Mach was in a wreck

[TKat13]

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.

[TKat13]

Ok, here is the first pic.



Ethernet cable proved to be useful.

[24kmach]

Bummer.

[shame302]

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.

[vertigyn]

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.

[TKat13]

Originally Posted by shame302

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.

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.

[TKat13]

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

[XSELLR8]

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

[TKat13]

Originally Posted by LOOKnGO

Is your windshield cracked?

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

[Boodro]

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.

Originally Posted by TKat13

I love my wife more than the Mach and both are repairable.

My wife told me to take notes...

[TKat13]

Originally Posted by Boodro

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...

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.

[Boodro]

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

[TKat13]

Here is the tear down status.
1. Fenders, hood are all removed. (look at the frame rail)


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!


Hood damage:

[TKat13]

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.


More parts removed for the repaint.

[TKat13]

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!

[TKat13]

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


Sorry, bad cellphone pic

[vertigyn]

Good progress! Hope it all comes out great!

[X-1Mach1]

Originally Posted by TKat13

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


Sorry, bad cellphone pic

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

[TKat13]

Originally Posted by X-1Mach1

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

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.

[TKat13]

Pulled the motor tonight.


Another View:


View 3:

[X-1Mach1]

Originally Posted by TKat13

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.

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?

[kevinmandez]

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.

[XSELLR8]

Time for headers while it's out. At least paint the cam covers 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

[suicidekings]

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

[TKat13]

Originally Posted by X-1Mach1

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?

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