Sarra
01-11-2007, 02:52 AM
My friend dropped by with his 1995 Legacy LSi wagon yesterday. He pulled his subs from the back, as well as the huge box of crap he keeps back there...
I don't have pics, my camera isn't happy.
Basically, my friend, when driving back home from college in Ohio, hit a patch of ice going about 5 mph and slid down an embankment. Squished the right side of his car. Right RVM, both right doorskins, the roof above the passenger's front door, and the rear right tail are all mashed up.
He got a replacement mirror and taillight assembly. We started with the trim, pulling it out and removing the plastic blank where the stock Sub goes. We got to the light assembly's mounting hardware, and found that we didn't have the tools for the job. My friend tried using a set of pliers to hack away at the 4 bolts holding the darn thing in, while I pulled the front passenger door panel apart to get to the mirror's mounting screws.
Using a good screwdriver, I managed to get one of the screws out of the mirror assembly. Doing so broke the mother****ing screw driver.
Friend got one of the bolts holding the taillight off... I got sick of it, and went and borrowed lights and a deep socket from my neighbor.
30 seconds, and I got the remaining three bolts off the tail light assembly. My friend started hacking at the remains of the light, since the epoxy was very solidly adhering to his paint. He used a hair drier to get the stuff off...
Finally, after almots an hour of fighting, we got another of the screws out of the mirror. We broke or destroyed 4 screwdriver bits in the process. The last screw stripped completely clean. I drilled it out, and we put the new mirror on.
My friend got the new tail light assembly in, and we bolted it down.
So, we managed to get the tail light and mirror replaced. It sounded easy, but it took amost 3 hours to get everything finished. :(
Right after we finished, I noticed an odd SUV driving back and forth through the area... They were apparently trying to steal my car! WTF?! They ended up chasing me and my friend for about 70 miles, before I got tired of them and went down a logging road.
I'm positive that we can fix my friends LSi, except the roof. There's a NASTY crinkle in it, it's too bad the roof isn't a seperate skin. :( May end up having to remove a section and putting new metal in there, it's pretty bad.
Also, while speaking of car, ice, and messed up sides... I picked up another friend tonight, and as we were driving home, a truck ahead of us hit a patch of ice, spun, and ended up on it's left side in the ditch. I jumped out to help with my friend, and two of my neighbors stopped by and helped. The driver was okay. My friend used my flashlight to warn traffic to SLOW THE HELL DOWN, and another truck pulled over and helped. We pulled the Ford Ranger back onto it's wheels (it had been completely on it's side), and either the battery is messed up, or he got oil into the cylinders, because it wouldn't fire up again. :( He was okay, and my neighbor gave him a lift home.
All in all, it's been a very interesting few days. We were supposed to get some snow today, but it was pathetic (didn't stick, made the roads wet, then it got COLD, hence the poor truck spun).
I ALWAYS carry a flashlight on my person now. After helping 2 people who went off the road, I got a little maglight and keep it in my pocket or hanging off my phone. :)
I don't have pics, my camera isn't happy.
Basically, my friend, when driving back home from college in Ohio, hit a patch of ice going about 5 mph and slid down an embankment. Squished the right side of his car. Right RVM, both right doorskins, the roof above the passenger's front door, and the rear right tail are all mashed up.
He got a replacement mirror and taillight assembly. We started with the trim, pulling it out and removing the plastic blank where the stock Sub goes. We got to the light assembly's mounting hardware, and found that we didn't have the tools for the job. My friend tried using a set of pliers to hack away at the 4 bolts holding the darn thing in, while I pulled the front passenger door panel apart to get to the mirror's mounting screws.
Using a good screwdriver, I managed to get one of the screws out of the mirror assembly. Doing so broke the mother****ing screw driver.
Friend got one of the bolts holding the taillight off... I got sick of it, and went and borrowed lights and a deep socket from my neighbor.
30 seconds, and I got the remaining three bolts off the tail light assembly. My friend started hacking at the remains of the light, since the epoxy was very solidly adhering to his paint. He used a hair drier to get the stuff off...
Finally, after almots an hour of fighting, we got another of the screws out of the mirror. We broke or destroyed 4 screwdriver bits in the process. The last screw stripped completely clean. I drilled it out, and we put the new mirror on.
My friend got the new tail light assembly in, and we bolted it down.
So, we managed to get the tail light and mirror replaced. It sounded easy, but it took amost 3 hours to get everything finished. :(
Right after we finished, I noticed an odd SUV driving back and forth through the area... They were apparently trying to steal my car! WTF?! They ended up chasing me and my friend for about 70 miles, before I got tired of them and went down a logging road.
I'm positive that we can fix my friends LSi, except the roof. There's a NASTY crinkle in it, it's too bad the roof isn't a seperate skin. :( May end up having to remove a section and putting new metal in there, it's pretty bad.
Also, while speaking of car, ice, and messed up sides... I picked up another friend tonight, and as we were driving home, a truck ahead of us hit a patch of ice, spun, and ended up on it's left side in the ditch. I jumped out to help with my friend, and two of my neighbors stopped by and helped. The driver was okay. My friend used my flashlight to warn traffic to SLOW THE HELL DOWN, and another truck pulled over and helped. We pulled the Ford Ranger back onto it's wheels (it had been completely on it's side), and either the battery is messed up, or he got oil into the cylinders, because it wouldn't fire up again. :( He was okay, and my neighbor gave him a lift home.
All in all, it's been a very interesting few days. We were supposed to get some snow today, but it was pathetic (didn't stick, made the roads wet, then it got COLD, hence the poor truck spun).
I ALWAYS carry a flashlight on my person now. After helping 2 people who went off the road, I got a little maglight and keep it in my pocket or hanging off my phone. :)