Repair front end damage (stitch job) help needed!

[Burto89]

Hello,

Well i own a very nice VY ute as DID two of my mates. Key word DID! They both crashed their utes in the past month (separate scenes). One ute is a write off as the chassis is bent and the other is front end damaged but my mate cant afford to fix it. So i was thinking of buying both wrecks for a total of 5 grand and doing a front end stitch??? Then once all good to go sell it off for a profit Just need some of you guys experiences and ideas.....

The write off ute is damage from behind drivers head but front is perfect condition as shown....



The 2nd ute is front damage but looks like its just the rails that need replacing....





Obviously this is not a home garage job... i have a mate who is a panel beater and is able to lift out the engine for me.

Any advice greatly appreciated!

cheers

[davway]

My advice is not to bother.
the second ute with the front damage is going to cost you more than you think.
is it listed as a write off?
if it is, you better check up VIV (Vehicle Identification Validation) as it has been made a lot stricter over the last year or so.
you pretty much need a whole new front end forward which will all need aligning properly and welded in professionally.
its your call but its not going to be as simple as you might think it is and the profit margin might turn out to be pretty minimal - however, there are left over parts to sell which will help.
i say go talk to your panel beater mate and get a professional opinion on the whole lot before you do anything.

[PaulSV6]

Mate u gotta big job ahead of u. I can tell u now that in the first pic the chassis rail would be bent underneath the drivers seat.

The last three pics doesnt look too bad.

[Burto89]

I know the ute in the first pic is totally stuffed chassis wise but the front end IE from fly wall forward is in perfect condition... I know its not too cheap to do this but its alot cheaper than buying a whole new ute i think? because i will have all the front end there to replace the damaged one i will save on buying separate pats like panels, rails and k-frame etc. A panel beater in brissy said he could do it for $2000 for the labor as long as i supplied the front end for replacement. That includes lifting out the engine, taking off old rails and k-frame and then refiting the front end off the other ute. I thought this seemed reasonable?

cheers guys

[davway]

$2000 is reasonable for the amount of work that is required - provided its a good finish.
You still havent mentioned if the ute your going to fix is listed as a repairable write off or not (did insurance pay out on it?).
dont go kidding yourself either, a VY V6 ute isnt worth the world.
Ive seen them go at auction for 9-11k undamaged.

Its your choice, at the end of the day its still a damaged car, regardless of repairs, you still wont be able to sell it for full price.

[azkwazere]

Dude, do the math...

$5000 for both wrecks
$2000 for panel beating
$200 for moving the broken cars around

So for $7,200 you'll have a v6 repaired write off ute which will have little to no re sell value.

You have 2 options really,

Take the cash you have for this operation and buy yourself a nice (non write off) ute and be done with it OR! go ahead with this but do it all yourself. You need to bring the cost of repairs down.. the only way that would happen is if you do it yourself.

Not a wise investment.

aZk.

[azkwazere]

Dude, do the math...

$5000 for both wrecks
$2000 for panel beating
$200 for moving the broken cars around

So for $7,200 you'll have a v6 repaired write off ute which will have little to no re sell value.

You have 2 options really,

Take the cash you have for this operation and buy yourself a nice (non write off) ute and be done with it OR! go ahead with this but do it all yourself. You need to bring the cost of repairs down.. the only way that would happen is if you do it yourself.

Not a wise investment.

aZk.

[Burto89]

The cars are being moved as part of the price. The car is also a repairable writeoff whateva that means. so you dont think i could get say 10grand for it? the engine has 80000 on the clock and the rest of the ute is in mint condition.

cheers for all the feedback its giving me something to think about.

[davway]

i wouldnt say its not a wise investment at all, a profit is a profit.
im simply saying it isnt as easy as putting a front end on it and its done - theres a lot of work that needs doing.
if it can be done and finished for $2000 then thats a cheap repair but if its $2000 just to fit whatever you supply and then you still need to spend money on other things the $2000 didnt cover, then its going to add up.

at the end of the day, out of 2 smashed utes, do you feel you could recoup around $9000 that you will have to spend to make 1 ute and be able to sell that ute easily, make a profit thats decent and not be stuck with it when your finished.
also, the longer this takes you to do, the less the ute is worth.
if you can turn this around in a month or so then theres hope, if you dont have $9000+ sitting around and its going to take you 6 months to finish it, dont bother.

The other thing you have on your side is all the left over spare parts you can sell.

you really need to sit down and work out realistically what it is going to cost to get back on the road.
if it needs a VIV, theres another $480, wheel alignment, windscreen for a RWC (example), the RWC itself, rego costs, stamp duty, etc etc - it all adds up.


EDIT: the $9000 consists of:
$5000 for the utes
$2000 for the repairs
$1000 for RWC items and Rego itself (rego alone from scratch (all fees included) for a $5000 car is $764.90 - thats based on MY postcode - yours will be different)
$480 for a VIV
$80 for a permit to drive it unregistered
that makes $8560 without taking into account anything that you dont know about, havent foreseen or need to buy to finish the project.

You really need to be sure that $2000 will see the repairs FINISHED, not just put back together and you need to go find a spray painter to paint a panel etc.

do you have to remove all the good front end parts (from the side damaged ute) that you want to put on the (front damaged) ute or is that included in the $2000?

[taztassio]

buy them both cheap as, and strip them for parts.

but that said, its an ecotec, each engine is worth no more than 500-700, so its up to you.

if you were getting them like 3k, and you do the panel beating yourself, maybe

[Burto89]

buy them both cheap as, and strip them for parts.

but that said, its an ecotec, each engine is worth no more than 500-700, so its up to you.

if you were getting them like 3k, and you do the panel beating yourself, maybe

So the parts say from the seats forward on a ute are worth how much? hmm 500-700 i might just buy the ute thats got side damage and part it out my mate wants it gone asap and is willing to give it to me for 2000

[Sabbath']

There is no way you could sell that thing for a profit as a whole if you tried to put it together.You'd have wiring looms to stitch together, brake lines, fuel lines to sort out etc etc.

It's not as simple as grinding off the cab and welding it up.

Save your money and put it towards a better investment