1930 Tudor accident

[Ordsgt]

Had an accident about 1 month ago vehicle cut in front of truck in front of me then slammed on brakes as did the pickup in front of me. I locked up brakes and steered to the left of the truck but struck his left rear with my right front. Speed was about 15. At moment of impact my front bumper flew off going up in the air. The back seat went airborne hitting the back of my head. No injuries but at first glance damage didn't appear too bad. After starting the tear down found the RF fender bent back to the bracket, RF axle bent about 20 degrees, right front wheel 3 broke spokes and rim badly bent, Radius rod bent, clutch housing shattered, flywheel housing shattered and the transmission input shaft bearing retainer in two pieces.
Starting a complete rebuild and paint a little earlier than I intended.

[Harpkatt]

Sorry to hear, best luck. Hope you're back on the road again in short order!

[burner31]

Oh man, sorry to hear that, glad you are OK.
If I may be so bold to ask...what insurance company do you use on your A? (Don't have to name them if you don't what to)
And could you provide an update/follow-up on their performance in this matter.
Insurance seems to be a hot topic on this forum from time to time and it would be great to get a "Real World" perspective.
Knock on wood, I have not had to use my insurance (Hagerty)
You know what would be great...if after paying insurance for 3,4,5 years or so, and not filing a claim, they send you 1/3 or 1/4 of your total payments back to you...That would be a company I would stick to for life...But I can only dream I guess.
Anyway...know that all us Barn Owls feel your pain and are pulling for you.

[77Birdman]

So sorry to hear, hope you are ok. Flying objects are always a danger, who would've thought it would be the back seat! An insurance update would def be good as per Keith. There was a fellow on another forum that had major front end damage to his antique auto. In the end he did all of the work (with no previous experience) on his own and it turned out fantastic. He had to fight a bit with his ins. company as they wanted to scrap the car and give him a payout. I think in the end it all worked out but he did have a few short hurdles to jump over.
Only accident I ever had (knocking on wood), I was following 2 cars the one in front decided to make a left turn, I suppose the one behind him (the car directly in front of me) figured on passing on the left at the same time! I was cruising along about 35 mph and all of the sudden the car I saw pulled into the other lane and there was a car sitting stopped in front of me. I had nowhere to go but into his rear. Did a lot of damage to my car hitting at about 10mph. Nothing to his.

[jm29henry]

It happens! As long as you are ok the car can be fixed or replaced. Hopefully you can use your insurance to help with your repairs

[redmodelt]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

RE the bumper flying up. Sounds like you have/had those older cast bumper mounts. Make sure they are replaced with the proper forged type.

If the bumper mounting brackets are bent, after they get straightened, they need to be retempered. The mounting brackets are part of the whole spring assembly, not just there to hold the bars.

[McMimmcs]

How much did insurance estimate your damage at. Glad you were not injured and glad you were not going 25 mph.

[Ordsgt]

I am definitely getting the forged bumper mounts, The bracket are good.
As for the insurance, my policy is with Hagerty, and the only complaint I have is at times they are a little slow in responding but also understand this accident happened 2 weeks before the holidays. I also undervalued my car on the policy. The repair estimate was $7200 NOT including parts. Needless to say they totaled the car and I bought it back and am fixing it myself. Most of the major parts that were damaged I had or was given to me. As I already had planned to pull the body off to repaint it all is happening a little early. It took about 1 month but the claim was paid and I am satisfied with Haggerty. When I put it back on the road I plan to up the value and elect a clause I was unaware of the For a small increase in cost ,about $20, you can get the car back if totaled with no charge. I had to buy my car back. I tried to post some pictures but it wouldn't let me stating fire was to large even after I massively reduced them

[LeonardS]

Originally Posted by Ordsgt

I am definitely getting the forged bumper mounts, The bracket are good.
As for the insurance, my policy is with Hagerty, and the only complaint I have is at times they are a little slow in responding but also understand this accident happened 2 weeks before the holidays. I also undervalued my car on the policy. The repair estimate was $7200 NOT including parts. Needless to say they totaled the car and I bought it back and am fixing it myself. Most of the major parts that were damaged I had or was given to me. As I already had planned to pull the body off to repaint it all is happening a little early. It took about 1 month but the claim was paid and I am satisfied with Haggerty. When I put it back on the road I plan to up the value and elect a clause I was unaware of the For a small increase in cost ,about $20, you can get the car back if totaled with no charge. I had to buy my car back. I tried to post some pictures but it wouldn't let me stating fire was to large even after I massively reduced them

What did they charge you to buy it back?

[WHN]

Will your insurance company total the car?

I would start there and work back from that point. Did you have a declared value?

If it’s totaled by insurance company? You have a number of options as to what to do next.

My main point would be that you are OK! Cars can be replaced.

Good luck.

Just read your last post. Answered all my questions. Good luck on rebuild.

[Ordsgt]

The buy back was $4100. I inquired as to how they came to that figure I was told it was given to them by COPARTS which is a company that specializes in auctioning damaged vehicles for insurance companies. Coparts stated that is what they believe the price would be at an auction. Based on what parts were good and the price a hot rodder would pay for the body I believe it was an accurate estimate. Engine and radiator still good and ran fine after the accident

[Keith True]

The buyback can be an eye opener for people with old cars.With modern cars a lot of times the car can be bought back for pennies on the dollar sometimes.By the time the insurance company pays towing,storage,has it hauled,does the paperwork,etc.a lot of times it is better for them to just keep a little of your settlement and walk away.It doesn't work that way with old cars.For the most part they have a very good chance to recover a big piece of change,so they do.You do have the chance to bid on it like everybody else.Cherished value from Hagerty just became available in N.H.It will go into effect on my cars next month.I bought my 30 Coupe back after it was in a fire,but it was a true total loss.For them to hire equipment to dig it out from under a burned house was just cost prohibitive.

[40 Deluxe]

Just a thought on trying to avoid hitting the pickup in front of you: If you had the brakes locked up and the wheels were sliding, you couldn't steer very well. If we have the presence of mind to ease off the brakes, we might be able to steer around the vehicle in front. Of course, it depends on traffic conditions, too. But I've avoided a few accidents by going around.

[Ivan in southeast va.]

This is a picture of his car after the accident.

[Ordsgt]

Thanks for putting in the picture it would not go in for me. First indication of real damage was pieces of flywheel and clutch housing under the car

[Ivan in southeast va.]

One more picture Des

[Synchro909]

When a Model A is hit from the front, a broken bell housing is almost a certainty along with a bent axle and panel damage. I knew a guy (who has passed on since) who was hit head on in his Model A. They had to grind black steering wheel off his teeth and his wife ended up out on the ground. You could easily have been much worse off than this. IMO, you should consider yourself lucky.

FWIW, All of the insurance companies that cover our king of cars over here have a clause that in the event of a write off, the salvage remains with the owner.

[todd3131]

Better go over the frame more than likely it is bent. 30 years ago I got hit in my roadster it threw my wife out of the car and broke here pelvis in a couple places she healed and all is good. Your car isn't near as bad as mine was I had to replace the frame front axel and a bunch of sheet metal I ended up with a ground up and it is time to do it again. My wife won't ride in it and wants me to sell it, not that I'm going to.

[Ordsgt]

I am totally going over the whole car. Engine , trans are out all fenders off floor out and body lifting off frame next week. Body will stay at body shop for sanding, painting, I will check out the frame on the frame machine too insure it is straight but so far it looks good. Picking up a set of original front fenders tomorrow. Even though only 1 was damaged they were reproduction and I want original. Parts ordered to rebuild trans and I had a spare trans for the front bearing retainer. Rebuild spare clutch housing and got another flywheel housing. Was given another axle and radius arm. Doing all the work myself should leave me enough for a complete upholstery kit. So the plan is to have the car in much better condition than it was in

[Gene F]

Thanks Ordsgt, I think I learned a bit from reading this. My insurance bill came last night...