TireSmoke.org

On th 22nd of September, my Grandaughter Ivy (aka GMIvy) encountered a school bus sitting in the turn lane coming the other way. Thanks to the air bags and a low speed, she was not hurt. The same can not be said for the LeSabre. Because the car was 13 years old, there was only liability insurance. Certainly this car would have been total. Since the car was necessary, GMJohnny went to work using all his CCM Rental repair experience. A day at Pull-A-Part with me, provided GMJohn with the sheet metal and misc. parts to begin putting this car back together after a few Sundays with BasementPaul and I and a PortaPower.



A month later, countless spare time hours and some $380 later, the LeSabre lives again.



GMIvy is one very thankful daughter, neice, and grandaughter.

How did you deal with the air bag(s)? This was one of the big items that kept me from saving my Z28.

By the way, I saw it a couple of weeks ago. It is under a tarp and still the same as the day it left here. Kinda made me feel like getting it back.

Nice job!!

WXO, your salvage gene is activating again.

I know it. I just can't help myself. I'm going outside and do some burnouts in the goat to get it out of my system.

Maverick wrote: WXO, your salvage gene is activating again.

It just won't go away, will it.

GMJohn found an inexpensive used air bag of the same color, which we installed so the horn works. The bag was not connected, he plans to look through the Service Manual as time permits. We are not sure about the status of the control box up front, but the car can be put into service now.
BP had a late model Camaro w/o bags, drove it for some while and managed to sell it for a profit when he moved on.

It is amazing how good the car looks compared to the wreck it was when we started. What Fred32V didn't talk about was the under the hood work that went into making the car "correct." A new airbox & computer box were installed. We did a bunch of work to push out the damage done to the core support & fender support on the driver's side. Luckily, the only leaks the car had were the squirter fluid bottle ( which now can only be filled 7/8 full due to a small leak in the top portion of the bottle ) & the shock bumper that leaked some sort of hydraulic fluid on the ground. Surprisingly, the radiator, the a/c condensor and all of the trans lines, etc. up front received no damage. Not everything lined up perfectly, but with a little bull work and determination the car came back together. I will admit I am sick of working on the car, but it was fun to do some of that work again. The initial plan was just to get the car back on the road, but after we hung the panels on it, it started looking like a car again. The car was just too nice to let look like a hoopty ride, so we decided to go the extra mile to paint it. ( Mostly because Grandma would cry every time she saw it! ) The family got together to make this a decent ride once again! Fred32v also got to try out some old skills, as shown by the picture below. GMIvy was amazed at how well we were able to do the job & greatly appreciates the work that was done.

We painted in perfect conditions, upper 40's and raining outside.
It was the only time slot we had so we went for it.
We have used that "paint booth" may times through the years,
fans at the windows.

Hopefully someone a valuable lesson here at a relatively low cost.

I thought the car was going to be primer black from here on in - it turned out much better than that.

What kind of paint went on? Was it a base coat-clearcoat?

The car was painted with enamel, no base/clear. That was the least expensive option --- $50.00/quart. We had reducer in Fred's inventory & the counter guy at NAPA is a buddy of mine & he hooked me up with some free hardener. ( A $22.00 value ) There was a lot of learning that went along with this job. Hot tip, make sure you use dark primer before you paint a dark color. The mirror on the driver's side was black before paint and matches near perfect. The fenders and hood were champagne and don't match real well. Also, 30 psi is way better than 40psi & dry coating the first coat would have helped a ton also. But considering the weather conditions and everything else, it looks good. Shine is wonderful & the darker it gets outside, the better it looks!! It is just great to not have to work on it anymore!!

Ain't it nice how lots of imprefections don't show in pictures? I sent pictures of the Maverick to people who might not ever see it in person.

So the GMIvy LeSabre expreinced a Father/Daughter moment this morning. As I was sitting at the computer
on my day off, reading the Tiresmoke forum, I get a call from my daughter who asks me " Dad, can you come
save me?" Now, I was a bit scared at the time, because the last time I heard that question, a bus was involved.
I, very fatherly and patiently, asked "What now, Ivy?" ... She said, I'm stuck in the driveway. For those of you
who have not had the opportunity to see my driveway, it has on an uphill grade to the house, and you back out
into the street. On the left side of the drive is a 3 foot fall off to the neighbor's property. She had her left rear
off the drive in the 3 foot fall off. .... Wonderful. I suited up in my winter gear and thought that, being the experienced
driver I am, I would be able to get the poor car onto the drive by driving it out of the snow. Nope. Too much ice.
Now, I'm forced to have Ivy drive while I push, and she "rocks" the car out of the snow. Easy right? Nope. She has
no clue how to do this. So, I give her a mild de-briefing on the topic, and begin to push. We have an open line of
communication going ( the driver's window is down ) and I'm barking out "FORWARD..STOP.. REVERSE...." over and
over. Finally, as my eyes were about to pop out of my head from yelling, pushing, and loosing my temper, and one
last spine crushing, muscle ripping push, the car crossed the threshold from grass to concrete, and it was out! I
promptly told her "PARK PLEASE!", and manipulated the car to safety myself. As always, she was very thankful to
me for helping her out. I keep telling myself, "this is just the beginning!"

Well..... It happened again! This time, we're not fixing it! GMIvy was driving the poor old girl and applied the brakes, and they weren't there.....AT ALL! I will never know what happened to them, because I didn't go under the car to look. When the car showed up at the rental store after the accident ( she rear-ended a Dodge pick up truck, obviously with a reese hitch installed ) I started it up. It fired right up and went into gear just fine, but the brake pedal was non-functional, right-to-the-floor non-functional! So, Fred32V and I discussed putting another front clip on it, but I'm going in for arm surgery today, and that will lay me up for about 3 months total (no pulling or pushing, but functional "light duty" work). I'm in no mode to repair it. I sold it yesterday for $500.00 on Craigslist ....... Adios old friend!!



GM

Really glad she's ok. AND wishing you a speedy recovery.