I wrecked my car

I went through the SCCA school this weekend. Good news is that I had the fastest times in both dry and wet weather. Thanks to a great car. The bad news is what happened on the last race session. I was pushing the car into the final turn before the straight, in order to get the momentum I needed to pass the car in front of me who had been holding me up. That would have put me into 2nd spot, ready to take the 1st car. (the school started me in 4th position even though I had the fastest times in the morning, just to make the driving more interesting) It was the hardest rain of the day; the car in front of me wiggled, unfortunately I did my thing to the right, the next car (RX3) went left, the driver who did the recording did his dance as well. I ended up the worst. http://www.vimeo.com/3454006 It was strange, how quickly my trajectory changed, it's not really apparent in the video, but I am thinking that I caught traction momentarily which shot me off to the right-after that my steering input had no affect. No "both feet in" could help me here.

Sucks!!!!

http://i463.photobucket.com/albums/qq359/wessbecher/aad5223c.jpg?t=1236118279

http://i463.photobucket.com/albums/qq359/wessbecher/58d11888.jpg?t=1236119211

This is what a 75MPH impact into a tirewall will do. The crushbox did it's job.

Unfortunately I couldn't get my Traqmate to turn on before that particular session. It would have been good to get data. Especially the G-force on impact. I'm going out and buying a HANS device. As I was heading for the tires, the thought if a neck snapper came to mind.

Anybody have suggestions on where to get almost all the right side suspension, shock, radiator and steering parts (including the rack). New crush box, body parts etc have to come from Panoz directly. Bummer that at least one of the frame members got bent as well.

It took 2 tow trucks lifting the car from front and rear straps to get on my trailer. I backed the trailer in under the dangling car.

Off I go, to disassemble to see how bad it really is!!!

Man, that sucks. At least the car did it's job and took the impact.

Wess

Sorry to here the bad news. My first thought when I saw the pic was I hope he had a Hans. I guess you will have one for your next event. As for the parts call Gary Jones he may have some as well.

David

Sorry to hear about the accident, the car did indeed look like it done it's job. Panoz in Braselton, GA has all the parts. If you can not get the # from information I will be glad to go by there and get a number for you. I was there yesterday and the parts guy is very nice and I sure he will be very helpful. Good luck.

Sorry Wess, I feel your pain. I was there not to long ago.

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=73663&stc=1&d=1235920848


But I've got it back now and she looks great. Glad to hear the safety equipment worked as advertised.

Panoz - Brandon or Josh - 770-867-4796 - BUY EVERYTHING FROM THEM.....I have been here several times and getting everything from one place at GREAT prices and knowing they all will be correct is worth it. Rarely do I find it cheaper and if so its by very little so why bother... I have almost stopped checking their prices.

Squerly....from the pics it doesnt look like you needed the car clipped and redone? I have had to do that as well! Mine looked worse because it was a side impact which bent the whole frame....(i have a pic but I still havent setup an account to post on here).

Uwe, sorry to hear of your accident and trust it doesnt put you off. Hard to see the up side when things like that happen but I know you will get the car back on the track as a better package than it was before.

Squerly....from the pics it doesnt look like you needed the car clipped and redone? I don't know what all they did Brian. I have a 5 page itemized bill of everything around here somewhere, but I think my loosing it is a subconscious effort to forget the whole unhappy event. :)

Ouch ... Had a simular experiance last summer ; got caught in a rain shower w/ slicks ... Went around 6 + times & tagged the wall 3 times ; lost it at 100 mph ... Josh at Panoz was great council , walked through parts list w/ me & 10 days later UPS dropped off ever thing ... About $ 3200.00 total ; A true testimate of these cars to be fixed qiuck & relative easely ... Glad it was'nt w/ my Cobra ; I think it woud have been totaled ... Paul W.

Hi Wess..sorry about the accident. At least it wasn't your Porsche...

We have most of the parts including..
front crush box assembly, radiator & shroud, a arms, possibly a steering rack and more.

Drop us a line or give us a call if we can help.

Best wishes,
James Redman
wirewheel.com
772-299-9788

man, how did i miss this post????

Uwe, a small consolation, but when you get it all reassembled let me know what decals were mangled and I'll send them free of charge, just cover shipping. Consider it your first sponsorship! lol maybe throw on one of my vinyl biz decals in exchange!

Really sorry to see about it!

Well that sucks... but at least it was in a car like this that is simple to fix. If I did that in my Corvette it'd be major carnage to have it all fixed.

Does anyone know how to post an excel spreadsheet on this forum? Copy/paste doesn't work. Photobucket won't let me copy anything but photo or video files. I haven't been able to convert the excel into a jpeg. I'd like to share various parts costs from Panoz for your reference. (hopefully you'll never need these parts)

Thanks for the sympathies guys. Yes that's why my turbo Porsche doesn't see the track. It would undoubtedly have been $40+K to fix. My total in parts will be around $6K; plus whatever the frame work will be, plus realignment plus corner weighting. Still a lot for a split second error.
My labor is free as I work for track time.:nutkick:

Squerly, sorry to see you had a similar situation.
panozracing, just open a free photobucket account then copy and paste your photos in.

Does anyone know how to post an excel spreadsheet on this forum? Copy/paste doesn't work. Photobucket won't let me copy anything but photo or video files. I haven't been able to convert the excel into a jpeg. I'd like to share various parts costs from Panoz for your reference. (hopefully you'll never need these parts)

Thanks for the sympathies guys. Yes that's why my turbo Porsche doesn't see the track. It would undoubtedly have been $40+K to fix. My total in parts will be around $6K; plus whatever the frame work will be, plus realignment plus corner weighting. Still a lot for a split second error.
My labor is free as I work for track time.:nutkick:

Squerly, sorry to see you had a similar situation.
panozracing, just open a free photobucket account then copy and paste your photos in.

if you want to email it to me i can host it on my web servers

http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/tt222/panozracing/PBOCWinterfestSebringJan20-232004DL.jpg

This is what happens when you spin in turn 17 at sebring and the engine wont fire. The rest of the field has a good chance of hitting you. I got CREAMED by a miata that never saw the waving yellow. He barely hit his brakes. Drove right into the drivers side front wheel. OUCH. The worst part about this was I bought the car about 1 event prior to this....I think it was about 6k including shipping back from PAD.

I got CREAMED by a miata... You gotta watch those little buggers. They'll lay in wait and when you least expect it....

As a new owner and expecting an acident sooner or later, it at least sounds like our cars are as safe as everyone says. Does everyone wear a Hans or some other device? Hey Squerly, where in Pensocola? I have 2 condo's at Eden, Perdido Key.

Hans .... All the way !!! :grinyes:
Walked from my crash w/ zero neck strain ...
www.Saferacer.com (http://www.Saferacer.com) has a sportsman model now that will save you a good$ 100 . 00 +... They come in a 20 / 30 / 40 series for the angle of your seat ; we have up-right seat & require the 20 series ... Fit is by neck size ; medium / 15" to 17.5"...
Paul W.

HANS absolutely!

DANG -- i go away for a week and this is what I miss..... Wess, so sorry to see but glad you are OK!!

I've done worse in my M3.....

DANG -- i go away for a week and this is what I miss..... Wess, so sorry to see but glad you are OK!!

I've done worse in my M3.....


yes sir he has!

http://dcazin.c4-motorsports.com/M3Build/img_4811.jpg

Thought I'd share, hope you don't mind devin! lol

Why would I mind -- I don't own the car anymore :grinyes:
LOL

M3 for sale, beautiful car, one owner, fresh paint... :sly:

Brian G. What a drag-even more so; right after you bought it. Glad to see you got past that and kept pluggin'.
Eric-I'll get the spreadsheet off to you.
HANS is an absolute must now that I experienced this. Like I mentioned earlier; that actual thought went through my mind as I was watching the wall approaching.
My mama never warned my about crashes.:nono:

M3 for sale, beautiful car, one owner, fresh paint... :sly:

That's about what his for sale thread said! lol

fixing it was pretty easy, just sawed that half of the car off and welded on a donor! lol

http://dcazin.c4-motorsports.com/M3Build/img_4819.jpg

Good as new!
http://dcazin.c4-motorsports.com/M3Build/img_5431.jpg


but i digress, sorry...

UWE, say it isn't so!!
Anyway, as you were saying when we talking on the phone when I was deciding if I should buy the Panoz instead of tracking my Cobra, "better to trash the Panoz than the $100K Porsche". hope you get it back togerher soon.
Paul

Paul, ain't it the truth.

Does anyone out there know of a plastic repair fix for my hood and fender.

Panoz is 4 weeks out on backorder. (The body parts are expensive) I know I can do the Frankenstein repair of either drilling holes parallel on both sides of the crack and zip tieing together or the aluminum sheet backing and riveting. Both are hideous temp. repairs.

I was told my my frame fab guy; to try a 3M Product #4747. I can't imagine that any type of bonding repair will hold up to speed and vibration. The kit costs $100 including an injection gun. The thought is to put a fiberglass backing on the inside and then gluing the crack together with the fiberglass acting as the layer to hold everything together. I'm not too sure about this method. Do any of you have experience in this area.

Here's an example-there are many more cracked areas. This one is critical due to the separated hold down.
http://i463.photobucket.com/albums/qq359/wessbecher/2756d099.jpg?t=1236656347 (http://javascript<b></b>:void(0);)

you can actually "weld" ABS some body shops can do it you basically melt the pieces back together to rebond, Harborfreight sells a plastic welding kit for like $40

That and some strategicaly placed sheet metal behind the cracks with some rivots would probably dothe trick, at least until Panoz could get you a new hood!

that sucks..anyway when you get to fix your car up post in some pics :) :) ..

there are many things we can learn from Frankenstein. Rivets and sheet metal are da-bomb.......learn it, live it...... its a race car...from 50' away and 50mph is all she needs to look good for.

Just a quick note / opinion ... When I first recieved my car , there was a few small cracks in non-critical / structural areas ... I drilled 1/16th holes to relieve the stress & they quit spreading ... You may want to do the same prior to welding process ... If I was to repair that hold down clasp , I would think a sheet metal gusset on the underside is in order , I did this on my rocker panel ; painted the rivits to match ( white )... Best Wishes / Paul W.

Thanks for all the input guys.

At this point in time I have all the parts in transit. I was hoping to have everything in by next Wednesday. If it works I'll pull an all-nighter if necessary (haven't done one of those since college) then I'll get the car aligned and corner-weighted Thursday and hopefully get on the track on Friday. This would be at Infineon which is the same track where the SCCA will have their regional season opener this year. Therefore it would be nice to make the track day on Friday. Infineon has walls in many very unforgiving places. The track day would be a good way to ease back in before I do my first ever "real racing".

Today I ran into a glitch though, that could blow the plan. I have the yellow Koni shocks. There was a miscommunication between Panoz and me. I had sent one into them to have my front Left shock rebuilt (mine snapped off at the shaft) turns out this shock can't be rebuilt. So now I've lost a week to find that out. It's crunch time. Does anyone have some of the front red shocks that are in good shape, that I could purchase? If not, does anyone know about the black aluminum Koni shocks that some of our cars have. If so, is it a possibility to run the black ones in the front and stay with my red ones in the back. Theoretically they have similar specs. Lastly if that all falls apart, does anyone know what cost the Penske's are going for, and what their benefits are for the undoubtedly higher price?

One more question, their has been a thread where the front upper control arms were discussed. I just received a symmetrical one from Coleman through Panoz. Immediately after his first look, the guy who is going to do my alignment, stated that I should have a 1 1/4 " offset arm. I recently saw a GTS car which had the same symmetrical arms as mine. In his setup however, he didn't have the back mount inboard of the front, as mine is setup. Mine is so far in (presumably to get increased caster) that the jacking screw has no room for the locknut. Since my original one needs to be replaced anyway, this may be a good time to get 2 offset arms. Has anyone done this and would you agree that the suspension articulates more efficiently?

Thanks in advance for your help guys.

So here's a thread that Brandon from Panoz sent me. http://www.automotiveforums.com/t891031-koni_shocks.html (http://www.automotiveforums.com/t891031-koni_shocks.html)

I went back but couldn't find the thread. It has some interesting information, regarding the shocks. My questions still stand though. Does anyone have the sources and pricing for the red Konis if available, black Konis or Penskies?

So here's a thread that Brandon from Panoz sent me. http://www.automotiveforums.com/t891031-koni_shocks.html (http://www.automotiveforums.com/t891031-koni_shocks.html)

I went back but couldn't find the thread. It has some interesting information, regarding the shocks. My questions still stand though. Does anyone have the sources and pricing for the red Konis if available, black Konis or Penskies?

The penskes you can order from penske directly, they are fairly cheap @ $400 you can have them valved just about anyway you want them too

Does everyone wear a Hans or some other device?

Firs thing I did after buying the car was buy a HANS device, 3-layer fire suit, gloves and shoes. I don't plan on racing, so I'll be using the car mostly for driver-training, but I have kids, and I don't plan on having my epitaph being "at least he died doing what he loved".

Unless by "what he loved", you're referring to a threesome at the age of 94 with two buxom nursing home employees...

Unless by "what he loved", you're referring to a threesome at the age of 94 with two buxom nursing home employees...

AMEN!!!!:bananasmi :ylsuper:

Eric - did you get a price from PAD? My old price list says the same price $400.

Wess,

I keeps my black konis for spares. You are welcome to barrow them untill you get some new ones.

David

AMEN!!!!:bananasmi :ylsuper:

Eric - did you get a price from PAD? My old price list says the same price $400.

No, I wasn't really looking, it was more of a "hey, I wonder how much these cost if i have to replace them" certainly PAD would be the way to go!

Heres some current info:

Koni shock options
yellow steel versions-non-rebuildable, spring threads on a sleeve- Front P/N 30-1695, Rear 30-1696 From Koni-$350 4-5 weeks leadtime
Black aluminum SP8's-rebuildable-same specs as steel versions (can be used interchangeably with the steel ones-obviously slight weight difference) Aluminum body, spring adjustment threads on spring body-From Koni-$350 4-5 weeks leadtime
Koni 3012 Series-rebuildable-spring adjustment threads on spring body-Double adjustable (rebound adjustable on the car, compression-need to remove to adjust) from Koni $550 4-5 weeks leadtime

Penski rebuildable single adjustable (that surprised me I thought they were double adjustable) $495 from Penski, $450 from Panoz

I bought a single used shock from Wire Wheel for $50.


UCA
Panoz only sells symmetrical arms. RA's and GTS's used symmetrical. The womens series cars used the offset arms (I got that info. from Coleman). The offset is 2". Coleman will make them within 1 day for $60.35. My mechanic wanted to start with 1 1/4" offset. We will see which works best.

I bought offset UCA's from Wire Wheel, new for $65. ea. (used ones are $40, although I don't know if he has used offset arms)

David thanks so much for offering; looks like I'm OK though.

BTW I tried the plastic welding. I'm good at soldering but the plastic welding didn't go well. Anyone have experience they can share on this? I know that temp is critical. I have to look up the ABS melting temps-trial and error led to mostly error.

Heres a good link for adhesive repairs htttp://www.sportrider.com/tech/146_0204_body/index.html (http://www.sportrider.com/tech/146_0204_body/index.html)

Also I found this article very interesting for a detailed explanation of suspension setups http://www.smithees-racetech.com.au/ackerman.html

ABS info: http://www.dynalabcorp.com/technical_info_abs.asp

If the GTS's had the symmetric UCA's and are properly aligned (caster) with them being parallel to the frame tube, they must have changed the location of the lower ball joint forward (longer strut rod, more forward strut rod fire wall mount and or more forward LCA mount point) or changed the UCA mount points (moved them closer to the firewall). Anybody know what they did?

Mike

Wess,

You may want to check with a local body shop for plastic welding. They do weld bumper covers. Just a thought.

David

Our GTRA has the symmetrical A-arms and we have no issues alligning it.