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        General >> Give/Need advice to/from others >> Anyone know of a good garage in Birmingham?
        
(Message started by: dana on Jun 5^th, 2007, 9:32am)

Title: Anyone know of a good garage in Birmingham?
Post by dana on Jun 5^th, 2007, 9:32am

I had a fight with a pillar in a car park yesterday and put a big dent in my car as well as some unattractive white and lilac paint marks :-[

I've just moved to Birmingham so I don't really know about garages in the area and I was wondering if anyone knows any good Scorpio-friendly garages that won't charge me through the nose for this kind of thing.

Perhaps that's a lot to ask! ;)

Any help would be appreciated.

Title: Re: Anyone know of a good garage in Birmingham?
Post by Spannerdemon on Jun 5^th, 2007, 11:19am

I bet it jumped out on you too!! ;D

Might be cheaper to just replace the parts.

Can you show a picture of the damage? ;)

Welcome to the site too. :D

Title: Re: Anyone know of a good garage in Birmingham?
Post by dana on Jun 5^th, 2007, 11:50am

on 06/05/07 at 11:19:27, Spannerdemon wrote:

I bet it jumped out on you too!! ;D

Of course, I would never hit a pillar that's standing still ;)

on 06/05/07 at 11:19:27, Spannerdemon wrote:

Might be cheaper to just replace the parts.

You may well be right, but I wouldn't have a clue how as I'm not in any way mechanically minded and wouldn't trust myself enough to try!

on 06/05/07 at 11:19:27, Spannerdemon wrote:

Can you show a picture of the damage? ;)

Erm... I'd rather not as it was embarrassing enough driving into the pillar in the first place ;) However, if it'll help I might be able to bring myself to take a picture after work tonight I suppose :(

It is pretty badly dented though I haven't looked at it since it happened (been hoping it's all been some sort of nightmare! lol) so I could be exaggerating how bad it is...

Title: Re: Anyone know of a good garage in Birmingham?
Post by jonnycab on Jun 5^th, 2007, 12:09pm

Best to visit 3 or 4 different bodyshops/panel beaters & get some quotes :)

Title: Re: Anyone know of a good garage in Birmingham?
Post by Spannerdemon on Jun 5^th, 2007, 1:14pm

Don't worry too much. Most of the time, these bumps look a lot worse than they really are. ;)

I'm sure the guys on here will be most helpful in offering advice once we can see a picture of the damage.
Don't worry about damaged pride, I'm sure that most of us have caught bits of cars on 'obstructions' before.

Maybe some Brummie members will be round with the parts by teatime!! ;D ;D

Title: Re: Anyone know of a good garage in Birmingham?
Post by Matt on Jun 5^th, 2007, 6:18pm

hi dana welcome to the site,

im a brummie and tbh i wouldnt let any garage touch my scorp, but then i know how to do the work myself,

a pic would help a lot, and i happen to be breaking a car!! so more then likely have what you need :)

Title: Re: Anyone know of a good garage in Birmingham?
Post by Spannerdemon on Jun 6^th, 2007, 8:53am

Top man Matt. :D Garages.......YUK!!

Title: Re: Anyone know of a good garage in Birmingham?
Post by dana on Jun 7^th, 2007, 8:40am

I managed to take some pictures the day before yesterday but haven't found a USB cable to transfer them onto my PC yet - will do that tonight. It didn't look quite as bad as I remembered so that was good!

Title: Re: Anyone know of a good garage in Birmingham?
Post by Spannerdemon on Jun 7^th, 2007, 10:27am

One thing you'll rapidly learn about the Ford Scorpio, is that most garages know very little about them.

They will TELL you that they do, but the truth is somewhat different. The fairest way to put it is this. Because the Scorp was a top luxury car, they know how to charge you for the privelege of 'messing with it'.

Your best allies are on this site....believe!!

Look forward to seeing your photos, and offering solutions. :)

Title: Re: Anyone know of a good garage in Birmingham?
Post by Geeker on Jun 7^th, 2007, 11:08am

If the dent doesn't look as bad as you first thought, that's always a good thing :)

As long as it's really not that bad ...this might be of use to you:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/501379/remove_car_dent_with_airduster/

Good luck!

Title: Re: Anyone know of a good garage in Birmingham?
Post by dana on Jun 7^th, 2007, 11:13am

No, I'm afraid it is still a pretty massive dent! :( I think in my head I had exaggerated it to the point of half the car being destroyed or something though lol!

The garage I went to for my MOT in Coventry referred to my car as a 'Granada Scorpio' which obviously isn't right and did make me wonder how much they actually knew about my car...

Title: Re: Anyone know of a good garage in Birmingham?
Post by TiberiuS on Jun 7^th, 2007, 11:24am

Failing the hairdryer/airduster method, you can pick up a set of sliding hammers for about £20, I've got a set in the garage and they work a treat on those dents that mysteriously appear on the doors of the family Mondeo ::)

Only prob is that you need to drill a pilot hole in the centre of the ding :-/

And the paint marks will come out with rubbing compound, even if the paint is scraped, it'll look a helluva lot better with the lilac tiger stripes removed :).

Don't fear, it's only a dent ;D

Regards, Bruce :).

Title: Re: Anyone know of a good garage in Birmingham?
Post by dana on Jun 7^th, 2007, 11:09pm

Right, finally got round to downloading the pictures off my camera and here is one of them:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1422/535077568_e0871080e6_m.jpg

There are some more here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rainbowhair/tags/scorpio/

It's really bad but the paint makes it look even worse...

Anyway, let me know what you think I should do.

Title: Re: Anyone know of a good garage in Birmingham?
Post by TiberiuS on Jun 7^th, 2007, 11:28pm

Crikey. That's some argument you had with that post :)

New wing methinks, you can see where it's creased and I doubt it would sit straight after that, even with the dent pulled out. But I'm no bodyshop pro, hopefully someone else will chime in with an opinion.

Wings are easy to change on some British and Jap cars, they just bolt on to the inner wing. But Fords are more complicated, it's seam welded where it joins the door post :(

But, it's only a wing, there have been worse battles fought - posts excepted ;)

Regards, Bruce.

Title: Re: Anyone know of a good garage in Birmingham?
Post by dana on Jun 8^th, 2007, 12:51am

on 06/07/07 at 23:28:04, TiberiuS wrote:

Crikey. That's some argument you had with that post :)

I know :-[ - still not quite sure what happened, all I know is I won't be doing that again any time soon!

Thanks for all the other info - will see what others say but it does look like a new wing is in order...

Title: Re: Anyone know of a good garage in Birmingham?
Post by jonnycab on Jun 8^th, 2007, 1:12am

Time to get a few quotes then ;)

Title: Re: Anyone know of a good garage in Birmingham?
Post by Spannerdemon on Jun 8^th, 2007, 8:09am

There I was expecting Major Motorway Carnage type damage........ :o :o..............and it's only a creased wing! Badly creased I admit, and definitely no use any more, but no big worry.

Don't they paint bollards a funny colour in Brum? No wonder you wanted to run it over!! :D

Now all you need to do is bribe Matt to help you with a wing if he's got one. (Hint...You can often bribe Scorpio owners with help/ fitting it for you with BEER).

Are you there Matt............... ;D

Seriously, if you can get a replacement (cheap/free) wing fitted, the preparation and paint job to restore it to new condition shouldn't be too drastic costwise. Put it this way, it's the sort of job that I'd do here at home in my own garage, including the spraying, in one day so no big deal. Nasty dent, but quite minor really.

If you DO end up getting it done professionally, then I agree with Jonnycab. Get several quotes, and don't for God's sake ask any Main Dealer bodyshop to do it unless you've got a VERY deep purse. I'm sure there's some good bodyshops round Brum who'll spray it for a sensible price.

Console yourself with one thing. At least it's still driveable. What you want to do is write "HE DID IT" on the wing with a marker pen. It will make you feel better when other motorists see it. They'll think your husband/boyfriend's done it :)

Keep us posted on it. :D

Title: Re: Anyone know of a good garage in Birmingham?
Post by TiberiuS on Jun 8^th, 2007, 10:46am

Spanners, I thought they were welded to the door post and floorpan? :-/

You learn something new every day I guess ::)

Title: Re: Anyone know of a good garage in Birmingham?
Post by Spannerdemon on Jun 8^th, 2007, 10:57am

Yes, I'm pretty sure that they are, like the later Granadas were. Nuisance because the bolt on ones were just SO easy and quick to replace.

When I said a day's work, I actually meant the preparation and spraying time for the wing once the replacement wing has been fitted and aligned. The fitting of the wing though wouldn't be a big job for somebody with welding gear. ;)

Title: Re: Anyone know of a good garage in Birmingham?
Post by TiberiuS on Jun 8^th, 2007, 11:06am

Aha ;D ;)

Title: Re: Anyone know of a good garage in Birmingham?
Post by petehull on Jun 8^th, 2007, 1:24pm

The wings are bolted with 2X10mm bolts on the door post and then spot welded along the top and a couple of fixings behind and under the headlamp along with a plastic moulding that the bumper clips onto which was pop riveted onto the body, then there are a couple of plastic clips on the lower front of the wheelarch to accommodate two self tappers to hold the bottom of the bumper in place, the wheel arch liner then clips into place around the arch.
I have one that I fitted onto my old car, cost me £85, I just bolted it on at the time to get the car back on the road, spayed it up and it looked ok.

Pete

Title: Re: Anyone know of a good garage in Birmingham?
Post by Matt on Jun 8^th, 2007, 8:35pm

im here !!!

yeah ive got a wing, in silver mind, (and still on the car) it's spot weled along the top and theres a few bolts down the side of the door and one at the bottom, not sure on how the bit below the headlight comes off, need to have a look...

i'll be finishing the odd bit on the cossie stripping so i'll have a bit of time to fiddle around with them.. keep you posted

as for fitting, i cant see why it couldnt be bolted on or pop rivited along the top. line up shouldnt be to difficult as you have 2 bolted points of referance, so once you have them on, close the bonet and set the gap then hold in place with mole grips or simlar...

Title: Re: Anyone know of a good garage in Birmingham?
Post by dana on Jun 9^th, 2007, 12:47pm

Wow, you guys have all been so helpful! I wasn't quite expecting that many replies. Not quite sure how to go about addressing everyone's posts but here goes.

Spannerdemon, thanks for the reassurance :) I am certainly glad I can still drive my car, at least it means the repairs aren't quite as urgent as they could otherwise have been, but I do want to get rid of any evidence of my own stupidity sooner rather than later - perhaps your simple and cheap solution involving marker pens would be a good one! I would of course supply anyone who helped with alcohol, whether beer or otherwise :)

As for petehull's post - I'll just nod. £85 doesn't sound too bad, though I'd have to pay for someone to spray it as I just don't have the facilities or knowledge to do it.

Definitely keep me posted on what happens with that wing Matt as I will most probably be interested. Is it worth posting elsewhere on this forum asking whether anyone has one going spare?

Again, thanks for all your advice!

Title: Re: Anyone know of a good garage in Birmingham?
Post by Matt on Jun 9^th, 2007, 5:41pm

yes and no

if you need unboltable stuff / unclippable stuff then post a topic in the parts wanted area, as for the wing they are a lot of work and require some tool members may not have,

ive pm'd you :)

Title: Re: Anyone know of a good garage in Birmingham?
Post by Matt on Jun 10^th, 2007, 5:28pm

got the wing off, so its yours if intrested

Title: Re: Anyone know of a good garage in Birmingham?
Post by dana on Jun 18^th, 2007, 3:26pm

Matt - PM'd you last week, did you get it? If not I'll resend.

Title: Re: Anyone know of a good garage in Birmingham?
Post by Matt on Jun 18^th, 2007, 6:15pm

hi dana

its my fault, had a very busy weekend, mate came over and draged me round car sales showrooms checking cars over for him, yes i got the wing off and yes i got your pm, im working sat so can drop it off on the way home, if you still want it?