It seems pretty quiet around the shop. Here's something to fill the space. This is actually Part Two of the story about my wife's 1988 Chevy Celebrity. At the end of Part One, she was still driving it, but with both passenger side doors crushed in, but still functional. This was the end of August and Part Two starts the following February.
One day, we were out running errands in the Celebrity. We were on a four lane road in a commercial district, the wife driving, in the right lane, just cruising along at the speed limit. Suddenly, we get T-boned on the right front fender and door by a young girl coming out of a parking lot in the brand new car Mommy & Daddy had just bought her, while talking on her phone. Thankfully, there were no physical injuries to anyone involved. Damage to both cars was substantial.
Once out and looking at the Celebrity, not only had she hit the fender and door, but she had hit the right front wheel, bending that wheel and ripping a 4" hole in the tire's sidewall. We had just put four new tires on the car three days prior. The impact also sheared off the right shaft of the rack & pinion assembly, preventing me from simply putting on the spare tire and driving home. I had a wrecker tow it to my house. The girl was ticketed and I got her insurance info to file a claim.
The adjuster showed up three days later, inspected it, and declared that repairing the damage exceeded the value of the car. He told me the insurance company would call me the next day, which they did. They first offered me $1650 to total it, but I had other plans. We agreed that I would keep it and they would send me $1350. While waiting for their check, I began gathering parts. There was a very similar wrecked Celebrity sitting in a local junkyard. The driver's side was wiped out, but the other side was good. I got the fender and both doors for $250. They were even the same color as mine, only the pinstripe was gold where mine was black. No biggie! They also had a rack & pinion for another $50. Finding the correct wheel was quite difficult, but when I finally did, in another junkyard, it only cost me $25. Replacing the ruined tire cost about $100.
Less than a week after getting the insurance check, she was back driving her Celebrity, damage free, including the damage from when she hit the rock back in August, and I had over $900 in my pocket!
She drove the Celebrity for three more years, but then the transmission began to slip. I sold it for $200, only $50 less than I paid for it four years before.
