Things I Didn't Expect To Have To Do for $1000...

 Last weekend I went to a train show, the first one in a very long time due to all the pan(dem)ic nonsense. That was a good weekend.

Monday I got a text with these pictures:

Eldest Son has had the Subaru since he hit a deer with his Honda. So guess what happened here. Yep, at the same place and near about the same time of day as the Honda. Not as bad as the Honda, it was totaled because there was only one and he hit it at speed. This time there was three, two of them went by and since he was already on the brakes the third one didn't do as much damage. Headlight smashed, fender and hood crumpled and the right mirror cracked. Yes there was definitely some underlying damage because the inner fender was bent, but the frame was still straight.

I got on the Baja group at the Book of Faces and scored a hood and fender in the proper Baja Yellow color. Problem was, it was in Altoona. Well hell, I was going to have the next weekend off anyway so I made a deal. Friday afternoon I tagged the trailer onto the back of the Jeep and off to Pennsylvania we went.

Of course while in Altoona...

That's Horseshoe Curve, on the former Pennsylvania Railroad mainline. It's something of a railroading mecca, being a marvel of engineering and such. But I digress.

Parts loaded Saturday morning and on the road. Back home by suppertime. Sunday morning Eldest Son brought the battered Baja over and we started stripping parts. 

He had already bought a set of headlights, so as soon as the old fender was off we commenced to straightening what we could of the inner fender. That went fairly well and the replacement fender went on without too much fuss, but when we put the headlight in we found the radiator support on the right side had been pushed back about 3/4 of an inch. We tried to pull it back with brute force but the distance was just too great, so we cut a couple of spacers out of steel brake line and put longer bolts in it.

The hood and mirror went on without too much drama although now there is a definite mismatch because the right mirror is black and the left one is body colored. It might be easier to just paint the left mirror black instead of trying to match the paint, but the results are acceptable.

We started around eight and were done about 11, not bad considering we had to make a trip to the parts store in the middle. It's not perfect but it's pretty close, the paint actually matches and if you don't look at it with the critical examiners eye you wouldn't be able to tell anything had happened to it until you saw the mismatched mirrors. Under the hood isn't too much more obvious, the only real clue is when you look at where the headlight mounts to the radiator support but I think we did a fairly passable job putting all that together as well. The headlight is nice and solid, but one thing we did miss until we were done is the lense on the right foglight is cracked. It's missing the cover, too, but that isn't anything new. I had to replace that foglight once before, so I'm sure I can find another one again. What the hell, it's not the only scar that little trucklet has.

He has a bid in to buy back his totaled Honda, he thinks he can replace the front clip on it and put it all back to rights. The insurance company short-changed him on it, it's an SI but they only paid him for a regular Accord. They do that, I know a guy that had a Shelby convertible get run over by a truck (he was OK) and the insurance company would only pay him for a regular GT. Dealing with insurance companies is just like dealing with the mob but at least the mob is more honest about it. I hope he will get that Honda back and fixed soon so I can have my scoobytruck back. I like the Jeep but it isn't as comfortable a ride as the Baja.

He's a bit paranoid now going through that stretch of road, so maybe he can avoid impacting the deer population any more. At least with vehicles.