably involved too?

just wait on the answer, pinoy will give you the parts listing. he is the master/jack of all trades when it comes to these galants! he will probably be here shortly!
05-13-2006, 08:55 PM
pvu_rida

Re: Crashed galant, repair advise

Quote:

Originally Posted by _Madman_

I managed to hit a walkway at around 50mph (frontal crash), and got a front wheel of my 1989 (6th) gen badly displaced. It's touching the fender now...

Is it possible to restore the car and what technical difficulties might be involved in the process. I wasn't able to examine the car well as it was night, so I can't give any more details right now.

I know it's probably easier to buy a new car, as repair costs might be around 80% of the value, but the engine is pretty nice, did over 200kmph (GLSi) and the rest of the car is in really good shape.

ur best bet is to try a junk yard
05-13-2006, 08:57 PM
pinoyesv6

without pictures or seeing the galant in person i can't really tell you everything that needs to be fixed.

with that said, you might want to find a local shop to take your car and give you an estimate on repairs.

and oh yea, there will never be a need to solder any of the body parts or frame parts of your car. if a shop wants to solder your car back together, stay away. far far away.
05-13-2006, 08:57 PM
str8304

see, i told ya...he is the O.G.!! lol
05-13-2006, 09:13 PM
_Madman_

Thank you for answers! I'll try to get some pictures later on and some more inspecting too. Frame deformations are the ones I'm most afraid of. I do hope that I got none. I hit the walkway with right wheel and the tire didn't went flat after impact. Actually we managed to tow the car for like 200 meters to a nearest parking lot, steering partially worked, the weel was grinding at the back part of the fender though...
05-13-2006, 09:15 PM
str8304

Quote:

Originally Posted by _Madman_

Thank you for answers! I'll try to get some pictures later on and some more inspecting too. Frame deformations are the ones I'm most afraid of. I do hope that I got none. I hit the walkway with right wheel and the tire didn't went flat after impact. Actually we managed to tow the car for like 200 meters to a nearest parking lot, steering partially worked, the weel was grinding at the back part of the fender though...

i had the same thing happen to me when i had airbags but fortunately all i had to do was repair a small piece of the airline that was damaged and replace the bag on that side.
05-14-2006, 02:47 PM
_Madman_

Ok... here are some pictures... https://www.thegalantcenter.org/styl...efault/sad.gif

http://haiko.star.lv/Wheel/1.JPG
http://haiko.star.lv/Wheel/2.JPG
http://haiko.star.lv/Wheel/3.JPG
http://haiko.star.lv/Wheel/4.JPG
http://haiko.star.lv/Wheel/5.JPG
http://haiko.star.lv/Wheel/6.JPG
http://haiko.star.lv/Wheel/7.JPG
http://haiko.star.lv/Wheel/8.JPG
http://haiko.star.lv/Wheel/9.JPG
http://haiko.star.lv/Wheel/10.JPG
05-15-2006, 10:51 AM
maroonmetallic

Well, it definately looks like you need a new half shaft lead from the transmission on that side, as well as a tie rod end. But something might have broken in the steering rack as well.

If I see more Ill edit this post to add them. Im about halfway through your pictures.

*As far as your strut goes, it may have popped out of the upper strut mount, or it is bent.

**Also, your control arm is bent badly. That might be the only reson that your wheel has pushed back. Otherwise there might be some minor frame bending.
05-15-2006, 03:26 PM
_Madman_

Luckily the controll arm was bent, I guess it could have been way worse if it wasn't. Hit was absorbed extremely softly, seatbelts didn't even locked.
I'm am a bit afraid that there might be some minor frame damage though, because the door touched a wing a little when I tried to open it, but then again it might got pushed back by the tire a little. The tire got rubbed while I towed the car for like 200 meters.
I got my car transported to the service and I'm waiting for the answer right now, I hope that repair price is not going to be insanely high... We have a cheap servicing here, it's the part's that are expensive, then again I guess I could find some in a junk yard...

I would also like to know more about frame damages, how bad they are and do they really matter that much as people seem to rumor about? Is it enough to do some wheel geometry to fix the consequences or do you need to use strut braces and even then handling/driving is badly affected.

I'm looking forward to get an Eclipse 2000 GT, in a near future, but the thing is that they are US cars, and are transported to Europe mostly after crash, because of the way cheaper labor here and allmost zero value in US after crash. So I'd like to hear professional opinions about possible problems, and if frame bents are total no go, ways to diagnose them.

Thanks in advance, the community is really great here!
05-22-2006, 03:05 PM
_Madman_

Ok... the damage seems to be -
Control Arm
Thrus Rod (swaybar link?)
Half shaft lead
and the plastic dust protector of half shaft.

Service didn't said anything about frame bending, but they said they can't diagnose it without assembling the car back again...
05-31-2006, 10:17 PM
chbuzz

Quote:

Originally Posted by _Madman_

Ok... the damage seems to be -
Control Arm
Thrus Rod (swaybar link?)
Half shaft lead
and the plastic dust protector of half shaft.

Service didn't said anything about frame bending, but they said they can't diagnose it without assembling the car back again...

if your having a shop install these parts and plus the cost of the parts... its going to be far beyond the value of the car. I would cut your loss and look for another imho.
06-19-2006, 02:16 PM
_Madman_

Well, the car is allready repaired and it was ~200$ labor+parts. Geometry is fine, actually it's even better than it was, since it's like 2 years from last wheel adjustment, also seems that there is no frame bending.

But there is another problem I'm facing right now... My cars engine seems to stop for no aparent reason... It can stop while I'm driving and I cant star't it afterwards... for some time... sometimes 2 tries, sometimes 10 minutes... totally random... The car isn't handling any worse nor it's starting to behave jaggy, it just stops sometimes... I have driven more than 650 miles since first time I faced this bug and so far there has been no problems on long distance trips, but car just doesn't seem to start sometimes... And it stoped today in city too... Powerband hasn't been robbed in any way.

What could that be... ECU going nuts? Injectors giving up? Check engine light isn't lit, it goes out after engine is started like it used to...

Can it just be a fuel pump/filter? But then again powerband is just fine :roll: