Panko

yeah they have made it a "total loss". i get to keep the car at no expense to me, plus the entire insured value into my bank.

ok a bit of a twist in the progress with Shannons. They have requested that before they release the funds, I supply a stat dec, to declare the car is not in anyway encumbered (under finance). its something to do with the old VIN, they cant trace or track down its history. Thankfully I know a JP personally so I should have that lodged with them by the end of today.

the salvage on the XF was $800. And apparently $5000 on the escort. But due to age no need to pay. time frame, yeah i dont know. If i paint just the outside of the car, probably a couple months. if i pull the engine out to do engine bay, a bit longer. more so if i decide to swap it for a 1600 or build an engine for it too

They should reinsure it. I would hope so. They reinsured my XF after its crash and repairs, no inspection or anything. Tim, who repaired the XF, did offer a written letter from him to them, if they weren't willing to insure it. So fingers crossed the same thing will happen with the Escort.

it will never be unregistered. In fact, because yeah I will fix it, I just paid the rego renewal this afternoon for another 12 months.

I have news on the Escort. Quicker than I expected, but I have an answer from Shannons. The bad (but not so bad) news is that it is a write off The good news outweighs the bad. What I didn't realise is, that Mark, from the start, had quoted in such a way, that the cost sounded correct, and appeared correct to Shannons assessor, but also in such a way that they would write it off. Now in most cases, that would be bad. that the repairer has made the insurance company write a car off, but not in my case. Shannons will write the car off, and pay me out 100% of what it is insured for. Due to being older than 35 years of age, there is no salvage fee, so I get to keep the car, and its entire insured value. Working off Mark's quote, this means I will have around $3000 to spare, to go towards the cost of the chrome trim repairs, and the extra paint work. Depending on the cost of the extra paint work, i may also pay to have the wheels painted professionally, and, it has been suggested to me that I pull the engine out, and have the engine bay done at the same time. Which is looking like a pretty good idea to me. With the extra $3k up my sleeve, to get a full respray, including engine bay, i may not be too far out of pocket, if any, unlike with the XF, where I was a long way out of pocket. Im not sure about other states, but here in victoria, anything that is older than 25 years old, written off cars do not go onto the WOVR, which means the rego never gets cancelled, and they do not need an engineers certificate, or roadworthy to be put back on the road. So yes the car is a write off, but it actually works out better for me than if Shannons decided not to write it off, and repair it.

Yeah 100%. She was driving like an idiot. She had followed me all the way from Berwick, to Ferntree Gully where it happened, and the entire way, she was travelling too close. Even along Lysterfield road (for those of you who dont know, Lysterfield Rd is a nice twisty section of road) i took off and got away from her, only for her to catch me again half way along. when the accident happened, i blasted her, ripped into her, about the above fact, that she had been tailgating me for the last 20 minutes. i should have pulled over and let her go passed, but fuck it, i shouldnt have to worry about that when im out in the cars.

I had the thought, that if my little green beast is written off, i would consider instead of repairing it, importing a Mk1 Estate. I love them. 2 door wagon, with long side windows. Like a panel van but with low roof, and single lift up tailgate. Some more progress with the Shannons. my claim has finally been lodged and processed, and paperwork should have by now been lodged with Mark, for him to send quote and photos off. They have requested an assessor to view the quote and photos and make a decision on the 17th. (Thursday) so hopefully by the end of the week ill have a final decision on what happens to the car. At this stage i have had to pay my excess of $250, until Shannons speak with the other two parties involved. Although the entire accident would never have happened, had a fourth party (who fled the scene) never stopped for no reason in front of the Triton, that driver can not be held accountable, and therefore the entire blame gets put on the driver of the van behind me. So unless the other two drivers come up with a different story, i should get my excess back. on a side note, a comment that the driver of the van made to me, i found very interesting. Yes she was in shock, but she said, “these vans are so heavy, they are hard to pull up in the best of conditions” That got me thinking. How much weight are those Tasty Truck Hiace vans actually carrying? is there a chance those things are over weight, and maybe the brakes really aren’t up to the task given the weight they carry?

Yeah i sure hope so. he is a member of RSOCV as well, so i know him personally, and he has just finished building his own bubble arched Mk1 panel van. as well as another member's Capri. so yeah fingers crossed it comes out good.

Exactly right. Ill never be able to afford a full respray on it, so this is definitely my cheapest option. One thing I will be doing post respray is sending it straight to the detailer that did the wagon, to have it polished right up and ceramic coated. Rather than waiting 2 years post respray to do it like i did with the wagon. i dont feel as bad about the Escort as I did the wagon, but still hate that its happened, and happened twice.

I have the quote and list of repairs to be done on the car. @2redrovers, as you said above, you wouldn’t be cutting any panels off, and I understand. Mark has come back with both the LHF ¼ being replaced due to prior damage and repair before accident, and being filled with bog, and replacement rear panel, due to the risk of tearing. The rear support inside has already torn away and torn the floor open. Plus there is a rust showing in the lower valance. List of repairs as delivered to me by Mark; - new LHF 1/4 - new rear panel - replacement boot lid - all damaged chrome strips sent away for repair and chrome - replacement bumper and over riders - replacement grill (which i have) if existing cant be repaired - straighten front panel - straighten boot floor - straighten rear chassis - repair boot hinge mechanism Now the paint is the bit ill admit im a little concerned about, but I will be pretty hard on the guys to do it right. Mark has come back with; - LH side of car painted - rear of car - (i think) RHR ¼ - boot lid - bonnet All to be painted to match the paint best. I explained that in doing that, id have the RHF ¼ not matching due to prior (rough) repairs. so we will discuss a cash price to continue on to paint the remainder of the car. Its certainly not what i wanted to hear, or do, and ill be super disappointed if it doesn’t come back with the same glass like finish on it. But, in reality, if its done properly, it means the car would not longer be patchy. It just means i wont be its original paint anymore so lots to think about. I haven’t heard back from Shannons yet to get my claim going, but the quote is sitting there ready to go. I should know by next week the outcome for the car.

yep i believe its 80% of cars value is what they will spend to repair the car. the chrome trims are actually ok. Well the side corner bits, or “hockey sticks”, didn’t cop any more damage than what was existing already. the one on the boot, well thats a different story. Given it hasnt kinked, it might be fixable. whats lying under the skin? the LH chassis rail is bent right at the back, immediately inside the rear panel. And the floor is slightly bent also immediately inside the rear panel. But the rest of the floor is straight (looking from underneath, havent opened boot yet) There might he a slight bend in the RH chassis rail where it goes up over the diff (more inspection needed) but otherwise, 1/4s are straight, doors open and close perfectly, exhaust is bent i think, RH reverse light smashed. I think the glass number plate light (hidden under rear bumper) survived though somehow. all the panels damaged (other than boot lid) are available brand new. So depending what Mark comes back with, and how crazy he wants to go on it, there is the option to replace the rear panel, and the front ¼ panel. Although big job. Talking with my partner tonight about the accident, i cant remember if i had my hands on the steering wheel still or not when i got hit. Id be interested to see if the wheel is bent from the impact or not.

the car will be back on the road hopefully. I have already started considering the better financial decision, if it is (i doubt it) a write off. I get to keep the car either way, but if its a total loss, it maybe be a better financial decision to replace it with another car, and sadly strip this for parts to recoup some of the costs, rather than attempt to repair it. I should know by next week, or the week after the cost and what Shannons wants to do. Its insured for $16500. surely with that value it will be repaired. And im certain Mark will do everything in his power to avoid it costing too much, that Shannons wont repair it. Ah the nervous waiting game starts all over again

you think id learn. yeah I dont think ill ever want to drive either car ever again after repairs

Yep. Ive been driving this for the last week as a daily, just to give it a good run. hadnt been out in 2 months. and its been so much fun, driving around the streets etc, and in the heavy rain (that was an experience) Since 2016 now all 3 of my cars have had damage to the back. the Land Rover was my fault though.

Hopefully yeah. Ive already got the ball the rolling. lodged the claim, and Mark from RSOCVIC, who owns a smash repair, quoting on it tomorrow.

no injuries, just sore.

im doing ok. 5 hours on since the accident, im starting to feel pain in all sorts of places. ankles, neck. I have already gotten the ball rolling with a guy from the RS Owners Club in Vic. he owns Acclaim Accident repairs about 10 minutes from where the accident happened. He tends to work on a lot of the club's member's cars in his shop. so im confident he will do a good job.

As if 2020 could not get any worse. This date, the 10th of December is definitely jinxed for me. Why might you ask? This date, 4 years ago, is the date my XF was rear ended and written off. They say history never repeats itself, well sadly, today it did. My poor little Escort, has suffered the exact same fate, that my XF did, on the exact same date, only 4 years later. Exactly the same date I unfortunately got squished today, between a Toyota Hiace, and a Mitsubishi Triton. The poor little Escort is in a very very sad state, and I have cried a number of times since the accident. In fact, im tearing up writing this now. I believe it is repairable, and I believe my insured value will cover the cost of the repairs. **Content warning. some may find the following images disturbing**

yep it is. thats how I was able to run an EL ECU in my XF without modifying the wiring. because it uses the same 5v VREF.

yeah Im running slightly thicker than standard in it, 20w60. someone needs to make like a 20w80 haha. my good mate with his old Mini, used to run 40w70 AKA "bottom end in a bottle" ive heard banana skins work well in the diff haha. the sad part about this car is, its the mechanical stuff that lets it down It looks good and body is in great condition, interior is really tidy. But the engine, and diff at least, are definitely in need of love. The diff is the least of my worries. I did throw this in as an unknown diff that had been sitting for a long time after the old one shit itself. but, this diff does now have a axle seal leak on the LH axle tube. and bearings are a little noisy, but nothing like the old one. Gearbox is ok, seems smooth enough, shifts nicely, no crunchy. needs a short shifter kit fitted though, apparently makes a massive difference to the way they shift. And my rack and pinion is leaking oil again. Far from impressed, I rebuilt the steering rack, new arms, new bushes, seals, and boots. and they have split, and leaking oil all over the underside of the car. Given that I still need to fit a toe correction kit because of the suspension geometry im now running, which replaces the tie rod ends with adjustable height rose joints so the toe doesn't change under corner load, im now thinking im going to replace the rack entirely with a new 2.4 ratio quick rack. yes it will make the steering a little heavier, but meh. the standard 2.9 ratio does get a bit much when driving more sportively in the twisties

I had a bit of win today. My spare mirrors that came with the car when I bought it, turned out to have the correct spacers for a Mk1 Escort. Although it appears my mirrors have never been off the car, so maybe they were the wrong ones from factory. basically my mirrors have always had a downward slope to them, rather than flat and level with the car. Can see in this pic of me holding the spare gold mirror, the green one on the car in the background is sloping away. there difference in the spacers is not the outside (bottom) edge, but the inner top side edge... this is what was fitted to the car... this is what the spares had on them Before After removing the mirrors also showed how faded the duco is Ive always polished it myself, but perhaps its time i paid someone to do it, and ceramic coat it. The ceramic coating made a huge difference to the XF, on a flat white colour, so surely it would make a difference on metallic acrylic paint.

that is plausible yes. ive run it completely out of fuel once before not long after i bought the car. but it took a full 41L to fill back up. ill keep that in mind.

Nothing much happening with the Escort. I tried to fire it up and take for a short drive last week, and the shitty misfire was back. last time i diagnosed it as the vacuum advance on the dizzy. so have been running with that disconnected and blanked off. this time, i spent about 2 hours, checking plugs, dizzy cap, pulling the top of the carby off and making sure there was no shit in the fuel bowl. It was getting low on fuel, so i figured if i could limp it to the servo id put a tank of fresh fuel in it. so i did. it had about 5L left in the tank. put a fresh tank in, left the servo and got a few minutes down the road, and it was good and happy to go. for some reason it seems very sensitive to either stale fuel, or there is something in the bottom of the tank that is contaminating the fuel when it gets too low. Anyway, on the weekend I went to my girlfriend's place for the weekend, which we are allowed to do under the Melbourne Metro lockdowns, so I took the opportunity to drive the Escort for a decent run rather than just around local streets. I know i keep saying it, but boy this old 1300 is getting tired How long before it goes bye bye? Who knows. This was the oil pressure at idle after getting home again on Monday. about 5psi. Interestingly i havent seen the factory warning light come on yet, on the dash, and it does work. Id imagine just must come on at 0psi. even under load, at 100km/h and at running temp, it doesn't quite get to 30psi oil pressure at least it looks pretty after its wash before going back under its car cover

Thats ok. I was back and forth with Jason in emails for months before buying the chip. Im not taking sides here, but once i understood how it worked and i was confident going down that track. I get you didn't have any information to tell them, but i think the assumption is that if you buy the chip reader/programmer, you are going to do your own custom tune. If you can start the car and drive it around ok, then it has a base tune on there. if it had nothing the car wouldn't run very well id imagine. I only ordered the chip alone. With a basic map or tune loaded onto it, off the information I gave him. Jason has a set of base templates for 4L OHC engines to work off, then you provide what information you have, and they roughly alter AFRs in the tune to suit the information you have provided, from a dead stock 4L map. He doesn't have templates for a crossflow, so works off the volumetric figures of a 4L. currently mine runs a bit rich, however I also don't have a functioning ISC valve. which is my own fault. Like i said, im not taking sides here. It just seems there might have been a miscommunication or something. Unfortunately for me, because I don't have the brains to tune the J3, nor do I own a PC (Mac user here. only way in my line of work) I can't tune the car myself. I also cant data log anyway, as i have no way of doing it without a wideband o2. So ill have to pay someone to dyno tune it when the new engine goes in, or take the car back to Jason and get him to do it himself. I live not far from him in Melbourne.