Be careful out there.

A member on the HAMB posted these pictures, and I really feel bad for him. All steel Deuce and some jerk in a van runs into him. :mad: The guy luckily wasn't hurt, but the car is pretty bent up.

I'm not a real religious person, but all the way to Ocala and back I was saying a little prayer that Dan and I would make it home safely. It's pretty scary when the tires going past you are higher than you are. :eek: We went slow, but people were blowing past us and cutting in and out all around us. Trailer trucks are another story altogether. :eek:

I hope this guy doesn't get screwed over by the other guys insurance company......they are not always willing to come forth with what it costs to repair these "old cars." I wish him well.

Don

Thankfully no one was hurt. What a horrible loss. I believe I saw this car in a rod magazine. I'm thinking maybe it was Rodders Journal...... Bob

Least the main body is good!!definatly a close call, but all can be repaired, and no casualties!! Looks like its time to go fenderless.

Read that one yep a shame such a original was damaged . That right fender will be hard to find .

Glad no injuries came about!

Now where's that Rubbing Compound? Seriously, that is really a shame-glad to hear no one was hurt-

If you want to see the whole story on how he got this car, and why it looked the way it did go to Don's website. Go to the index, click "projects", then select the '32 roadster. http://donshotrodpage.net/

A friend of mine had his 36 Chevy totalled recently but the insurance came through fully. Don't know which company.

A word about driving vintage cars- Itoldyouso has a good point about all the a-holes that drive like freaks out there. They have no respect for ANY car much less a vintage car, rat rod, custom or roadster. It gets to a lot of folks to the point where it just ain't fun to drive your hobby car much.

I can attest the freeways around here are friggin crazy and I won't drive on them except a very short way to a cruise in or show. Do be careful.

Good thing it was metal and not glass

Glad to hear that the driver was not seriously hurt. It appears fromt the photos that the car while appearing to be a solid original had a lot of wear and tear to it prior accident. Hopefully the guy has "agreed upon" insurance, as the pre-accident condition may otherwise be a sticky point during damage estimating.

Don, I can appreciate your anxiety while driving your super loboy to Billetproof. I assume you took 75 up to Ocala. I used to use 75 to go to Tampa, but for the past 6 or 7 years, I have made the switch to 301. While a bit slower where it's not a four laner, the trip is more relaxing and lots of things to see along the way. 75 is a killer, especially when everything from freightliners to oldsters in Saturns are running 85 plus. Sometimes it might be the only practical way, but I try to avoid it, if possible.

As to replacement fenders, they are available as originals or in new steel. Not going to be cheap but if the insurance covers, it won't matter. Unless the owner is a real diehard, after the car is repaired, he might show a little hesitation about going back out on the hiway. I probably would. Memories of violent accidents are sometimes hard to overcome.

Bob, someone mentioned to me that a group of people heading back to Naples from Ocala after the show were going to take 301. I didn't understand it at the time, but now that you bring it up it makes sense.

The only moment of concern I had during the trip up or back was right after I got onto 75 to go to the show. I came off the ramp and kicked it really hard to merge with traffic, and after I got merged I started to slow down to the speed I wanted to travel at. However, I looked in my rearview mirror and all I saw was bus grille right on my tail........I mean like 10 feet off of my taillights! :eek: It was one of those private buses like Rockstars travel in and he was MOVING! When someones bumper is higher than your head it can be quite disconcerting.:rolleyes: He evidently moved from the passing lane to the slow lane right in back of me.

I like my T around town, but have to admit that it isn't the most pleasant car to take long interstate trips in. It's kinda like a motorcycle, you have to be thinking the whole time, watching for debris on the road, potholes, bridge surface irregularities, and other cars.

Don

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Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

Be careful out there
Don

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Thats a shame . :(

T L

Don---I can relate to what you are saying. Its not so bad with my roadster pickup, as it is pretty well stock height except for the drop given by a 4" dropped axle.---But---the 27 T I built 12 years ago was very low, and channeled 4". It was very disconcerting to be driving on a 4 or 6 lane highway, and be passed by transport trucks with tires taller than my entire car. I just about got scared to death on highway 400 north out of Toronto. A big freightliner was passing me, and just as the rear of the truck drew parallel to me, the inside dual shed its tread!!! It made one Hell of a bang, and then began to disintigrate right beside me. There were peices of rubber flying everywhere, at 70 MPH and about 36" from the side of my head!!! The only thing that saved me was the fact that it was the inside dual that blew, and the outside dual was between me and the tire that was flying apart. Man, Talk about change your underwear time!!!----It gets better---Next time I made that trip, I stuck to secondery 2 lane highways---to be safe, ya know---and damned if I didn't blow through a radar trap at 17 MPH over the speed limit!!

Brian, I've also worried about those truck tires blowing up near me. I see rubber fragments strewn all over the roads down here, I guess the heat kills them.

That had to be really scary. :eek:

Don

Don
and Brian I know what you mean. When you are exposed to the elements it changes everything. On my old Honda, a bottled water truck dumpd about 5 5 gallon plastic bottles full of water right in front of me on the highway around a turn. They were bouncing everywhere. Scared the... out of me. I was so lucky to not have hit one with the front end of my bike. Whenever I take the Harley out, I'm so focused on everything and everyone around me that I come home, exhausted, but alive:D

I think we have all had those scary experiences. My worst one ever was outside of Montreal on a rainy day. A small semi was sideswiped by a car and it tore the gas tank (yes, gas, not diesel) off the side of it and sent it tumbling thru the air right at me. I took the ditch and it ended up about 10 feet from the side of my car - right where I would have been. The worst part - a local cop set a flare in front of it which I picked up and threw in the puddle in the ditch my car was occupying. The cop was PO'd (didn't speak English) until I showed him the hole in the tank still draining the 50 or so gallons of gas.

I guess I was lucky when I had my 'bucket - the only real pant cleaning episode was losing my brakes at Syracuse when I popped a non-DOT braided front steel brake line. This new car has Russell DOT braided steel lines.

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Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

It's pretty scary when the tires going past you are higher than you are. :eek: We went slow, but people were blowing past us and cutting in and out all around us. Trailer trucks are another story altogether. :eek:
Don

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I'm glad every one is ok!
I hate to lose original metal any time!
Sounds like every day driving to me!
I sit low, and no fenders! Both my Trike and my Mustang sit low, but thats the way I like it. :p

Pat

The other aspect of old vehicles is their own braking systems. If you have a 30s car that had later model hydraulic drums installed they still ain't like today's brakes. Even cars engineered with drums can't stop like a newer car with 4 discs on fully independent suspension.

The rub here is as you're cruising the smart asses whip around and cut into your lane as you are anticipating coming to a stop ahead and you are proportioning your braking. Well now that the jerk is in front of you it gets more exciting. Same goes for freeway except the speeds are way more dangerous.

If ya got old-style brakes ya gotta leave lots of stopping time and space whether you immediately think you need it or not.

Don, Next time you head up Ocala way, try 301 and give yourself a little extra cruise time. When heading south to Florida, I usually pick up 301 up at Callahan (301 and A1A) and follow it all the way down to Dade City. Most of it is 4 lanes, but from Belleview to Bushnell is single. A lot of quaint towns and horse farms along the way, usually a very pleasant drive. Beats the hell out of looking at bumpers in your rearview.:eek:

I never gave blown truck tires a thought until a friend was trailering his streetrod home to Florida from PA and an 18 wheeler blew a tire. Part of the tire carcass hit his streetrod sitting up on the trailer and although damage was light to the all steel car, it would have been totally different if it had hit another vehicle, especially a roadster with little or no cabin protection. Now when I get along side of the big rigs I hurry right along, cause you can never know when something might happen.:eek:

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Twitch wrote:
If ya got old-style brakes ya gotta leave lots of stopping time and space whether you immediately think you need it or not.

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My 57 has original drums, front and rear, and it takes nearly as long and far too stop the old lady as it does a freight train.:eek: :(

It can get up to speed quickly, but a different matter when braking. Even the 34 which has 4 wheel discs won't stop as quickly as my daily driver. I always leave extra room for the old vehicles. No use ending up in someone's trunk due to my own stupidity.:LOL:

Mopar you nailed it. Even conversions to disc don't stop like a modern car that was engineered with them relative to all their other components.

it's rough, but I don't see anything that isn't fixable.

that should buff right out!!......

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Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

Brian, I've also worried about those truck tires blowing up near me. I see rubber fragments strewn all over the roads down here, I guess the heat kills them.
Don

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Big Rig tires shredding are usually a recap coming off. The only axle that requires new tires are the front axle.

I was on my way home from the local cruise. 7 PM, 4 laned road, speed limit 35 mph. This knucklehead suddenly pulls out from a driveway, in front of me. Slammed on the 40 Ford binders and locked her up. If I hadn't swerved to the right, I would have center punched him. :mad:

Even driving back to the motel from the Street Rod Nationals, there was a real nice 40' Ford Coupe in front of me. I switched to the right lane to get on the freeway. As I pull abreast the 40', he suddenly decides to switch into my lane. I locked up the binders and he swerved back into his lane.

I usually think that guys with rods drive better than most, but this guy blew that. His 40' was probably worth 4 or 5 times what my 31' is worth. You would think that he would look before moving. :mad:

Here's a couple more pics Don (the owner) posted up of the accident scene;