I crashed my 63 e truck

Yesterday was a very sad day for me, on my way to Portland for a motorcycle shoe I spun out and hit the wall. I need to get my truck back to Seattle and find a place to take it to start the rebuilding process. I hit the front left corner pretty good, the door is buckled and the cab is far from straight. Anyone have suggestions on where to take it for the bodywork?

I'm very sorry to hear that! For this kind of work, there is only one person and one shop I would recommend:  Spencer Cochran.  SC AutoKraft.  He is in South Prairie, which is up on the hill past puyallup, just south from Bonney Lake.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/SC-AutoKraft-LLC/133376193377562

They do only vintage and classic cars.  

Spencer and his boys fixed my '68 camaro and did it the right way.  It was hammered in the back and needed all new metal from the doors back, including all new back half and frame rails.  His prices are reasonable.  Not cheap, but not a rip-off.  He is honest and he does very good work.  It sounds like your truck will probably have to go on the frame rack, which is how they got my camaro square again.  He does alot of mopars, so your van will be in good company.  Tell him Joe Russell referred you.

Thank you! Also, does anyone have experience with collector car insurance?

twinlinemoto wrote:Yesterday was a very sad day for me, on my way to Portland for a motorcycle shoe I spun out and hit the wall. I need to get my truck back to Seattle and find a place to take it to start the rebuilding process. I hit the front left corner pretty good, the door is buckled and the cab is far from straight. Anyone have suggestions on where to take it for the bodywork?

the maaco in shoreline,wa works on a lot of classic cars and truck. he did my van's body work and paint.

twinlinemoto wrote:Thank you! Also, does anyone have experience with collector car insurance?

I have my old stuff insured with Hagerty, but I have never had to make a claim… so I wish you good luck! If you talk to Spencer, vintage/classic cars is all he does, so I would imagine he is pretty familiar with dealing with the collector's insurance.

Jim Bulger on site here has a lot of experience with it recently. He knows all the ins and outs of it. He had 2 of his wrecked at the same time.
Also let me know if you need any parts,I have several parts rigs here.

SORRY to hear about your Early truck.  ..That FEAR is in the back of my mind every time I take my Early out for a Ride..I remember Very Well when Jim (Blue Lemon) had that accident the Blue Econo was fixable with a right rear quarter panel some body work and paint the Red Early was a total loss and was one of my favorite Early's... I think to this day he still has it...I have Grundy Insurance with my Earley but luckily I never had a claim with them...... On the other hand I have State Farm on my other 2 Vans and had a claim last summer on the way back from a Van Show in Orlando with my 1975 Chevy. I was on I-75 going about 65 mph pulling our 23ft camper and hit a piece of steel in the road and blew out my left rear tire by time I got it stopped and pulled to the side of the highway it did 2k in damage on the body and paint the next day they sent a adjuster out and cut me a check no problem it was the only accident claim on that Van since my parents bought it back in 1979 .  ......Jim went to the CC so should be home some time tonight or tomorrow........GOOD LUCK........JOE VAN......         A month later and all fixed up,,,The body shop had to paint the whole left side.!!!.

I'm also sorry to hear this, hope it not real bad so you can fix it

Bummer Dude! Sorry! BTDT. Let us know if you need anything.

Thank you all for the sympathy and help! Here she is:

I will certainly need a new driver side door and front bumper, possibly a grill and some shift linkage steering and pedal parts. I will be calling SC autokraft today to see if they are willing to take it on. Let me know if you guys have any parts I can buy!

Looks like most of the impact was up around the headlight bucket. If the frame rail is ok that is repairable. You will need a door. Thankfully, you didn't get the windshield.

Just talked with Spencer from SC autokraft, he sounds like a winner and is ready to do battle with my insurance company as well as work with me to find any parts necessary. I like him already!

To buckle a door like that, the door pillar was pushed back considerably. That's going to be hard to fix. Look in the footwell and on the floor for buckling. That's a pretty good lick. I'd let a few bodyshops have a look at it and see if it can be pulled back into shape. You may be better off swapping your drivetrain into another body. These things are made out of some thick steel and it doesn't like to move. Good luck on the repairs.

Duane in Tennessee.

The floor is buckled a bit. We will see how it goes.

Glad you are Okay, best of luck on the rebuild!

BEST thing is that your okay,,, NASTY lick in the front and agree that the pillar is bent, and highly suspect you will find a buckle in the frame area behind the steering box.
  The pillar is hollow and will be a bear to straighten correctly. I have seen a lot of doors that dont fit right when hit less than that yours has been hit. No matter what the shop does, if the pillar isnt exactly on the money the door cant be adjusted to fit correctly. Vans and pickups identical to each other. 
  If Tim cant help you firstly, let me know.
vic

econopoor wrote:To buckle a door like that, the door pillar was pushed back considerably. That's going to be hard to fix. Look in the footwell and on the floor for buckling. That's a pretty good lick. I'd let a few bodyshops have a look at it and see if it can be pulled back into shape. You may be better off swapping your drivetrain into another body. These things are made out of some thick steel and it doesn't like to move. Good luck on the repairs.

Duane in Tennessee.

I agree with Duane, that looks like it will have a lot of "hidden" damage. The framework on these pretty much suck. They are paper thin and you have a lot of stuff connected to the frame were you were hit. As much as they might say they can fix it, you may have a lot of problems they don't see yet.

I see a lot of good solid trucks cheap in the northwest on Craigslist. Even if you have to drive a few hours to get one I think you would be way ahead of trying to straighten yours. I know it's hard to give up on one after you've put so much work and love into it. Now I see your wanting to upgrade to a 200 while it's down. This is a no brainer. You need to start fresh with a new truck. Build the truck you want this time. Find a good body and a 200. Get everything else from your wrecked truck and the insurance money to paint it. I don't mean to be harsh but that is the best way to go here by far.

Duane in Tennessee

That's a shame. Looks like it was a pretty nice one. I'd surprised if the floor and step weren't buckled. I've seen 5 window pick ups come up fairly cheap on craigslist from time to time. There was a 5 window came up on CL from Cle Elum, I want to say they asked $900 for it. Saw another a while back in Spokane I think, 2 pickups asking $2400, I think one was a 5 window.

That is going to be a HARD Fix the cab looks Buckled.!!. I hate to say it but your Best and Cheapest way out may be to find another body and change everything over ..I am with Everyone also I dont think you will ever get a new door to line up right..  ....JMO

Well SC autokraft has the truck, we are waiting for the insurance company to figure out what they are going to do. I got a call yesterday from the insurance company and they were looking for comparables for sale to figure out the value of my truck and cant find anything within 150 miles (not surprising). I offered to give the lady a few examples of E trucks values that are not for sale but she did not seem too excited about it. What would you guys do? I am going to hold the "replace the truck" card off as long as possible. Spencer at SC feels that the truck is fixable and I agree. As long as the insurance company can fund the rebuild that is the route we will go.

Look at Ebay completed auctions for comparables. Asking prices are worthless.

Well the best I could get out of them was $7500, which still rendered my truck "totaled". Good news there is if your truck is 25+years old your title does not get branded when the vehicle is totaled and you choose to keep it. I will have to surrender my title, and get it re-inspected after the rebuild, but that should be a breeze. I have money in hand and am going to bring it to Spencer at SC Autokraft tomorrow to start the rebuild! I posted in the wanted section, but I need a nice driver side door and a good 200 donor motor, preferably local to the western wa area. Thanks!

Good Luck to you! I hope it comes out Great! Keep sending pics!

The payoff seams low was that with the salvage bid value deducted ,how much is the salvage bid and you can demand to see the salvage bid and the comparables and DONT be afraid to call the contact for the comps and confirm info
I had a claim on a very rare street legal vintage race bike where the ins adjuster faked the comps and salvage bid I called to confirm and busted him I then renegotiated the pay off for around the true cash value and I kept the bike with a clean pink in California and just because they say it's worth bla bla dollars doesn't mean you have to accept that if you can show others valued higher or your has recent work
Comparing an truck with a nice strip and refinish job ,new suspect,mechanical ect to one pulled out of a field and cheap paint job parts replaced only as nec is a joke but that is just about what happens
Save receipt and photo document work done for these times