1980 Austin Princess - 18/09 - Welding progress

Well, providing the news from the assessor isn't horrible, I could end up with an even better Princess out of all this, which would be spiffing. I'm trying not to be too excited, but it's difficult not to, really.

Yes, yes and three times YES...!!! This is brilliant news...

I am looking forward to seeing some snaps of the donor motor, I'm sure it'll probably look a ton better than it really is?!

It is always a shame to break a rare motor but when it's too far gone, and when it's going to save another, it's just a no-brainer really...!!!

Every cloud and all that...

djefk: Most definitely it is another bit of serendipity, I think I chose the right name for this car. The engine in the donor is better, the gearbox massively so, I'll be saving those items and probably using them in mine but a part of me wants to keep the 1700 because it's so much rarer than the 2.2 and still a competent old lump. The interior in the donor is actually, bar a bit of fuzz and cobwebs, cleaner than the interior was in mine and it's been sat for 6 years at that!

grifterkid: I'll get some pics up once I've renewed my Photobucket account, can't afford to do that just yet as I'm waiting on wages again. I didn't take any flattering shots of the donor, it really is quite crusty, I can push my finger through the floor with no effort, likewise parts of the roof.

@keiram: Begon, foul tempter!

___

Now that I know what's going on, it's time for another update on where we are with Serendipity. Today, I got word that I restart at my old job on Tuesday, mainly because of Skattrd's kind loan of his Maestro to get me there and back reliably for the morning shift (6am-3pm, no public transport option), this means some money gets freed up sooner than would have otherwise happened and the hours are kinder to dismantling and rebuilding cars than a 9-5 would be.

First thing I need to do is pull in all the help that's been offered and make a start organising costs so I can provide a quote to the insurance company. I want to provide them with a quote that will realistically cover the works needed, but won't be 'uneconomical' and write the car off.

Second thing is to pass on the info I've received after this accident, I'm sure it will be of use to those of you who might end up in a similar situation.

Assessor: Car has a bent chassis leg and inner wing, but the main body of the car is fine. Needs bodypanels and paint, and someone to straighten her nose again. They can't find any supplier for parts so have quoted repairs based on a similar sized car and submitted this to the insurer.

Insurer: Haven't yet received the report, however they are interested in offering me a cash in lieu settlement since I can provide parts and labour at a much reduced rate. They're waiting on a report from their engineer so they are assured the car isn't fubarred and will call me in a couple of days. They want a quote from me (at least £350 for the donor car, then other expenses such as straightening and paint) for the repair and will then issue a pay out. As I understand it, because this will then be an economical repair the car isn't written off as a category anything, which is even more bonuserific.

Me: A very happy chappy. I have access to parts, an excellent community that has come out in force to see this car live on and the motivation to get it done. Yes, I shall be trying to get the money for the purple paint in with this even though the replacement panels I've sourced are Champagne beige, they'll need repainting anyway as the paint is a bit dead on them.

What happens next? Well, I work and save as much as possible to make the best job I can of all this. It's likely I'm putting the 2.2 HLS engine and manual box in my 1700 because it's a better engine in the donor. I may keep and rebuild the 1700 lump I've got as there aren't so many of them out there now, I've not decided. When I get Serendipity back I shan't be doing much of anything until the donor arrives as I only have the one covered area to work in which the donor needs to use when I strip it down.

It's all going to be a bit crazy because I'm going to have to focus pretty much all of my spare time making one car out of two as quickly as possible due to a lack of storage space for everything. My housemate is tolerant of my house-car idiosyncracies, but I'm sure even he has his limits. I will, obviously, keep you all posted. I can't get in touch with the owner of the donor until I have a date I can pay him and that is reliant on when my wages hit my bank account/the insurance company pays out.

I'm really quite excited, I just hope the last mini hurdle of the engineer's report to the insurer doesn't trip it all up.

Best of luck my friend, you deserve it!

Good luck with the Princess Volks', we're all rooting for you and the glorious old motor... Long may it live to fight another day

^ that made me LOL!

^ litterally about to put the same link up but theyres a few more on the bay;)

Little update on the car.

Car is with the engineers at the moment, I've been given a timescale of 24-48 hours for their report on what's what with her. Cash-in-lieu is still looking good, though there's some confusion over how I get the car back, so I may incur some costs transporting her home again, we shall see on that one. Providing the damage is what the assessors said it was, all should be rosy. There is still the possibility that the car may be a Cat C or D even with a cash-in-lieu payment, according to the chap I spoke to, but while he wouldn't give me a figure for the repairs or how much they were willing to pay, my estimate of £500 (bare minimum donor car and some labour) -1000 (all the whistles and bells) was less than they were expecting me to ask for, so we shall see, I can adjust the figure accordingly to fit in with whatever they have planned. I would have liked to have been given a monetary figure to work with, but I suspect it would have been easier to get blood out of a stone.

So, the long and short of it is that I should have finalised answers by the end of this week and then know what I'm left with, how much cash they're giving me and when I can have her back. I really, really hope it is just her nose out of joint like the assessor said and not anything more serious than that as I'd quite like her to live on again. In the meantime, I'm on the hunt for a 1.3 manual Maestro as it'll cost about the same to insure as the Polo, possibly less with a different insurer. Oh, and I'm told this accident doesn't affect my NCB because I didn't make the claim with Admiral who hold my NCB but with Performance Direct/Haven who insure the Princess, so that was a happy little thing.

Going to have to sit on my hands for a bit longer I guess. How frustrating!

XD Superb.