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MG Accident Repair

Hello,

My partner misjudged a bend in our '72 MGB GT on Saturday and, to cut a long story short, we ended up on our side (nearside) in a ditch. Both of us were fine, and the car has sustained surprisingly little damage.

The left front wing and left door have both dented, but no paint breakage. The windscreen is broken on the left side, and there is kinking in the roof - it looks like the A-pillar has been pushed back a smidgen. There is almost no scratching or scraping, most likely due to the squelchy muddy nature of the ditch - I'm still fishing handfuls goopy mud from the bodywork :-).

For a better idea of the damage, see the photos:

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Sensitive readers will be pleased to know that she (the car!) has been given a wash, wax & hoover since then, and looks almost better than she ever has, apart from the obvious...

So, I now have a few questions. I am insured with Lancaster/Groupama under the MGOC scheme. How likely are they to be amenable to repairs (if possible) being undertaken at a repairer of my choice, rather than one of their 'approved repairers'?

If I am allowed to choose the repairer, given it's a classic MG, am I likely to be better off taking it to my friendly-but-standard garage (who happen to have an accident repair business), Drewett's in Headington, or to somewhere less geared to accident repair but more geared to MGs - e.g. Manor Farm Garage near Wantage, or Oselli in Witney?

Should the shell be deemed unrepairable, I am considering a rebuild around a Heritage shell. I see these cost GBP 4060 - how much are labour for transfer of the bits from my car, painting, etc, likely to set me back?

Finally, the poor car was unceremoniously dragged out of the ditch backwards by the rear axle (nngh). I can't see any signs of resulting damage, though I will probably get the alignment checked. Was this the most sensible purchase point for the winching, or could I have recommended something better?

TIA, Arthur

Reply to
Arthur Bullard
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damage.

Hmmm...... I'm not so sure - Sorry :~(

What are the door gaps like, is there any obvious difference between what they were before or LH to RH ? I also want to know what the tear in the headlining is, was that there before the accident, if not do you know what caused it ?

The trouble is, judging by the photo's it has come into hard contact with something...

Ouch !

It's *your* car, you can have your property repaired were ever you like, they may play silly buggers and delay sorting out the claim but you just need to be firm with them [1]. I suspect you are looking at a substantial repair here (roof screen pillar areas are always a bastard area). I will stress that this is based solely on your photo's, the car needs to be inspected in person by someone who knows what they are looking at.

[1] even if it means accepting a cash payment (write off) whilst keeping salvage, and then you having the car repaired.

No, you NEED a car-body shop that is well used to re-aligning panels and not just fitting new (as many body-shops do now), so you have the damaged planished out and not just bodged.

You'll be talking about a good two weeks work to spray the new shell [1], strip and fit-up the new shell - there might be other (mechanical) work that needs to be done so that the car can be put back together, I would cost in a new complete clutch anyway unless it's all but brand new.

[1] it will also take a lot more paint than you think to paint correctly which needs costing in.

resulting

Given the options, it was probably one of the best places to use, if the body has been damaged by such a recovery then it's time for a major rebuild anyway (IYSWIM), I doubt that the axle would have bent unless the recovery person want very careless.

I really have reservation about just how much damage has been done, my bones are telling me that the pictures are not telling me all I would need to know before estimating for this sort of damage.

Reply to
:::Jerry::::

Phone them and tell them that you would prefer the repairs to be done at your chosen specialist, given that the car is a classic, etc and would not really be suited to repair at a modern bodyshop. Get a quote for repair from them too, and send it to your insurer. I did this after a recent accident in my 1966 Beetle, and they did not even argue against me about that after they had inspected the car.

Reply to
Howard Rose

I do recall having a claim on a new Citroen AX. We insisted it be done at the Citroen garage as the car was under warranty; the insurers wanted us to use their approved repairer. The irony was that the two were different garages of the same company on opposite sides of town! but by the time they'd agreed the warranty had expired anyway!

Reply to
Chris Bolus

Lancaster/Groupama

repairs

As I said in my reply, the most important thing is not were or what age of vehicle the 'shop is used to working on but the fact that they are used to the damage that has been done - many a classic car workshop could bodge this sort of repair just as well as any slap-happy 'late vehicles only' workshop if they don't know what they are doing.

Reply to
:::Jerry::::

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