CHEF_EG_1

I went up to Chicago saturday night, and helped my buddy get set up for his pool party on sunday.

So I get there, everything was fine... got wasted, had a great time in the pool, saw some friends that I haven't seen for a long time... yadda yadda yadda.


So, sunday was a good day.


Today, Monday.... not so good.


I drove home at around 2-ish in the morning (yes, I was sober by then), in order to avoid holiday weekend traffic. For the most part, it was a great drive. Then I came over the hill in front of Exit 248 on I-55 South. I heard a huge scrape, a bunch of metallic "ding ding ding ding" sounds, and what sounded like an explosion.

I thought I blew the motor. It wouldn't start, it wouldn't move, it wouldn't do anything. So I call zyounker, and ask him what's wrong... and he said it could be popped, but the engine should still turn over. After about an hour of trying different things for it to work, he came up to get me... at like 4:30am. So by then, there was some daylight starting to peek through, and he said look at the back of your car.... the fuel line is just hanging there... it's not attached anymore. So, after driving all over god's green earth trying to find SOMETHING to work, we come back, find an alternative using part of the cooling system lines...and voila, we're on our way.

zyounker gets stuck in traffic behind me in a construction zone, and after the zone ended, I gradually regained my 68mph croozing speed. So I'm driving, and driving, and driving... and right in front of Lexington... exit 178 area... this kid in a green Corsica is in the right lane, I was about 8 car lengths behind him. Now, when the engine lost power, it took the power brakes with it.... so in order to slow down, it was all about downshifting. ANYWAY.... this guy in the Corsica stomps on the brakes, and with the **** poor braking that I had at the time, they didn't work, and I plowed right into the back of him.

The entire front of my car (hood, headlights, header panel, front fascia, fenders, bumper, bumper supports, radiator, electric fan, and some other pieces) is TRASHED.

Cingular Wireless Roadside Assistance wouldn't tow it, because it was a collision, not a breakdown.

So the Trooper (very angry, angry, tall, angry, angry guy) calls a tow truck, and he's there in 20 minutes. While the car was being loaded on the trailer, the Trooper says to me... "Where do you work?" I said, "I'm the Executive Chef of Crazy Planet Kitchen, Downtown Bloomington." He said... "What's the difference between Executive Chef and other chef?" I said, "I pretty much run the show. It's MY kitchen." He has the audacity to say to me, while my WRECKED CAR was on the flatbed of the tow truck, "Maybe the Chef should learn to invest into vehicles." I said, "Do you realize what that car was worth, and what it was destined to be worth?" He says, "Nope, and I don't care. It doesn't look like the piece of crap is worth anything now."

So I took my "Failure to Reduce Speed to Avoid an Accident" ticket, gave him "Seventy Five dollars, all faced, no wrinkles, and it better not be one cent short."


Finally get the car home, and unloaded, and after zyounker left, the whole passenger window shattered in it's track, and crumbled down the rest of the door.



This is without a doubt, the WORST day of my life. Pics of the carnage will be up soon.


If any of you have any smart ***, or jackass comments, this is NOT the time, or the thread to mention them.

MIKE-P-28

iTrader: (1)

just curious, but when you broke down the first time, why didnt you get cingular to tow it?

sorry to hear about your luck tho

CHEF_EG_1

120 miles @ $3.00 per mile.

The_7

wow, thats horrible....sorry to hear about your 7. how bad is the front end? repairable? couldnt you have just told the trooper that your brakes failed and you tried to slow down by downshifting but the guy stopped to fast? also i dont understand why you didnt have power brakes...if the engine was running shouldnt they have been working?

MosesX605

Why the hell weren't the brakes working? I hate to be the jackass here, but if your brakes were bad, why cruise at nearly 70mph? Seems like a silly thing to do.

It's too bad about your car, I know you had high hopes for it.

MIKE-P-28

iTrader: (1)

thats a good way to get an improper equipment ticket too, never say my speedo is broke or my brakes are messed up...

120 miles x $3 mile is better than where you are now... Not to be condescending, but anyways, very sorry about your car... Theres a bright side tho, you could buy mine

Maguire

iTrader: (1)

god dude. that sucks. when will the carnage end?

Everyone, stop getting in wrecks! *looks in mirror* *runs away*.

anyway. is it worth repairing, or does it looks like your going to have to start over again?

Good luck.

CHEF_EG_1

I gotta start over. The frame, while not visually that bad (I'll post pics later tonight), is not structurally sound anymore. It's buckled in quite a few places the whole way back.


And about the brakes, they were progressively getting better, as I think they were bleeding themselves out. But, with very little traffic, and the flatland highways of IL, there was little opportunity, or necessity to use them. It took about half way of the pedal before they grabbed. Usually, it took VERY little movement of the pedal. SS brakelines and new pads and rotors help.

It's honestly one of the hardest things I've ever had to look at. There's been weeks when I've spent 60+ hours on bodywork alone. And now.... all of that precious time, money, blood, sweat, and tears.... is sitting in pieces in my driveway. The cost to fix it isn't what's making me so depressed. It's that I've put off my social life so that I could work on my car.... lost 2 girlfriends because of it, and it looks like all of it was a wasted effort.

I loveD that car. There was one thing that I wanted to do in that car, every minute of every day, even at work....




.... D R I V E.


Now.... it rolls, and I make vroom vroom noises.

wagondriver69

knight1976

Awww man i didnt realize what car you had until i opened up your car domain site. Im very sorry you lost your car but there are still parts that can live on in another 7 and MOST importantly you get to live on.......... some people dont get that luxury. Count your blessings and and visit the FOR SALE section

excitingleopard

Don't you just love it when the trooper is just all too happy to hand you a ticket for something that really wasn't your fault? So nice to know our law enforcement is here to help us out. Especially when our dream car has just been trashed.

Hope you can find another good fb.

wwilliam54

strip it and start again

CHEF_EG_1

Here's pictures.


And to those of you saying, "ohh, it's not THAT bad."


The frame is tweaked, the whole front clip is about 6" shorter, and there's MANY more things other than visuals.


http://www.centralillinoisimports.or...es/chef/wreck/

Gatorgunner

i know in some states you can get troopers in trouble for being excessivly rude to you when issuing you a ticket. He probably had one of those cameras and wireless mic deals on as well. It wont fix your car but it might make you feel better.

GeeHee13B

sorry to hear about ur loss

excitingleopard

Fiber-glass wheel wells are toast. Ouch.

bubba211

unless the ENTIRE front end is shifted, evenly, back a couple inches THAT IS FIXABLE, i don't care what anyone says cause i am living proof. 4 weeks ago i got into a similar accident, my car is completely fixed. it may not look PERFECT when fixed, but it will look darn good. I tell you it can be done, 99% by yourself too.

Directfreak

iTrader: (2)

I agree. A new front spoiler, a new front valence, a new hood, and it's all repairable

steve's dog

i know how you feel. i recently got my car wrecked. it was partly my fault i guess. just a bad judgment call. kind of like what happened to you. i bet you wish you would have not driven with those brakes like that. but you werent expecting some dude to slam on the brakes in front of you. just a bad judgmeent call kind of? i sat there and looked at my wrecked fc and cryed. its such a horrible thing to loose somthing so great.

but you'll probably come out on top, and get a better car, or somthing. just wait

jr69187

not trying to be a ***** wanna sell your wheels or at least two of them. if you decide to do another one i can find one around here cheap that has a blown engine.

jr

BLKTOPTRVL

Sorry for your bad fortune, but uhhh...

What does this mean?

I get that you had to pay the cop right there I guess, but what's with the faced, no wrinkles?

AdrenalifeRX7

Don't EVER tell a 7 owner that. His car is far from a "loss".

CHEF_EG_1

The wheels ARE for sale.


Due to the rarity of the wheels, and that they were only made in 78-82, these are VERY rare especially considering the 4x110mm bolt pattern.


They are 15x7's all around, I believe a 40 offset. Currently, they have 205/50-15's in the front, and 265/50-15's in the rear.

I've seen them go on ebay for 650/EACH...

They are in GREAT condition... very VERY minor scratches, and no curb damage.

I'd like to get 1500 out of them.

CHEF_EG_1

If you saw all the other places the frame is tweaked... you'd understand that it IS a loss. If the body shop pulled it back into straight and true, it'd shatter all that molded fiberglass. The front frame is fubar, the radiator and support is fubar. The air-oil cooler, surprisingly, has ZERO damage. The carbs are still good, the engine is still good, the tranny is good, the GSL rearend is good, the stainless brake lines are good, the brand new RB Streetport full exhaust is still damn near perfect, and there's some other things that are still worth mentioning/money.

Railgun

Uhhh...I may have missed something, but why did the dude in the Corsica hit the brakes in the first place? And I'm gonna ask an obvious question...was there someone in the left lane?