LJ78 is no more.

[jeepmadmike]

Pete sorry to hear about the incident, it looks very repairable to me, it's amazing what can be done with bent tin work if the right person does it.... A good body shop would repair it and you would never know it was damaged! But from my experience good body shops are hard to come by

I love the challenge of repairing stuff, I rolled my CJ7 before I rebuilt it and that was a challenge as it was either bend, rusty, been bodged before or all 3

I might be up your way one evening over the next few days (will be assisting with bridgewater carnival floats again) I'll pop in and and have a look see it you want?


Bet you'll want a defender after you've driven one for a week- NOT

 

[wobbly]

Be good to see you if you are up this way.

Let me know and I will pm you my address etc - in Cannington, bout 1.5 miles from Bridgy.

Pete

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

What a shame, that looks like it was a super straight truck till now The park pawl is usually built strong enough to cope with being pushed along like that though so your gearbox should be ok.

 

[Gav Peter]

Hell, thats a tidy looking rig from the vay limited pics - has to be [strike:3a45olst]salvagable[/strike:3a45olst] repaired with a bit of cash from t'other side...

Good luck Pete

 

[hairyguy4]

if you can't repair the back end what about going for a single cab tray back rather than a double cab, i would garuntee the former would look ace

 

[wobbly]

Bodywork was really good before, its why I wouldnt greenlane in it, ironic really.

Mechanically its excellent - it even has a turn of speed since I identified some split hoses on the turbo!

Assessor now coming Monday, if it is repairable, which it looks to be, then I am going to stick to my guns and insist its repaired if I can, I dont know that I could face starting all over again!

Problem is going to be parts and cost, it will def be a new lower rear panel - the one around the wheelarch and back past the filler then round the corner where the light fits into it. Also rear section of wheelarch, long plastic bumper cap, and then chrome bumper, plus a light cluster. With the door, the hinge looks ok, hopefully they can repair (not fill!) the damage to the door and then replace the foglamp.

Problem is though, the line between the rear door and rear end frame is now wider at one top than the bottom, def not like that before, I checked it carefully when I bouight it, and there is a slight ripple in the frame above the door, where the whole rear quarter has moved down a fraction.

If they offer me enought $$$ and I get to keep the car then ok, but will then start looking for a Kzj78, not swapping the suspension, wheels etc onto another 2.4 !

I've seen the trayback single cab conversion on IHMuD, the brown one - absolutely superb, def do that, but its way beyond my ability.

Pete

 

[Birder]

this one?

 

[wobbly]

Yep. Lovely.

Think it had an extended chassis iirc.

Pete

 

[wobbly]

Assessor came round today.

Seemed a reasonable bloke - told me that the truck had obviously been well looked after, and the mod's I had done were good ones regarding value - he is going to call me back with some figures - he doesnt think it is viable to repair it.

Thanks to Scott for the advice he gave me - found an identical mileage/condition car, plus some others - which put the value at £2500 plus some extra for the suspension/tyre setup - he reckons I should buy the truck back and strip it for parts, yeah right, wife will love that!

Just got to wait for a call now.

I hope they dont come back with some pathetic offer!

Cheers

Pete

 

[Gav Peter]

Flingers clossed Pete...

 

[Scott]

Your welcome Pete. Hope it all turns out well.

Don't discount buying back the truck, some times you pay around 10% of the payout to keep the vehicle, so it could be well worth retaining the salvage and stripping your mods off. If it's not a viable option for you to keep the truck to repair, modify or break, some one else on here may be interested in taking on such a good condition truck, or you may be able to strike a deal with one of our resident breakers.

Good luck, I hope they give you a fair payout.

 

[Birder]

As Scott says, you can often buy the wreck back for very little.

It would sell on ebay and you may be surprised what it makes as the damage does not look that bad.

There is little doubt you would make money out of it, in fact you could buy another and swap all the bits over on to your new one before putting it on.

Result.....

 

[Chris]

Now where have I seen that done recently

C

 

[wobbly]

Some progress with the insurance company.

The assessor has been ok about the value of mine - if I take the money and keep the car, make it roadworthy and then sell it I will get pretty much what I have spent on it back.

Or I can make the car roadworthy, keep it and run it this winter (which it is prepped for) and put the money in the bank for the next car.

Latter sound best option to me. Taking their money and not buying the car is a non-sterter as they are working on 15% salvage value ie less than £300.

Overall, I wish I'd parked it on the drive.....

Pete