I just bought a 66 F100 from Minnesota. Had it shipped to Clearwater. The driver crashed the F100 while it was on his rig. It started and drove into my garage, but it's so bad that the fan blade has cut through the radiator hose. Therefore, it is not going anywhere on it's own.

Before I decide how to deal with this claim, can anyone take a guess as to how bad the damage is from these pictures? The whole right front corner is pushed down a good foot. Is there a way to determine if the frame is bent?

Update:

I just got underneath it and took the last two pictures. Very much rust! (Not shocked.) Is that a motor mount in the driver's side picture? If you look close, you can see that the damaged side just has a big rusted notch where that mount should be. I guess the downward force of the crash just knocked it out.

I'm thinking the frame is not bent. The bumper is attached to the frame, right? It is still parallel to the ground. The radiator just pushed past the frame.



Driver's side:

Damaged side:

 

I would start by having it done by a professional shop, pulling the front clip and taking measurments of the frame. What kindo of insurance protection does he have?

 

I'm torn about whether to go after the insurance. The driver called me from the PO's house when he did it. He told me it would come out of his pocket. He seemed pretty upset. When he got the truck to Clearwater, is was dark. No street lights. It looked like only the fender was damaged in the dark. Again, the driver was upset about how it was going to come out of his pocket. We agreed that I would not pay him his $700 delivery fee and call it even. There was some damage to that fender before the crash. I'm not sure how much of the extra damage is due to the fact that truck is so rusted, it can't take a punch! I didn't realize how much damage there was until I saw it the daylight. I'm not wealthy by any means, but I'm better off financially that poor driver ...

 

I don't think $700 is going to be enough to fix that.

 

This is far worse than you are thinking. <br/>
I doubt the frame is bothered. <br/>
But you will have the following to replace:<br/>
Both outer fenders - if the driver's side is as rusted as the passenger, then it is bent. <br/>
Passenger inner fender<br/>
Core support - and you will have to have it modified for the '65 inner fenders. <br/>
Hood, and hood hinges - at least one, probably both<br/>
Grill<br/>
Upper valence<br/>
Lower valence<br/>
Bumper - and no, the repops are only look-alikes, they are not the same. Thinner material, and are not shaped like the originals.<br/>
Passenger door, as it looks like the fender struck it<br/>
Radiator, as you have already noted<br/>
And, since it is salt rusted, you will end up replacing many other parts as well as all the nuts and bolts. <br/>
Oh yes, don't forget the hidden "nuts" behind the cowl that hold the hinges on, they will probably snap, and the work required to fix that is not easy or fast. <br/>
And the hidden rust in the cab will impact the job as well, as you start to tear into it. <br/>
Don't forget the other parts that will need to be replaced that you aren't even aware of yet. One example is the rubber gaskets around the door (possibly both doors) and the weather stripping inside them. Things like this add up very very fast. <br/>
I would estimate this job, including labor and paint to be about $12,000 - $13,500.<br/>
It will cost you about $4000 in parts and shipping alone. <br/>
Just been through this and my truck was rust free except for the core support. <br/>
Sorry to hear about this, but I hope for your sake I am way wrong.<br/>
Either way, that is most kind of you to think about the driver as he is probably right on the edge, with the cost of diesel and all. He probably will lose his business with a hike in insurance costs.

 

I think you are very close

 

YUP,,,pretty doggone close,,,, $700,,, maybe a drop in the bucket,,,

 

I would tear off the front clip determine what it's gonna need measure the frame rails and cab then call someone who has the parts like riff rust free southern Nevada parts click here for info tell him Jason sent u http://classicfordtrucks.shutterfly.com/

 

Call my glass half empty, but this does not look like the kind of damage that's done during a crash that occurred "while it was on his rig". Are you sure you are getting the whole story?

 

What about getting back what you paid for it and go find another truck with less rust?

 

This is the route I would follow. Riff is a great guy and very very reasonable on his prices. I would plan on a front clip but take a real inventory of what you need. I would guess the $700 will either cover it or be close but that is up to Riff. No clue on shipping.

 

 

I agree with Confederate Diesel (I do estimating for a living) up to the point of the cost. I think he's pretty high on that. Granted, there are variables with the cost of parts and shipping but the door should be repairable and I'm not seeing a damaged hood in the shots posted. The core support was already junk, so you can't really count that, and the bumper appears to have been bent before judging by the rust stains. I think that's fixable for closer to half of CD's estimate. I'd have the frame checked, because they aren't exactly strong, but I doubt you'll find much wrong that can't be fixed with a quick tug.

 

I finally got the time to remove enough parts to see enough to figure out what is bad. This truck's body is like Jeckyll and Hyde. All of the outer body are in good to very good shape for the year. The undercarriage is rusted beyond belief. I saw so many pictures of the outer body parts that are good that I figured it couldn't be too bad underneath.

The radiator is fine.

The front bumper is fine. Most of its chrome is still intact. No bends. The driver fender only has a small bit of rust on the top where it bolts onto the "inner fender". (Not sure what that piece is called.) The "inner fenders" on both sides are pretty solid. The passenger fender had no rust through.

Hood is fine with the exception of a small rust through just above the radiator. Doors are solid. Right down to the bottom.

HOWEVER ... the floor pans, the brace that goes under the cab, the sheet metal in the picture below (behind the glove box), etc. - all shot.

While it's bad, I don't think it's as bad as CD says.

As to SmithRiver's comment, I do believe that it happened on the rig. It looks like the fender hit a post and simply pushed everything down. The entire front corner pushed down because it was so rusted.

The majority of the damage is simply rusted parts collapsing. Had someone stood on the fender, it would have happened anyway.

Here is one picture of a mount behind the glove box. You can see that body just collapsed down over the mount. The same thing happened by the mount by the radiator.



I am definitely keeping the truck. The outer body is fine. The interior is great for the age. I love the color and that dashboard. The original radio is cool - at it works. It runs good. Has an automatic that shifts OK. There are many reasons to stick with it. (There are many reasons to drive it off a cliff, too!)

Questions:

I have all but one or two bolts out of the passenger fender. It is still connected by the door. Where are the bolts that I can't see behind the door area?

What do call the "inner fenders"?

What do you call the piece that goes across the front that the grill mounts to and the radiator attaches to?

What do you call the body part that collapsed in the picture above?

Can you get replacements for these and other sheet metal?

More pictures here:
Blue1966F100 pictures by clinkfield - Photobucket

Thanks everyone!

 

let's see inner fenders are just that inner fenders the peice in the front everything bolts to is radiator support the piece that collapsed in a cab mount support I know you can by the mount support new you can get new fenders I'm not sure about the radiator support the link I gave you above he will have great rust free factory sheet metal at reasonable prices make a list give him a call the worst that happen is more phone calls