I just acquired a new project vehicle

I'm running about $750 over my high side of the budget. I ran into a few things that were broken that I did not expect. I have 99% of the parts now though including the paint. I was not expecting to have to replace the AC lines, the seat belts, the mechanical water pump and pulley, or the connectors for the AC compressor. Take those things out of the equation and I'm right were I thought I would be.....

 

Well, unless there is some great unforeseen disaster, I only need to buy about $100 worth of parts to have everything. With that said it looks like I will be saving around $9000 to $10000 off a new version of the same car at the current prices, new or used.

 

I'm MIG welding the frame sections and spot welding the non-structural areas. TIG welding is usually reserved for stainless steel and non-ferrous metals like aluminum.

 

I'm going strictly by the Toyota Collision Repair manual on the frame repair. Structural members can be sectioned and butt welded together provided they are not reinforced with back plates (it will change the way the perform in an accident) and that you are not re-welding a factory MIG welded seam. I really doubt that a repair shop would have replaced the entire rail since the damage was limited to the section forward of the factory MIG welded seam. The Toyota Collision manual even has a specific section on doing the exact frame section repair that I'm doing. As for the straighting a bent frame, the manual states that if there are crumples or cracks in the frame rail that you must replace it (or the section), if it's just miss-aligned you can straighten it provided you do not crumple or crack it in the repair process. You are also not allowed to heat the rails to aid in bending. In the end I want the repair to 1) be structurally sound and 2) look like nothing was ever done to the car. This car is for my wife so doing it right is my to priority, especially since she usually keeps a car until it has over 200k miles on it. As for why it was salvaged? Currently I'm at about $4500 worth of parts. Some of the stuff an insurance company would not have been able buy from a salvage company like did and it would have cost more and other parts wold have been figured in a list rather than the discounted priced I paid. I would figure the labor and 2 times the cost of the parts at the least so that would put the cost at $15000 minimum and more like closer to 18k or 19k to have a repair shop fix it.

 

It's really hard to say. I would estimate around 30 to 40 hours so far. I'm not in any big hurry.

It was simple. Just pull out the pin lock retainer, use a small pick to pop the locks out of the way, and then just slide the pins out of the connector. The connector housing part number is listed on the TIS info site so it was just a matter of ordering the connector housing (it was about $4). On the transaxle all the small connectors are a 3 piece setup. There is a connector on the engine harness, an intermediate connector, and an internal connector that plugs into the intermediate connector. I had to replace the intermediate connector also. It just bolts to the side of the transaxle housing.

Yes, I'm using salvaged airbags. I know enough about airbag systems in general to have the opinion that salvage airbags are just fine. The bags were purchased from a reputable Prius dismantler and were in new condition. Another larger savings was to have the airbag module reprogrammed rather than replacing it. A Toyota dealer cannot reprogram an airbag module with the factory scan tool. It takes an eprom program with the correct info file. There are many companies that offer reprogramming services.

There will be pics. There is no overlap as Toyota recommends a butt joint for frame splicing

Yep, I already have the paint. I will use a small touch-up gun for the under hood areas and a gravity feed gun for the larger panels. Both areas will be painted with a base coat/clear coat system.

Nope. In this market even repaired salvage cars go for quiet a bit on ebay. I could get $20k once it's fixed without a problem.

 

Who knows? I cannot think of a specific reason that they would make them non-resettable.

$55

No, the side and seat airbags did not deploy. The seatbelt pretentioner charges did not go off either but the retractors in both seatbelts were damaged. It's a good idea to replace the seatbelts after an accident of that magnitude anyway.

 

Small update tonight:
(this one is for you Patrick)



The new frame rail has become one with the car. Honestly this was the part that made me worry the most about the whole project. I'm not that good of a welder, and frankly, I really hate paying someone else to do something that I know I can do myself. I grabbed some scrap metal and went to town with my welder. My wife is actually a decent welder so I got some pointers from her as well as some tips form a certified pipe welder from my wifes work. After a week of self-training I gave it a shot last night; I don't think it turned out that bad at all.

 

I just noticed that it's kind of hard to tell where the weld is. Here is a pic showing where it's at:

 

I screwed it together on the top edge (you can just make out the screw heads in the pic) and I clamped it on the bottom edge. I measured it, tacked it in place, and them measured it again to make sure it did not move.