A Fender Ouch - What to do?

[Chris Markham]

Just happened, less than an hour ago on my own driveway.

We're rural, and on a hill. A small SUV was coming up our drive to see my wife about buying some sheep. I was going down our drive to take my daughter to meet her friends. Murphy was working overtime. Steepest part of the driveway (naturally), one-lane, on a curve, no "out" on either side. Murphy got me because I wasn't paying attention that the Sheep Buyers, who were half-hour late for their appointment, would of course be coming up the drive at That Very Moment.
The tires locked, I lifted, tried to stop again, they locked again and I slid at about 4mph into their plastic bumper. I did have the presence of mind as I knew I was going to hit to cock the car to the right and hit one fender rather than the nose square-on.
Everyone was fine, everyone was sad. The Santa Fe had a scratch. The driver of the Santa Fe had owned a 59 Ghia and "knew exactly what the damage to a nose means".

[albumimg]1566[/albumimg]
[albumimg]1567[/albumimg]

Offsite picture gallery of other pictures showing damage to Leg's front fender

Whatever I do to fix this, it does mean her new engine stays on the shelf, as I can't build up a new engine and do the body/paint work out of the same budget.

There appears to be no damage that isn't cosmetic (headlamp excepted). Though I haven't looked to see if the fender brace pressed into the nose box, I'm guessing it bent. Car still tracks straight. I really was a low-speed collision. Could have been a parking lot post.

So here's some of my criteria for choosing how to repair this.

The reason "Legs" has been an autocross car is that under a pretty 10-foot paint job, she's got a lot of warts. She's been wrecked before (not by me) so the hood # doesn't match and there are wrinkles on the front end interior panels and there's a ton of bondo in the nose. Add to that door bottom rust, B-pillar stress fractures, rear-window rust and horrible gaps. I'd always said that I'd run the doors off of her, have my fun, because when it was time to to a restoration, I'd be without her for a year or three and then afterwards I'd be more protective of my investment and she'd be retired from AutoX and DE days--she'd get her bumpers and her interior back, and a respectable muffler.

So was today the tipping point towards restoration? Or do I just bang out the fender as they did in the 60s, paint some stripes on the fenders rather than having to match the paint, and keep having the kind of fun she and I have been having for the last 8 years?

No need for a big thread; you can indicate your opinion in the poll.

[Ron LaDow]

Chris,

"So was today the tipping point towards restoration? Or do I just
bang out the fender as they did in the 60s, paint some stripes on
the fenders rather than having to match the paint, and keep having
the kind of fun she and I have been having for the last 8 years?
Chris M"

Sorry to see what happened and I really don't want to hear any more about the sheep, but hardly anyone can make that decision for you. Plenty of race cars have 10' paint jobs and nobody gripes if they win.
Thanks,
Ron LaDow

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[charles kourmpates]

Your poll, none of the above.

Repair that material or use what you have. The headlight bucket has to be removed.

Maybe one or possibly two cuts in the metal.

Maybe none!

Can't tell until the headlight bucket is removed.

Charles