I want to get some rallycross experience under my belt while I build my '72 96 so I've decided to put my totaled '89 900S sedan back into service for that purpose.



It was totaled in October after someone pulled out in front of me but runs and drives just fine, all I need to do is bang the fenders and hood back into place and put in a used radiator support and radiator. It doesn't need to be pretty. I figure that way I can get some practice with a car that I don't care if I roll or destroy. Mechanically it's in great condition and it already has a Saab Savior skid plate on it.

The closest event to me is in Indianapolis on March 24 and it will be my first.

I'll be right behind you

Excellent use for a crashed car, I'd probably use my '85 SPG for that if it wasn't so rusty I was worried about the floor coming off!

DrewP wrote:Excellent use for a crashed car, I'd probably use my '85 SPG for that if it wasn't so rusty I was worried about the floor coming off!

Yeah, this one is a totally rustfree car, it was actually pretty nice before some dumb girl in a Suzuki Reno decided it was a good idea to pull out right in front of me from a blind alley. I've since replaced it with a solid '86 9000T as a daily driver.

I did some redneck body work today with a sledgehammer and some smaller hammers and got it pretty well knocked back into place, installed a good used radiator support and was able to bend the hood back into place:







I've got some good turn signals, grille and headlight buckets as well as a front valance/air dam. It actually won't look too bad once it's together. Then I have to go apply for a salvage title.

If you chain or strap the frame to a tree and put a come-a-long on the mangled pieces. You put a little tension on the metal, and you can almost move it with your bare hands. Obviously you want to reverse your impact angles when you pull. I fixed my buddies 73 Super Beetle after he wrecked it.

Other than the crash damage, was there anything else wrong with that car? It looks like it was in pretty good shape. I have repaired a car or two that was hit like that. As long as it didn't tweak the frame too bad.

SwedeSport wrote:If you chain or strap the frame to a tree and put a come-a-long on the mangled pieces. You put a little tension on the metal, and you can almost move it with your bare hands. Obviously you want to reverse your impact angles when you pull. I fixed my buddies 73 Super Beetle after he wrecked it.

Other than the crash damage, was there anything else wrong with that car? It looks like it was in pretty good shape. I have repaired a car or two that was hit like that. As long as it didn't tweak the frame too bad.

What's funny about this car is that it already suffered a front-end impact earlier in its life in the mid-'90s, long before I owned it. There is evidence of the repair and I think I looked it up on Carfax once.

The worst damage this time was to the passenger's side bumper mount, it got twisted and ripped, I might just go without a bumper for now. The fenders and hood, however, came back to shape pretty nicely and I was able to fit a good radiator support in there. From a few feet away you won't even be able to tell it was crashed.

This car is in good shape otherwise, I had recently done a lot of work to it just before the crash including a timing chain and motor mounts and a bunch of engine seals, I had the engine out to install a good used transmission. It's rustfree and the interior is mint (not that it matters for what I'll be using it for now).

Another good method is loop a chain or strap around a tree and hook it to the bumper mounts, and drive the car gently backwards to 'pop' 'pop' 'pop' the mount back in place. Telephone poles located in the alley behind your faux-race shop also work well for this.

A big Dodge pickup with a Cummins diesel, and a tow strap will do the trick too. I saw one of the rally teams doing it this way. They got it pulled out enough to return to the stages.

I love that first picture. When I first saw it I thought you were holding a wiffle ball bat, which made me laugh.

Glad to see the car coming back to life! I've fixed a few with similar damage. One wasn't as bad and we lined up the front end of the car before someone went home and dad saw what he had done.

Ha, yeah, It had to do some standing on the hood and beating it with a hammer to get it fit but it does fit now and closes fine. It won't look perfect but I won't feel embarrassed about driving it. For now I'm going to run sealed beams (I don't want to wreck another set of e-codes).

Here's a pic of the side where I "fixed" the damage, the marks on the hood are just mud.

V4_guy wrote: (I don't want to wreck another set of e-codes).

Do you still have the broken pieces of those e-codes? I am missing the metal brackets that bolt to the housing and attach to the sheet metal on the body of the car. Did they by any chance survive the wreck?

SwedeSport wrote:

V4_guy wrote: (I don't want to wreck another set of e-codes).

Do you still have the broken pieces of those e-codes? I am missing the metal brackets that bolt to the housing and attach to the sheet metal on the body of the car. Did they by any chance survive the wreck?

I do, I saved all of the salvageable parts of the e-codes, let me dig up those brackets and I can drop them in the mail for you. Send me an email at old99s@gmail.com with your shipping address.

I just put down an offer on a set of these Autopal H4 inserts (Indian Hella knock-offs) to get them for $40-shipped, we'll see how they are:



http://www.ebay.com/itm/330594258615

I'm trying to spend as little money on this car as possible.

Those should be better than sealed beams.

I have e codes for my 85
and Hellas in my 86
I have Cibie lenses on the shelf

how much were the autopal units? do they take standard h-4s?

The IPF's I put in the 85 were $40 each, free form lens and then work very well. I have not been able to find the free form IPF's in a while...only the older cut glass versions.