a man in a dirty great big BMW SUV thingy has reversed into my GTM rossa and his towbar has gone right through my front panel and punctured my radiator.
i think i need a new front panel. and a new radiator


oh dear.
at least he admitted to my insurers that he rolled back into me.
if he hadnt i would be up poo river with no oars, cos the car at the back always loses .

Oh no, call Rossabitz.

I'm on the case!

Im in touch with the relevant insurance company and have suggested that im the best person to repair the car.
Ive tried to attach a picture of the damage.
as far as i can see its JUST the front panel that is damaged. (and the radiator is punctured but thats easy for me to replace as skoda favorit radiators are still available for very reasonable price)
in an ideal world i would Get a Brand New Front from Rossabitz and that may happen yet . .
BUT if his insurers insist the glass fibre is repairable - how easy will this be?
please refer to the pic(s) i have put up
nelly is cracked from top to bottom and there is some cracking where the front panel dissappears under the bonnet
thanks for any replies
sincerely peter dickson M16 8FB
PS this is great - i have managed to upload pics! - so if there are any glassfibre experts out there i would be SOO greatful for tips or advice on the best way forward.

That looks like a really easy repair - not by me I hasten to add. When i get home i will try to upload before and after pictures of my coupe.

David

Pictures.

1) Before






2) After

well!
if i can get my nelly to look as good as that i will be happy!
thanks for putting those pictures up.


im waiting for the insurer's approved garage to look at nelly and agree that im the person to repair her.

it does look to me that there is no "structural" damage at all - just nellys front panel and the radiator.
which i should be able to do . . .hopefully . . . .

who did that repair??

It was done by a man in Cannock who usually makes his living out of repairing race boats.

I also had to replace a radiator, fans, a windscreen and straighten lots of sundry metal brackets, but there was no structural deformation at all.

There was also damage to the back of the bonnet.

I will look up the phone number if you want it.

regards

David

I also had to get it painted.

David

Mine is back together as well after a similar level of damage - will need painting.

the garage engineer has just seen nelly and agrees that its just the radiator and front panel.
he gave me the option of them fixing everything that got broken.

I said i would prefer to do it myself and he said that was fine and that another engineer would be in touch and give me
"cash in lieu of a settlement"
to be honest its a fiddly repair and i think they are glad to not have to do it !
(even though they can)
so its all good so far . . . . .

dont tell anyone but ive ALREADY been on ebay and ordered a new radiator (from the same supplier that i used in march 2010).

Liking the sideways action 'after' picture of Davids coupe !

I was on the Harewood hillclimb and "going for it". Shortly after the picture was taken the front and back ends of the car swapped places and I disappeared backwards on to the grass on the right of the picture. When I got to the top of the hill the marshall said, "You made a right mess of that, but the good news is that the timing didn't start when you left the line so you get another go"

Hi folks!
ive been spending spare days fixing nelly
and am very pleased with the STRENGTH of the repair
(glassfibre is not that difficult after all ) although im aware the true test will come some months down the
line - if it doesnt delaminate then ive done well.
got the bits from cfsnet.co.uk as they seemed to stock everything and not be too precious about how to work on glassfibre.
(some places tell you that you must go on one of their courses to learn to how do it . . .)
basically what i did was completely cut out the damage with a grinder , bolt three pieces of flat wood to the front
then glassfibre four layers onto the back of the damage with a 50mm overlap onto good fibre then remove the wood.
it seemed to work ! and yes i cleaned with white spirit and sanded a LOT to get a good key

although im now on the LAST part which is filler, sanding and painting and dont like this part!
find it very difficult to get a perfect finish (always have - not arty-crafty enough.)
engines are my thing not bodywork

ive put loads of pictures up on my facebook and im on facebook as peter dickson (manchester)
i think the pictures are "public" ( my profile pic has a monkey on my shoulder
hope this is ok to mention on this forum)

happy new year to every GTM owner !