Bad news bad news... :(

First off, guys, I am A-OK, albeit a little sore now in a few spots even a few days after...
This happened Sunday, and it's been a bit busy dealing with all of the fall-out that came with this accident.

What happened?

As I was going down into the U-turn going home from camping, I felt that I was going a bit fast, 15mph according to the GPS. I braked at the apex (the halfway point in the corner) and next thing I know the rear end is sliding. I did my best to counter-steer, and I tried to break.
The gravel gave under the front tires and due to the bad camber on the road I slid down. I had just enough time to go *GASP*, and then I flew into the valley.

Thump... THUMP

There was a certain silence for a few seconds (probably stress) then I realized the engine was still going. Shut that off, windshield was missing by then, and I crawled out. Waved down a motorcyclist to get a tow truck (he never made the call) and then I rushed back down to disconnect the battery.

I started to unpack, and I was pretty sure an hour has passed before the crew coming down stopped and saw me.

Shortly after the crash

The VW crew that I hang out with came just an hour later, they all stopped worried to death. These pictures came from one of those guys.




Down the rabbit hole...




Against all odds... Escaped without harm




Just a little shaken up.




I actually asked the guy to take a picture of me with a bit of... Posing to say the least. Not proud of it, I am glad as hell though that I walked away from the wreck.



Tow truck didn't come for hours... The guy took every road except the one we were on. By the time he got out there it was easily 8:30PM. So, he said "Alright, I'll get the two guys out here and we'll do it tomorrow morning."

The Tow

And so we did... 2 trucks and 3 guys did all the work to flip it over, and gently roll it up the hill.

And here is the van, in the morning, laying on it's side.




The fellows measuring up how the rigging going to be set up.




And it's flipped! 3 cables were used, 1 to flip it, 2 to pull it up (weight and counterweight cables)




Even with the counterweighting, the tow truck was lifting.




Here it comes... Video part 1




Almost over the edge.




And we have finally gone horizontal again. Video part 2


Final motions to line her up with the flat bed.




And up she goes.




In travel shot... The Chevy almost looks sad.




At the tow yard. I didn't get a chance to read Tris-es comment, I knew damn well that plenty of rare parts are on that rig.




Home again...




Damage assessment:

Outside
Driver door is %(&*ed.
Passenger door now sticks, the gaping isn't correct.
The side and rear doors open and close fine.
The frame looks straight.

Inside
The floor seems to be flat up until the rear of the dog house.
Dog house is tweaked about 1/2".
Dash is tweaked, not sure how much.
The engine looks good, the fan has one blade bent @ a 90* angle half-way in.
No glass broke, windshield did a dead fish flop away from me.


So, here are the pictures.




Of course it was the left side that got the hit. Pretty good hit too.










What's next...?

The way it's looking it is a very borderline case. The frame looks good, however I am starting to have second thoughts about that since I caught the dirt with my left tires.
- Option 1 (fastest) is stripping it of all the good/useful parts, and getting rid of the hull. Get a new chassis, and start over again.
- Option 2 is a thorough check of the chassis, and hammering/pulling it back out. As I said, overall it's not too bad, and I wanted to convert into a short pop-top at some point of time anyways.
- Option 3 is grafting a new front end onto it. It's a lot of metal thought, as the left 3/4 and top 3/4 would have to grafted on... That's a lot of metal to line up.

The good thing is I am not afraid of the van in a psychological way, hell, I want to save it. However, I want to be practical about the new rig.


So, what do you guys think?

That was one helluva Ride !! Very glad you're OK !!

UGH!!!

Glad to here that you made it out ok! I would just find another good solid van and use that one for parts. You can't never go wrong with having a parts van on hand when you need a part that you can't find.

your a lucky man glad your ok.if you part it ot i could use a frount grill

van can be replaced. you are so lucky , good to hear u are ok.

1st. , your o.k. i would find a new shell, altot less work to do, and reborn your old ride

Holy hell man! You should go buy a lottery ticket too! You got lucky, and Im glad you did. Hope you figure out what you're going to do about the van. I'm 50/50 on it too lol.

Xelmon! as said, you are alive and seem to be undamaged. That is the big thing. There are more vans, not more vanners.
As for the van, I would look at what's out there on the market. Both parts vans to resurrect this one and nice vans to bump this one to parts status.
If this one is going to be saved, before cutting or beating, find a good body shop to measure and pull. They will want the bad parts still connected to pull on to get the body straight. Then you cut off the crinkled stuff to replace. Believe me, even 8 hours of pro labor on the frame rack with a good operator will make the rest MUCH easier.

Wow, have lost the rear end a few time in my old Econoline (the one I removed the ballast weight from) yet never ended up in the jackpot over.

So glad to see you made it thru as well as you did. An old Frat buddy of my cousin died in a Crown Vic (sober;-) with seat belt on in a similar tumble. Pre Airbags. Body found with nearly a scratch or bruise still seat belted securely. Hard to die in a Crown Vic--probably easy in our oldies.

Glad you made it, Mark

GLAD YOUR OK MAN, GOD WAS WITH YOU,

@ All of ya: Thanks guys, I've definitely heard the "Lucky SOB" line a few times now.

@ Rod: Hmm, I'll definitely look into it.

@ "parts van": Ah, see guys, in that case I would strip it to it's bones. Living even in an urban setting I don't have all the space to store the complete van.

Wow man , im glad your ok , i feel the same as everyone else van can be replaced vanners cant ~~

I'm also glad your OK, and sadly your van I think is a parts van now

Yes, you are a lucky dude! So I guess a tree did all that damage? Amazing how little else looks bad, the front end looks untouched.

So, you were thinking camper van anyway?

http://salem.craigslist.org/cto/3295787070.html

Keep it a hightop, or remove the hightop and put in your pop-top. Keep what you need off your current van, sell the rest....

Could always do something like this with it....

sandyvan wrote:Yes, you are a lucky dude! So I guess a tree did all that damage? Amazing how little else looks bad, the front end looks untouched.

If you really dive in there and look carefully, there is a lot of minor tweaking done. Still, nothing like it could've been.

sandyvan wrote:So, you were thinking camper van anyway?

http://salem.craigslist.org/cto/3295787070.html

Keep it a hightop, or remove the hightop and put in your pop-top. Keep what you need off your current van, sell the rest....

Ah, yeah, seen that one... It's the price tag that is a bit steep for me, especially compared to this rig, which was $5.

Glad to see you are all right. Any landing you can walk away from...is still a good landing. Unfortunatly...I to would be looking for another van and use this one for parts. I live in the country and gravel roads is where it's at right now. I think I will be slowing it down a little. Kinda of a sobering thought when looking at your pics.

Just don't do this:



I saw a V-dub like that blue one this summer at a car show, they had done a very professional job on it, it was pretty cool.

I think that hitop is worth looking into since he says it has a rebuilt motor and was a one owner well maintained. As rough as the interior is, they should be willing to deal.

sandyvan wrote:Just don't do this:

I can't do it that ghetto, it would hurt for me to ride around in it.

sandyvan wrote:
I think that hitop is worth looking into since he says it has a rebuilt motor and was a one owner well maintained. As rough as the interior is, they should be willing to deal.

The motor is not the issue, I have one in the van. It's the matter of moooolah.

I think if it was mine,, I'd see if I could get my hands on a couple of Porta Power kits and see if you could get that door frame sorta back in shape. The door itself is Fubared but those are available. A little surgical skill with a sawz-all and the right pushes who knows. I mean its not like ya can hurt much more and there wouldnt be alot of $$ involved in the attempt. Worst case is ya get another skin and bolt yer good stuff to it. There should be some body dimensions available somewhere for it.

Yup, fiddle around with it while looking for a replacement shell. Can't hurt, and you get to hone some bodywork skills.


Lemonade!

sandyvan wrote:Just don't do this:



I saw a V-dub like that blue one this summer at a car show, they had done a very professional job on it, it was pretty cool.

I think that hitop is worth looking into since he says it has a rebuilt motor and was a one owner well maintained. As rough as the interior is, they should be willing to deal.

i like the drain pipe all around the edge,

Again glad you made it. Also a really good lesson in the physics of old vehicles. Am old enough to have been taught to never brake in the apex of a turn. Have to slow down first then hit a little gas at the apex. Newer cars get away with this all the time. Not so in my experience with vans and pickups especially if lightly loaded.

Once hit an oil spill (turned out to be about a 4 x 8' patch of trans fluid) right on the decel side of and exit/entry ramp. Was in my old Jeep and I really don't know how I didn't hit the guard rail and then flip over it. Traffic was too heavy to go back and put down markers so I suspect the local body shop got busy that evening. No cell phone that night to call the cops either.

I have a pretty decent, little rust, 66 Chevyvan that I'd really rather have as a pick-up for moving cycles and such. Too nice to chop up so I am always looking for a rolled Flattie. However, it looks like you have too much front end damage to reclaim. I agree with others that it's always great to have a spare parts van. Maybe that way you can recoup some of your loss.

Happy trails, Mark

Cut the top off, paint Scooby Doo crap all over it and sell to the Shriners. Shoot man, you are in Oregon, Early vans are a dime a dozen up there. Heck of a ride, glad you are okay.