Accidents will happen...

[SvenskBil]

Hi all,

I'm looking for some input from somebody who has done acceident repair work to classic 900's.

I have a 1986 SPG. I've been driving this car for 15 years now. My dad bought it for me while in college... (Lucky kid!) Anyway, I know a lot about 99's and 900's bodywork-wise... because I've done some work on these models myself.

While driving in Napoli (Naples) Italy I was rear-ended. It was a big bang... But as so often was the case in my 900's, there wasn't bumper damage or body damage. Shortly thereafter I noticed a dent in the side of the (rear) quarter panel in front of the the wheel well, that is between the door and the wheel well. Also, there is a slight flex in the quarter panel at the top of the wheel well.

How can I tell if this dent was from getting rear-ended or is from another incident... And other than checking the alignment of the rear axel, how can I determine if the frame is damaged? The car still tracks true even up to 90 miles an hour.

Thanks for any input... I have decide what to do with an otherwise great looking and driving car... It would be ashame to have to junk it...

Cheers, John

[Jezzadee]

The spot above the wheel well is designed to buckle in the event of a rear collision to absorb impact, so my guess would be that happened in the accident. I would think only a specialist could tell if the actual frame is out of alignment, as it may only be by a centimetre or so.

[SvenskBil]

Hi Jeezadee, thanks for the answer! I'm going to go to a bodyshop some time next week to see how bad the damage is according to them. Then I'll know more.

In the mean time, I finally figured out how to uzse a digital camera and Photoshop to post a few photos. The only damage I can find is the two pictures shown. Otherwise, inside behind the panels and underneath I can't find any damage.

If any others have some experience, please do send input!! Can the frame somehow be stretch back out if it's been compacted? How does one proceed with this kind of damage?

Cheers, JP

[woywitka]

my understanding on saabs are the bumpers do an amazing job of distributing collision forces evenly and properly. Since the car is unibody there isn't any real frame (just crumple zones within the unibody). Funny, i was told this just this morning by my insurance estimator becuase someone backed into me a few days ago causing some damage. What does have to be done is te crumple zones have to be stregthned back in the event of a repeat which does happen. like it was said above any unibody body guy will know exactly where to look/fix.