"Arthur Bullard" wrote in message
...
Hello,

My partner misjudged a bend in our '72 MGB GT on Saturday and, to
cut
a long story short, we ended up on our side (nearside) in a ditch.
Both
of us were fine, and the car has sustained surprisingly little
damage.

Hmmm...... I'm not so sure - Sorry :~(


The left front wing and left door have both dented, but no paint
breakage. The windscreen is broken on the left side, and there is
kinking in the roof - it looks like the A-pillar has been pushed
back a

What are the door gaps like, is there any obvious difference between
what they were before or LH to RH ? I also want to know what the tear
in the headlining is, was that there before the accident, if not do
you know what caused it ?

smidgen. There is almost no scratching or scraping, most likely due
to
the squelchy muddy nature of the ditch - I'm still fishing handfuls
goopy mud from the bodywork :-).

The trouble is, judging by the photo's it has come into hard contact
with something...


For a better idea of the damage, see the photos:
http://www.photonhunter.co.uk/photos/events/mg-crash

Ouch !


Sensitive readers will be pleased to know that she (the car!) has
been
given a wash, wax & hoover since then, and looks almost better than
she
ever has, apart from the obvious...

So, I now have a few questions. I am insured with Lancaster/Groupama
under the MGOC scheme. How likely are they to be amenable to repairs
(if possible) being undertaken at a repairer of my choice, rather
than
one of their 'approved repairers'?

It's *your* car, you can have your property repaired were ever you
like, they may play silly buggers and delay sorting out the claim but
you just need to be firm with them [1]. I suspect you are looking at a
substantial repair here (roof screen pillar areas are always a *******
area). I will stress that this is based solely on your photo's, the
car needs to be inspected in person by someone who knows what they are
looking at.

[1] even if it means accepting a cash payment (write off) whilst
keeping salvage, and then you having the car repaired.


If I am allowed to choose the repairer, given it's a classic MG, am
I
likely to be better off taking it to my friendly-but-standard garage
(who happen to have an accident repair business), Drewett's in
Headington, or to somewhere less geared to accident repair but more
geared to MGs - e.g. Manor Farm Garage near Wantage, or Oselli in
Witney?

No, you NEED a car-body shop that is well used to re-aligning panels
and not just fitting new (as many body-shops do now), so you have the
damaged planished out and not just bodged.


Should the shell be deemed unrepairable, I am considering a rebuild
around a Heritage shell. I see these cost GBP 4060 - how much are
labour for transfer of the bits from my car, painting, etc, likely
to set me back?

You'll be talking about a good two weeks work to spray the new shell
[1], strip and fit-up the new shell - there might be other
(mechanical) work that needs to be done so that the car can be put
back together, I would cost in a new complete clutch anyway unless
it's all but brand new.

[1] it will also take a lot more paint than you think to paint
correctly which needs costing in.


Finally, the poor car was unceremoniously dragged out of the ditch
backwards by the rear axle (nngh). I can't see any signs of
resulting
damage, though I will probably get the alignment checked. Was this
the
most sensible purchase point for the winching, or could I have
recommended something better?


Given the options, it was probably one of the best places to use, if
the body has been damaged by such a recovery then it's time for a
major rebuild anyway (IYSWIM), I doubt that the axle would have bent
unless the recovery person want very careless.

I really have reservation about just how much damage has been done, my
bones are telling me that the pictures are not telling me all I would
need to know before estimating for this sort of damage.