From Heartbreak to Starting Over

[j5ash]

Hi to all in the Buick community. It's been a while since I was on the forum. Been kinda out of the Buick scene for a few month. Back at the first of the year I lost my "Ole Girl". My Wife got with a friend of mine and found me this car about 8 years ago. She bought it for me for my birthday. It was the best present ever. I painted it myself, rebuilt the engine (the first of many times) with the help of the same friend, and over the years turned nearly every nut and bolt on the thing. Sadly in the earlier part of this year it caught fire going down the highway. At first I thought it was the heater core going out but then the fog turned into very thick smoke that nearly choked us before we could get stopped and get out. It took the local volunteer firemen nearly 25 minutes to get there and by that time the car was gone. I could do nothing but stand there and cry like a baby. I'm not too proud!!! A lot of hard work, time, and money went into it. Not to mention the love of it and all the great times and memories we had in it. I posted a few pics of it, not a pretty site though. After a fight with the insurance company about what it was worth, we finally took our beating and moved on. Let me say to each of you reading this, MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR INSURANCE WILL PAY YOU IN AN EVENT SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPENS TO YOU. It's called a stated value policy, that is mostly what collector car insurance is. You both agree on an amount the car is worth and that is what the coverage is. I had full coverage but it didn't cover the nearly $17,000 extra we had spent over the years. I eventually decided to get another Buick and found one about 25 miles from me that the folks had owned for 19 years, and as bone stock as they come! I'm starting over and have got the look and plan I'm going for in my head. I just hope it doesn't take another 8 years to get it there. I've already stripped the car to the metal and repainted it. Trying now to address some interior issues but it's coming along nicely. There's a few pics of it too. Anyway it's great to be back, and thanks to those of you I have aleady talked with about getting my new ride back to where the "Ole Girl" was. Have a great day and PLEASE check with your insurance company to make sure your pride and joy has the coverage it deserves. They are way more than just OLD BUICK REGALS.:smile: Jason

 

[j5ash]

Some pics of my new car.

 

[jdpolzin]

My god man, that really sucks. Was it the starter wires that started the fire? By the looks of it, probably pretty hard to tell. I'm definately installing a fire extinguisher and a power disconnect for my positive battery cable. Good luck with the new car. I saw the pics of it in your ad selling the wheels. Looks like a nice car to get back in the seen with! -----Jeremy

 

[j5ash]

ttt.

 

[87granny]

That sucks good to hear no one was hurt and the new car looks awsome and no they are not just plain old Regals mine was stolen in front of the house and the adjuster wanted to total it when i got it back it had minimal damge my wife told him bring me a check for 14k and come and get it he gulped and said its only a Regal then she said Regal GN and he changed his tune they fixed it and now its insured with Grundy with agreed value

 

[BOOSTBROTHER]

I am sorry to hear about your car. On may 10th my 87 Turbo-T was hit by an F-4 Tornado we found the car a 1/4 of a mile from the house.

Your new ride looks great.

 

[kenny]

Man, that would suck. New one looks awesome.

I feel your pain fighting with the insurance company, I went through that same mess when my car was stolen.

 

[imjoesnuffy]

Welcome back! The new ride looks great. Wish I could do paint and body work like that.

 

[85GN4CHAZZEY]

How long did it take you to strip that whole car??? Did you do it with a DA???

 

[j5ash]

Yeah it was stripped with just a d/a sander. Took a couple of weeks working on it in my spare time. Factory paint is very hard and takes awhile to cut. Started with 80 grit and once I started to get through to the primer went to 180 so it didn't cut the metal as bad. Then etching primer and almost 3 gallons of high build primer and many hours of block sanding in-between coats to get it "almost" perfectly straight. It's the 5th one I've done this way as far as taking it all the way apart and back to the metal and they seem to turn out so much better. No tape lines anywhere! I'm happy with it and done it all myself in my 24x30 shop, no expensive paint booth or anything special, just draped plastic and cleaned up real good. Yeah it had some trash but 99% of it buffed out and looks like glass. Thanks for all the kind words! Jason

 

[85GN4CHAZZEY]

Yes the car looks great!! I am also very maticulas about my paint work (i do it all myself).