October 18... makes you think of cool weather, changing leaves, college football, chili, and..... HAIL STORMS?!?

Yep.

Kim recently got on-board with Nissan, in my same department. This is awesome for multiple reasons, not the least of which is the ability to carpool and use her '03 Accord for the daily grind. We've been leaving the Crossfire at home Mon-Fri and only using it for date nights... We did this to decrease the risk of the car getting damaged in the day-to-day commute.

Today, while we're at work 30 miles away, a freak hail storm hits my end of Murfreesboro... I'm seeing the uploads on Facebook, sick to my stomach knowing that my baby was in the mix.

I get home two hours later, and, between rain showers, dry it off just long enough to see the top side of every body panel riddled with dents.

The ugliest one was on the hood, right on the "spine" that goes down the center.

Roof probably has 25-40 dimples. Both rear fenders have 5-6 noticeable dents, one near the rear window right on the character line.

Ugh.

I'm hitting the drag strip in two weeks(ish) so any body work will have to wait. From the looks of things on the news, it's probably best as half of Murfreesboro got nailed. Home windows across the town were broken out, siding was damaged, just a mess.

To give you an idea of how much hail we got, I got home almost two hours after the storm hit. There were still 1" diameter stones on the grass. Folks said most of the bigger stones were 2+"... A city ~15 miles away had tennis-ball sized hail.

So... yep. PDR likely won't remove the bigger blemishes. I hate the thought of body filler but I hate the idea of them ripping apart the car to replace body panels.

Anyone been through this before on these cars? Ideas as to damage?

Thanks,

 

See, this is why I hate using mine as a daily driver starting next week.

But at least I'd get a new top outta the deal...

Sorry to hear this, John. But all that matters is you have Kim - so you have all you need.

 

I don't have any advice on the repairs, buy you have my sentiments in regards to the damage.

 

John, take the insurance money and wait till spring. You will be surprised how many of the dents will self repair, and what ever is left, take it to a dent repair place as long as the paint didn't break.

 

I'm considering this actually. Thing is, I think my company is a ***** about it and only pays the shop doing the repair. I'll run that option by them, though.

 

Well that just sucks!!! I had something like that happen years ago to my pride & joy Z-28. A hunkin' big 3" dia hail stone left a big dent dead center in the roof. While my insurance covered the repair cost, years later I could see the marks of the Bondo thru the paint and the car just never was the same. I hope things turn out better for you.

 

I cringe every time a hail storm is in the area if my car is not in my garage.
Occasionally this has happened while at work and my boss lets me bring it inside our warehouse just in case.
They know how much this car means to me.

Let us all know the out come with this whole thing.
Best of luck to you my friend.

 

John, I'm so sorry to hear this. Hail has always been one of my biggest fears, and anytime I hear about it damaging somebodys car, it makes me sick to my stomach as well.
On the up side, the paintless dent removers can truly work miracles. True, not so much on character lines, edges, etc. But for the most part they do a great job.
Now may be a good time to consider a CF hood.
With Alabaster, we have about the best color for paint job repairs, and don't worry about them using mud on some of the repairs. It was used in the factories for years blending rear 1/4 panels to the roof and in many other areas too. If the roof is damaged too badly, remember it shouldn't be that hard to have the center panel replaced. Finding a roof skin might be another story.
Since winter is knocking on our door, you might as well not be in a hurry to get it fixed. You might be able to locate a new hood, fenders, and doors (if you need em) from the salvage yards in the next 5 months. I'm sure there are more than enough pairs of eyes right here on the forum that would be lookin out for ya too.
Hang in there, we're all pullin for ya.

 

Thanks everyone...

Mike -- I may opt for the CF hood if they allow me the liberty ($$$).

None of the dents are super deep, and none appear to have broken the paint. So PDR may save the day after all...

I have a $500 deductible either way... doubt PDR will touch it for less than that.

 

My immediate thought.

OH NO!

You have a nice lookin' car. Sorry to hear about the damage.

 

Right there with ya man... I was sick when I heard M'boro got rocked.

So far, the call volume has been so high today that I haven't even been able to get through and file a claim. I'm insured through a local company.

 

Leave the dents on there. Mythbusters proved that dimpled cars are faster anyway.

 

I know when I was in the autobody business, shops loved hail storms. Usually it meant, at least, a new hood, roof & trunk lid. Personally, if it couldn't be PDR'd, I'd much prefer new sheetmetal over filler.

 

Although, that was most often lead.

 

John, so sorry to hear about that beautiful alabaster ride.

Check with some local high end dealerships and see who they use, chances are, since it is such a large job, they will cut you a deal. The guy Howard used charged 'by the panel' and it was not bad at all, this may work in your favor if you can find someone who charges the same way.

Good luck, my friend.

 

Depends how long ago we are talking, not many skilled lead techs still out there, especially with all the newage polymers and fillers...

 

Same here. The guy I use to remove that occasional ding, charges by the panel.

 

John, I worked at a Buick dealer in the late 60's, I worked in the parts department, so I was always in and out of the Body Shop.
I can't tell you how many nearly new cars came in for repairs that had been in an accident, and when the guys at the body shop started sanding down the panels they would run into bondo.
I don't remember ever seeing lead. I'm not saying they didn't use it, but I sure as heck never saw it.

 

I have no qualms with replacing the hood... but it's the other panels that make me nauseous.

How will they be able to remove the roof and replace it without screwing up everything else? God forbid they leave the roof open while it's in the body shop and my car is filled with sanding dust from all the other cars

 

John "alfdoc" has a lot of photos of a Crossfire that shows the cars skeleton.
Message - CrossfireForum.org Gallery
It looks like it's not really that big of a deal to remove the "roof skin" without interfering with the rest of the body structure.
Like I said before, just getting a "New" roof skin from Chrysler will probably be the biggest problem.
But it would be nothing for a salvage yard to "air chisel" a roof off a totaled car.