Vewing tomorrow - cracked shell, should I be worried?

[Chuffmeister]

It could be that it has been from a separate incident and it's been bottomed out on a speed bump or something similar. I should imagine that you would be able to tell by the direction in which the fibres were split (i.e. upwards etc). Otherwise, if you suspect it was from the Cat D shunt, it would suggest that the impact was more serious than is being suggested. Either way, I would strongly recommend that you put it on a ramp and get a specialist or experienced enthusiast to have a closer look and potentially identify areas of further damage, or, whether it is a crack that may continue to travel through the shell.

[mk1fan]

That could be a crack or it could be a fold in the grp during manufacture! You'll have to check in the flesh.

If it is a crack then it's easy enough and cheap to repair GRP. It wouldn't concern me too much and the body isn't structural.

[Danblez]

It doesn't look good to me and the door fit on that side is very poor too.

Anyone near Cheltenham fancy taking a look tomorrow morning with me?

[Chuffmeister]

Is that one of the bolts for the seat; where the crack is coming from?

[Kie s2]

That's Jules old car .... A real nice genuine guy ... Dan , if you look under Chimaera owners in 400 section under Julesprivate you will find every thing you need to know about the car under his ownership in his post ... Even his minor incident with traveling folk ...

[Chuffmeister]

Danblez said:

It doesn't look good to me and the door fit on that side is very poor too.

Anyone near Cheltenham fancy taking a look tomorrow morning with me?

Unless you can get somebody nearby who is experienced to view the car, I would consider giving it a wide birth as there may well be more problems lurking, that you cannot see from the tarmac. Yeah sure, it could be a cheap fix, but more often than not it ends up being a bloody expensive one.

[Danblez]

Thanks Kei, I have had a chat with Jules this morning (very helpful, nice chap) and I have no concerns over the honesty of the vehicle. What I am concerned about is that damage as this happened before Jules owned it and may not have been aware of the extent of the damage himself.

Its a 3 hour journey and so I am just trying to judge if this is concerning enough to walk away from. I have traveled far and wide looking at chims recently and I cant face another 6 hour wasted journey at the moment!

[TimJM]

You could take up the carpet to see if it has gone right through, if it has I would be worried. But it could be a wasted journey and 6 hours is a long time to waste.

[Danblez]

The seller is being very helpful, the crack hasn't gone all the way through although looks like it was caused from the accident. Jules drove the car for nearly 2 years and says it is A1.

I am heading down tomorrow morning (arrival 11ish), if anyone is in the area and would be kind enough to be a 2nd pair of eyes it would be hugely appreciated.

[Julesprivate]

I wish I'd been around to go through everything with you Dan, but I'm sure you're going to love that car every bit as much as I did (do!).

I wouldn't have sold it but felt guilty about the new long commute to work and the fact that I wouldn't have been using it enough to keep the car in the condition it deserved.

If you do need any help or advice, you've got my number just drop me a text and I'll happily call you back. If you're ever in my neck of the woods again feel free to drop in for a cuppa and I will come and drool over the car

J

[portzi]

Danblez said:

The seller is being very helpful, the crack hasn't gone all the way through although looks like it was caused from the accident. Jules drove the car for nearly 2 years and says it is A1.

I am heading down tomorrow morning (arrival 11ish), if anyone is in the area and would be kind enough to be a 2nd pair of eyes it would be hugely appreciated.

You will still need to find each end of the crack and drill each end to stop the crack getting worse. Hopefully the body won't have to be lifted. Good luck.

[Danblez]

Julesprivate said:

I wish I'd been around to go through everything with you Dan, but I'm sure you're going to love that car every bit as much as I did (do!).

I wouldn't have sold it but felt guilty about the new long commute to work and the fact that I wouldn't have been using it enough to keep the car in the condition it deserved.

If you do need any help or advice, you've got my number just drop me a text and I'll happily call you back. If you're ever in my neck of the woods again feel free to drop in for a cuppa and I will come and drool over the car

J

Your help has already been hugely appreciated, not least how to use the alarm properly! I had 250 of the best miles in any car ever at the weekend. It is everything I had hoped for and even the wife has fallen in love with it which is nothing less than a minor miracle!

Thanks again for all the help!

[Danblez]

For anyone interested in the crack, this really didn't worry me when I saw it, it doesn't go very far from what you can see and as far as I can tell was caused by something other than the accident which I was initially worried about.

It looks to me like the car has been jacked up from there or possibly fallen off a jack or maybe grounded on something. Either way it has already been repaired and not something I will be worrying about!

[QBee]

Good man, and welcome to the asylum.

[TA14]

Danblez said:

For anyone interested in the crack, this really didn't worry me when I saw it, it doesn't go very far from what you can see and as far as I can tell was caused by something other than the accident which I was initially worried about.

It looks to me like the car has been jacked up from there or possibly fallen off a jack or maybe grounded on something. Either way it has already been repaired and not something I will be worrying about!

From looking at the pictures that would appear to be a correct analysis. Really the crack should now be ground out from below and re-glassed.

[mk1fan]

Welcome to the fold.

I agree with TA14.

[SILICONEKID345HP]

It must be cheap to buy something like that !