Mach was in a wreck; Rebuild Thread
 

Before anyone posts... I'll send pics soon after I have official word form the insurance but the news sounds promising. Comments were made about how clean the car was with 80k+ miles, not a single door ding. Body shop is confident that it will be repaired and not totaled. Wife ran into someone... it happens. I love my wife more than the Mach and both are repairable.

So, cross your fingers with me!! :) We already planned on a new 5.0 this coming summer but keeping the Mach was also in the plan. So I want this fixed.

Planning for a Fix...
A friend of mine owns the shop that will be doing the work. While the Mach is in the shop I was thinking about adding the 03 Cobra rear bumper cover, filling in the 'COBRA' letters of course. Does anyone prefer a vendor for this bumper? A used parts vendor is fine, well actually preferred as the new bumpers are 800+. Any pointers would be great. The paint and body work will be free but the part will cost me money. Figured it was a good time to look into some extras.

I was also thinking about an 99-01 Cobra front bumper, tossing and turning on this one, I am not blown away with the Cobra bumper, but the normal mach bumper has always bugged me.

Other items to add to the list are new head lights, a little darker smoked from American Muscle, hoping they are not too dark to prevent night driving.

And for the most important part of the improvement...
I will be having the inside of the engine compartment re-sprayed with basecoat + clear coat since the engine has to come out anyway. (frame rail has to be replaced).

And finally... the Mach Strip on the hood; I have been considering a ghost stripe, but I am also still thinking on this one. At this stage, paint or decal, it is price.

Thanks for the help.

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

Ok, here is the first pic.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-d...2/IMG_0964.jpg

Ethernet cable proved to be useful.

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

Bummer. :eyes:

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

Bummer indeed but it doesn't look too bad. Might not have even tweaked the inner apron. For the rear bumper I know there are aftermarket oem type bumpers that are already shaved and they aren't expensive. Can't comment on the fit myself though.

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

I ordered all my body parts from MPS Salvage: http://mpsautosalvage.com/sunshop/

Their prices were fair and they had everything I wanted off a wrecked '03 Cobra: skirts, rear bumper, trunk/spoiler, etc.

I was able to find my 99-01 bumper at SVTP...they are hard to come by.

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

I did confirm that the inner apron and frame buckled, passenger side only. The new apron is not really that expensive, it is the labor of dropping the suspension, engine, trans, etc that will push this rebuild to the $ limit. Air bags did not even deploy.

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

Oh, and what is not showing, the underside of the hood is broke. :(

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

Sorry about the accident.
It should be fine. These cars are well worth fixing! :)

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

no, windshield is perfectly fine, even with the old rock chips.

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

I feel your pain...same damage to mine a month ago. No frame damage, but new hood, fender, and 03 Cobra bumper. My body shop worked a miracle with the body work and AB paint.

https://www.abcexclusive.com/bodykits_main.htm#co03rbc

I stumbled across this site that has Cobra rear bumpers. It's a urethane 1-piece with no letters. Haven't heard of anyone installing it, but I plan on giving them a call at least pretty soon.

My wife told me to take notes...:smack:

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

I found out that ABC was just a few miles from me so my body guy is going to pay them a visit and inspect that bumper. He expects that some work will need to be done but wants a visual first. He is worried about filling in the 'cobra' on the OEM and possibly showing a line after a few years of heat/cold cycling. It is all about the material used to fill, may have different elastic heat/cold properties. He is a perfectest and I am glad he is concerned.

I will turn this thread into a rebuild thread. :) Insurance have the green light, ~8k worth of damage.

Let us know if you go with ABC. It's definitely an option for me.

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

Here is the tear down status.
1. Fenders, hood are all removed. (look at the frame rail)
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4...0/IMG_0984.JPG

Here is a close up of the rail, removed the rusted metal with a screwdriver and well, no metal left. I know what happened but would not like discuss the details other than the say, not all shops are equal and you DO NOT always get what you pay for!
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-h...0/IMG_0982.JPG

Hood damage:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/--...0/IMG_0986.JPG

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

More stripped, all electrical and hose connections are removed. Only thing left is the K-Member and fuel line, Will be dropped from the bottom of course.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Y...0/IMG_0999.JPG

More parts removed for the repaint.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-d...0/IMG_1003.JPG

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

Now to the list of what I am doing to the car.
1. All new inner panels will be replaced.
2. New Radiator support area
3. New Passenger Frame rail, full rail not 'spliced in'.
4. Engine Compartment will be 100% painted black and clear coat.
5. Full repaint of the car. (at an additional cost to me, very reasonable so no complaints, the paint has aged and well, seemed like a good time for a fresh paint job)
6. Front fender emblems will bill be welded closed and smoothed.
7. Driver's Bright silver door lock removed and welded closed and smoothed. (I don't even know if it works, never used it.)


I cannot find a good deal on a cobra rear bumper, so I am waiting on this mod. Paint will be easy to match later since it will be new. I just could not pull the trigger on the ABC unit, did not want to risk fitment issues. Besides, I decided to spend my money on a full paint job instead. Besides, I needed it quick.

The full paint job will be done with the car fully disassembled. Can't wait for a mirror finish!

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

Now the bad...
My poor 'Cuda had to be pushed to the far corner until the Mach gets completed. She looks lonely in there. :)

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-n...0/IMG_1006.JPG
Sorry, bad cellphone pic

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

Good progress! Hope it all comes out great!

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

Is that an AAR Cuda? Or does it just have the AAR hood?

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

It is not an AAR 'Cuda, it is however a 'Cuda (BS vin). If it was a real AAR I would force myself to take it back 100% stock. The AAR is my favorite and someday maybe I will have one as well. Instead, I am building the Cuda exactly the way I want it. Major suspension mods are planned as well as the new generation Hemi, unless I can score a good Gen3 V10.

Anyway, nice eye. :)

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

Pulled the motor tonight.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-L...0/IMG_1007.JPG

Another View:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-a...0/IMG_1011.JPG

View 3:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-g...0/IMG_1010.JPG

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

My dad owns a lemon twist AAR and it is just an incredible car. We have quite a few mopars in our family along with mustangs. Between my dad and I there are 4 70's mopars 3 E-bodys 1 B-body and 4 stangs 2 mach's and 2 gt's. Glad to see someone else on this forum is into mopars as well. Sounds like that will be an awesome ride when your done with it. I want to put a V-10 in my roadrunner real bad. Got any project pics of the car?

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

Tough luck man, but good to know your lady’s okay and the car isn’t totaled. Hopefully this won’t raise your auto insurance rates too much. If it’s the first accident and you have first accident protection you should be fine.

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

Time for headers while it's out. At least paint the cam covers :D It would be hard for me to have the engine out like that and not do cams and headers. Too bad those parts are expensive :eyes:

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

Any word on the ABC rear bumper? How is the quality?

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

Awesome, I would love to see some pics. I'm on cuda-challenger.com, good group of people, much like here.

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

haha, I was thinking the same thing, been looking at all my options and by the time I finish adding up everything I wanted to do I came up with 3k+ worth of upgrades I wanted to do... then I just decided not to do much other than concentrate on body modifications such as paint and smoothing holes and such.

However, If I can find a good deal of some headers with 3" collectors then I would jump on them but every 'deal' is about about 100.00 off of new price and then I need to buy gaskets/bolts. I also need to receive them quickly. Really wanted to powder coat the covers but there is not enough time before the motor goes back in. Dealing with insurance timelines. :) (rental car)

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

I have not completely decided, if I get the ABC bumper then I will paint my OEM and that bumper just in case I am not satisfied with it. Still thinking about it. I will keep you updated.

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

I went ahead and decided to purchase the ABC rear bumper, it was not good. From a labor cost, it would cost more to 'make' it fit than to buy a new cobra bumper and shave the 'cobra'.

The sides are too 'short' height wise to the quarter panel. I am very picky and have done aftermarket parts before, even understanding fitment modification would be required but this was far beyond just fitment modification. Now, I have to return the bumper, we'll see if they give me any grief. Oh, my body shop's opinion on this bumper was 'It was the worst fitment part he has ever seen'. He does a ton of custom work so he is comparing it to other body kits.

I was warned by a member here and only took a chance since ABC was local to me. Next time I will just take his advice and stop. You know who you are... and I guess you can say 'I told you so'. :CHEERS:

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

Update on the ABC bumper.
Since ABC is a local company, I was able to return the bumper and I had a good conversation with the owner. He is going to work hard to improve his product, when he does he will contact me and we will try again. It is too bad that about the fitment, but at least their customer service is great. They gave me a refund without any problems.

I really believe these guys want their bumper to be perfect.

So, hopefully he will correct his mold, we will get a new bumper cover.

I will let everyone know when/if the fitment issues are resolved. Hopefully the issues get resolved and Wicked Customs (shop doing the work) is considering a ready to bolt on bumper cover, painted factory colors. He will only do this if the fitment is resolved. The owner of Wicked is about the only other person I know that is more picky than I am. :)

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

Not many updates with the Holiday and waiting on parts.

This is the inside frame rail, you can easily see the bends in the frame rail.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-J...0/IMG_1014.JPG


Frame Rail completely removed, the two upper pieces will also be replace, again, waiting on parts. The jagged cut was done by the other shop, there was actually 8+ inches of metal missing! It will be fixed properly this time around, really a shame since the part that was not properly replaced is only $15.00.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-O...0/IMG_1018.JPG

A single door ding on this car, 83k miles and that is all. It was so small that I never knew it was there. You can also see the new frame rail on the floor...
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-o...0/IMG_1028.JPG

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

Now for the sensitive material. Well, for some. I laughed when I saw it, but then the more I think about it the more annoyed I get. The short story is this, up to this point there has only been three shops that have EVER touched this car, all other work has been done by myself. This is a 1 owner car, I watched this car get backed off the transport trailer and keys given directly to me.


1. Shop #1 - Ford Dealership in Maryland, new brakes, covered under Ford's maintenance plan.
2. Shop #2 - Body shop after an accident. (so far, proved to take many short-cuts, very unhappy)
3. Shop #3 - Ford Dealership in Maryland (lived there for 4 years). My rear Window was separating, bubbles in the layers. Window replaced under factory warranty. This is where the work below in the pictures were done. The side panels had to be removed to replace the rear glass and in return, at a FORD DEALERSHIP IN MARYLAND the wrote what you see below and then replaced the panel. To be honest with you, I never went back to this dealership because I had to argue with them to fix the passenger seat, TSB and they finally said they did but never actually completed the work.

The only conclusion I can come to is that a Chevy fan wished Chevy made the Mach. Either way, marking on someone's car like this is very disrespectful.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-J...0/IMG_1024.JPG

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-q...0/IMG_1023.JPG

I always said that the shops where I lived in Maryland never lived up to my expectations, and frankly it was worse than I realized. Glad to be back in Texas.

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

That would piss me off! Must be a Texas thing for I am a born Texan as well. If that was my car the chevy vandalism would be the first thing to go!

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

Quick Update, I have been out of town all week and have not been by the body shop but the owner of the shop sent me a couple phone pictures.

Antenna hole:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-l...0/IMG_1052.JPG

Antenna hole shaved as well as the emblem hole:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-B...0/IMG_1056.JPG

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

Door lock hole shaved:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0...0/IMG_1053.JPG

Frame and core support complete:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Y...0/IMG_1054.JPG

2nd picture:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-O...0/IMG_1055.JPG

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

Progress!

That chevy thing is kinda funny...but still, it shouldn't be marked on a car in a permanent manner unless it's the owner doing it...

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

Hood Hinges Painted and Cleared:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-c...0/IMG_1060.JPG

Under-side of the hood:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-N...0/IMG_1063.JPG

Engine Bay, yes, this is dry, basecoat + clear:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-k...0/IMG_1065.JPG

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

More Engine bay shots:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-E...0/IMG_1066.JPG

Really hard to take pictures, reflection of the lights... paint is really that smooth.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-A...0/IMG_1067.JPG

3rd:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-X...0/IMG_1069.JPG

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

Inner fenders with undercoat:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-D...0/IMG_1071.JPG

Under coat #2:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-i...0/IMG_1072.JPG

Motor in the process of going in:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-u...0/IMG_1074.JPG

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

Looks like they did a great job with the engine bay!

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

Thanks, I am extremely happy so far. They tell me the body panels will be better, not sure how he can make it better but I am pretty excited about it. It has been a long time since I have seen a car look this good, other than car shows. I highly recommend this shop, top notch on everything that they have touched. Even asked what fluids I preferred in the car. wow!

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

You are lucky to have a dealer located near you that does quality work. I actually found out from my insurance company that the dealership where I bought to Mach and a couple other vehicles was considered one of the best in the area covering northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin and northwest Indiana.

Even though dealers tend to be a little on the high sigh cost-wise, the insurance company had no problem with my going there.

In spite of the accident, you will have a really nice car when done. Are they painting the entire car?

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

Actually, this is not being done at a dealership, it is a small shop that relies on word-of-mouth business so doing quality work is a requirement for them. However, you are correct, I am very lucky to have found this shop. The my past experiences were not so good.

I agree, the car will be better than it ever has been. Yes, the entire car is being painted, insurance does not cover the entire re-paint but the price was very reasonable. For anyone in the area, I put his contact info in my signature. Anytime I find a shop that does quality work I spread the word.

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

Update: Setting the Panel Gaps with full vehicle weight on the wheels. Notice the Motor is installed as well.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-4...0/IMG_1089.JPG

Passenger side gaps:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/--...0/IMG_1090.JPG

Front Hood Gaps:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-K...0/IMG_1091.JPG

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

Hood Gap close up:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-O...0/IMG_1092.JPG

Getting ready for some blocking:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-K...0/IMG_1094.JPG

No more gaps on the scoops:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_...0/IMG_1097.JPG

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

Finally, getting ready to block the hood:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-e...0/IMG_1098.JPG

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

Looks like these guys are awesome. I definitely have some hood gaps that could use some fixing and fender lines that don't quite match the doors.

Great touch on the scoops - the stock ones doe move around a little so having them fixed is kinda neat.

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

That sucks about the crash, but it looks like it's coming along nicely. I noticed you were looking for some smoked headlights, I happen to have a set from American muscle that I was going to try to sell. I do have to warn you though, when they said dark smoked, they meant it. These are extreme, with the stock bulbs the light was really dimmed down, and with sylvan silverstars it wasn't much better. Wasn't ready to try upgrading to HIDs yet so I ended up just getting some different headlights. The car looks awesome with them in but I didn't want to sacrifice visibility for style points. Here's some pics, and if none of what I said deters you, I'm still willing to sell them. Good luck with the rebuild!
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...r/IMG_0172.jpg
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...r/IMG_0170.jpg

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

I did some research on the AM Dark Smoked lights and came to the same conclusion. The lights I went with came from LMR, Medium smoke. I hope they are not too dark. Here is a test fit from last night:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-m...0/IMG_1100.JPG

Side view:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-L...0/IMG_1099.JPG

btw, the fit is absolutely perfect. I may still have to add brighter lights.

Re: Mach was in a wreck
 

**** ! your car is coming out VERY nice !!.. I had those lights btw, add HIDS and youll be good