Build thread for my accident repair.

[kilr4d]

Back in 2010 I bought this 2009 VOI-X from an insurance auction:

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It was a very light hit, no frame work needed, inner fenders intact, etc. Learned A LOT about Vipers (and insurance estimates ) rebuilding that car. Also learned a lot about how hard it is to match silver paint. Took about 4 trips to the spray both to get that car right. Anyway, ended up looking like this:

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Drove it for a bit, got bored and sold it. New owner put less than 2 (not 2000, not 200...just 2) miles on it before wrapping it around a pole. Le sigh.

A C6 Z06 and C6 ZR1 followed but I always missed that car.

Fast forward to this spring. Got the Viper itch again and I've always wanted a white ACR. Lo and behold this one popped up at auction:

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Car definitely took a shot, but it's a 2010, ACR, white and most importantly a clear title so I figured it was worth a gamble.

Got it home and it was roughly what I expected...

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I guessed (and was correct) that buying every single part individually wouldn't work, so I stuck it out until a could find a donor car. Ended up getting this 2008 with 7k miles.

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That's worked out well and it means I won't have to attempt to repair anything. EVERYTHING forward of the firewall that's not ACR specific will be replaced with the parts from the donor. That will leave me with a low miles GenIV driveline and a TON of other parts to sell to help recoup some of my costs.

First step, teardown:

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Second step, off to the chassis shop:

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Next it goes onto the the frame machine to be pulled back to factory specs. Then the donor car will be dismantled and we'll cut the frame about halfway down the tramission tunnel. Ditto for the ACR, sleeve it and weld the new frame in and then back onto the frame machine to ensure the measurements are factory spec.

FYI...I was concerned about the straightness of the KW's on the ACR so yesterday I sent them to the factory in California for rebuild. I think that $200 each is very fair considering the replacement cost.

Big thanks to Mark @ Woodhouse, Jon @ Parts Rack and Dan @ Viper Specialty...couldn't do it without you guys!

I'll post updates to this thread as work proceeds for those that are interested.

 

[kilr4d]

I just finish typing this thread and the UPS guys shows up with my used wheel from Jon at Parts Rack...better condition than he described, lower shipping cost than he quoted and he put a new TPMS in the box without charging me.

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[Timnineside]

Very cool to see someone fixing these cars up and putting them back on the road. Too bad about the Silver VOI car that's one of my favorites.

Good luck on the build and keep posted.

 

[viper vince]

I almost bought a 2009 VOI car but got a good deal on a 2010 ACR Voodoo. You have done an awesome job on your projects !!

 

[kilr4d]

Here we are with the medieval torture rack part of the build....pull, pull, pull.

So...the idea here is straighten the car so that anything that's currently under stress (floor pan, firewall, A and B pillars, roof, etc.) will no longer be under stress. To accomplish that we pull the damaged frame straight before we cut it out. This stops anything from "springing back" into shape and will greatly assist in fitment when putting the car back together.

Anchored rear:

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Anchored sides:

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Small front pull:

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Now we tear down the suspension, floor pan comes out and we continue to pull:

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One of the surprises I got with this car was the timing cover...something in the front (steering rack?) got pushed back and damaged the lower rad hose outlet:

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Crank is straight:

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A big box of parts arrived yesterday from Dan at VSP...timing cover, gaskets, pulley, etc.

I've still got to get a new balancer and crank pulley:

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Tomorrow we start the teardown of the donor car.

 

[past ohio]

Curious, when you rebuilt these wrecks, did you have salvage titles ?? What value does the salvage title do to the car ?? 20 or 40 % ?? Aren't they hard to insure as well ?? thanks

 

[speedracervr4]

Nice thread, thanks for posting.

 

[mbccenter]

Wow I must say I have never seen a frame setup like that. The biggest mistake I see people make is not doing a proper frame repair with these cars,

 

[kilr4d]

Nice thread, thanks for posting.

Stay tuned...the 2008 is coming apart today.

Curious, when you rebuilt these wrecks, did you have salvage titles ?? What value does the salvage title do to the car ?? 20 or 40 % ?? Aren't they hard to insure as well ?? thanks

So, the lesson here is that Carfax is complete bullsh1t and insurance companies are not much better. The VOI car was a salvage title and the ACR is a clear title. That VOI car should NEVER have been salvaged and you could make a case that the ACR car could easily have been salvaged. I can't imagine the cost of repair at insurance prices.

Yes, salvage title diminishes the value a lot...but there's a limit. Insuring one depends on the individual insurance company.

Wow I must say I have never seen a frame setup like that. The biggest mistake I see people make is not doing a proper frame repair with these cars,

Haha. We're doing it old school....measure/pull, measure/pull, measure/pull, etc.

That was just a couple of random pics throughout the day. It took the better part of 8 hours pulling from various heights/directions with the damaged frame still in the car. We're going waaayyyy beyond quick & dirty with this car. Like I said earlier...the straighter the car is prior to frame replacement the better the finished product will be. This really isn't about saving money...it's about saving a clean title Gen IV ACR.

 

[malcoll]

I certainly hope you will tell (and show) anyone who buys it from you what you had to do to get it fixed... It may be a "clean title"...but it sure shouldn't be.

I spent 25 years in insurance claims and there's a reason there are salvage title laws in most states.

 

[spartan]

what does an average "fixed" salvaged title go for? gen 3 and 4... believe i was seeing them around 30ish for a 3, and 40-45 for a gen 4. is that accurate?

 

[mbccenter]

what does an average "fixed" salvaged title go for? gen 3 and 4... believe i was seeing them around 30ish for a 3, and 40-45 for a gen 4. is that accurate?

Depends on the quality of repair. For a perfect car will take a 20% hit on the sales price. There are plenty of people out there that think it takes a 75% hit but they don't have a clue what they are talking about. I have sold many salvage title Viper with very happy customers who love there cars.

 

[Mopar-man]

Buyer beware with a salvage title, because you never know how bad it was untill it's too late

 

[spartan]

^ i only ask because the car i put a down payment on turned out to be a salvaged car when i had a carfax ran. I know carfax is innacurate at times, but the buyer disclosed it was in a small fender bender and showed me the picture and picture of repair. i retracted my downpayment afterwards. was asking 3,500 on an 04, 14k miles, bellenger headers and exhaust. after i found that out i offered him 29k, still in the works. it is to my understanding you cannot get a loan on a salvage titled car. mbccenter, correct me if im wrong please.

 

[mbccenter]

You can get a loan on a salvage title but not all the banks will do it. Smaller banks and credit unions are your best bet. The large guys will not do it.

 

[Nine Ball]

Very cool build thread. As for salvage title cars, I never understand why the owners don't ever seem to have any photos of the damage or the repair work. If I were rebuilding a salvage car, I'd document everything - just like I do when I restore a classic car. Hell, I even take photos of rock chips or scuffs on my cars that I sell.

 

[Fatboy 18]

Love seeing work like this, good to see the job being done correctly, I was a victim of buying a repaired wrecked Viper in the UK, I was told the car was all original then found out (through Carfax) the car had a salvage title against it AND a Cert of Destruction! Dealer denied all knowledge, it took a while but I got all my monies back.

As Malcoll said, I hope if you come to sell it on you show the full pictorial history

Thanks for posting

 

[slysnake]

It would be cool to have the skills to do a job like this. Wish I did. lol

 

[kilr4d]

I certainly hope you will tell (and show) anyone who buys it from you what you had to do to get it fixed... It may be a "clean title"...but it sure shouldn't be.

As was shown by my VOI car, the accident appraisal of each car has to be done on a case by case basis and it's can't be done without "before" pics of the car. I certainly don't agree that my car shouldn't be a clean title...it will be better than new when I'm finished with it. Also, let's be honest here....it's outrageous parts pricing that's causes so many Vipers to be salvaged, not the impact itself.

Regardless...the pictures are here and I'll show to any any prospective buyer if/when I decide to sell this car. They can draw their own conclusions.

 

[kilr4d]

Popped into the shop to check things out...and was greeted with a nice panorama:

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My car keeps getting smaller and smaller. Lol.

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Convertible is pretty well stripped down...got a nice little surprise, it's got a Borla cat-back. that survived the impact with the exception of the tip. We'll fab a new one up and put the Borla's on the ACR.

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[kilr4d]

Been a busy week and unfortunately I was too busy to hang around the shop.

Anyway, new frame is on; driveline is in; everything is connected and we have the car rolling on the non-ACR wheels while the correct ones are being refinished.

Super happy with the way the frame work came out...this car will barely need an alignment.

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Car will get oil/fuel/fluids tomorrow and get fired up.

Waiting for my coilovers to come back from KW, one last big box from Mark Jorgensen and then the car is off for paint.

 

[kilr4d]

Getting really close...had to wait for a few small pieces (heat shield, etc.) to come out of the states, but everything is here now. Also had ending having to wait three weeks for a front tire from Michelin.

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Anyway, will look like a car by the end of the day; paint within the next couple of days...then I'll drive it around the block a couple of times and put it away for the winter.

Definitely worked out well though...car is REALLY straight.

 

[cfiiman]

Wow, this is too cool, is this what you do for a living? I would love to do this type of thing!

 

[kilr4d]

Wow, this is too cool, is this what you do for a living? I would love to do this type of thing!

No...I do heavy trucks and equipment. This is just for fun.

 

[slysnake]

Want to sell it?

 

[BadMerc]

That's some serious ingenuity and meticulous workmanship. If I had the resources to do this I'd snap up a wreck or salvage car in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, I know almost nothing about the Viper platform. After the new year I will be searching for my first one. I will spend the extra money to make sure I get an unmolested convertible. Then I will proceed with modifying a blank canvas.

 

[arizonajack]

Very cool build thread. As for salvage title cars, I never understand why the owners don't ever seem to have any photos of the damage or the repair work.

Because they don't want you to know what really happened.

I can't tell you how many ads I see for cars with salvage or rebuilt titles where the ad describes the damage as minor and then the seller can't or won't provide documentation. I spent 35 years in the insurance business. A salvage or rebuilt is highly unlikely for minor damage.

 

[kilr4d]

Finally done except for one reverse light and a little bit of stereo wiring...just in time to put away for the rest of the winter. Really happy with the finished product, can't wait for spring.

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[viper k]

looks amazing very nice work !!

 

[blackvenom08]

this is super cool, wish you had more pics of the frame work!!