Projects A tree fell on my car!

I agree. This is not a one-size-fits-all situation, and your coverage will be based on your specific policy. I personally have riders to my homeowner's coverage that covers my outbuildings and their contents for nearly half a million dollars. If something were to happen, god forbid, let my homeowners fight it out with my auto insurance as to who is going to cover the loss of vehicles. I don't care who pays me, as long as it's squared up.

 

I have never heard of a homeowners policy that covers uninsured vehicles.

 

Technically, the car would be contents of the building. I have all of my cars, even cars that are projects and a long, LONG, way away from being completed insured under my collector policy (I just drop the liability limits on those vehicles since I don't need to worry about running people over or getting into car accidents with a car that is not going to leave the shop).

 

I stand corrected. The wildlife guy who hosted a tour here stated that they prefer the white pines. Sorry to hijack thread

 

If still thinking of repairing, as in putting another roof on, strip out the interior and get in with some jacks or porto power and push the roof roughly back into shape. This will give you an idea of whether the body is still square and doors open and shut easily. If they do, jack the car up level with all wheels off the ground and measure suspension points to see if there are discrepancies. If the body is ok I'd get another roof rather than hand it over to the insurance company.

 

If you throw a rock and hit a tree with an Eagles nest in it and it falls on a Falcon would that be getting 2 birds with 1 stone?

 

I hope you can rebuild this for your wife. . .
And for the experience. You can do it bro

 

Sorry to see what happened. Fortunately, there are Falcons still out there.. It shouldn't be too hard to find a replacement, if thats what you want. Couple of examples.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/371138907384772

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/762283904538375

 

It's amazing what can be fixed with some patience (and some home built end-of-arm tooling for the cherry picker) !

 

If you do decide to fix it, these are words to live by.
Push the roof out and get everything squared up and fitting before you cut the roof or even the skin off. Just the same as doing a chop on a decent roof everything on the car has to be square and perfect before you start cutting.

 

Sucks for sure, I too agree with pushing it out and getting door gaps good before whacking off.....the roof.
I had a garage cave in on my 41 and you'd be surprised of the residual effects, I pushed it out before doing a new roof.

 

I really really appreciate all the posts. I'm out of my depth (more than normal).

So the appraiser came by and considers it totaled (this is nor surprise). They're going to cut me a cheque for agreed upon value. According to my policy after that it's considered theirs unless they don't want it (I imagine they don't want it), and then I can go from there.

My current concern is it's not sitting level in the back. It is in the front. I think the unibody may be tweaked but I don't know how to actually check that.

The doors won't open currently. They hit the front fenders. I'm not sure what's going on there yet.

If it's straight I'm willing to swap the roof and repair the fenders/whatever else.

Pictures tell a better story so here y'all go:

 

"I'm out of my depth (more than normal)."

That was a clean looking Falcon, it will be tough to find another one in that condition - double tough within a day's travel of MA (former MA resident here - most Falcons were rusted out when I left 41 years ago).

To my not-quite-experienced eye, I see a lot more work than "weld a roof on it". Consider, do you have:
1. The space to work on this for many months.
2. The time
3. The money
4. Buy and find a place to store the needed tools
5. The desire to develop the needed skills

Is there a special attachment to this car? Like grandma bought it brand new?

Is there something special about the drive train? Might be worth buying it from the insurance company and parting it for your next project.

For instance, about 12 years ago, someone drove into my 1971 3/4 ton IH pickup (unfortunately, I was in the pickup and did not walk for a couple of weeks...). The "something special" was a factory rebuilt IH 392 CID V-8 engine. I bought the truck back for under $400. The engine bolted into my wife's 1975 IH Scout II. I gave the rest of the parts away - There was a recession going on - a friend's truck got the axles, rims and usable tires - the good door went to another club member, several folks came by and picked parts.

 

The drivetrain was in great shape-roller cam 302 hooked to a world class T5.

My wife loved it, and we dated in it before she was my wife, but it ain't worth fixing it.

I'm looking for a cheap shell maybe.

@Hemiman 426 posted some facebook links and following them I found this, which might do:

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1119912268388945

But I had other projects in process so for now, it'll sit.

 

That car could probably be fixed with enough time and money, but I think you'd have way more in it than it's worth. The one you linked to on marketplace would be a good one to put all your parts on, even needing floor pans. Heck, you might even be able to cut the ones out of the blue car and use them.

 

The doors into the fenders that much looks like the cowl/firewall is down. Think of U shape. Most anything can be fixed. With that said after getting the check you'll be better off finding another and transplanting your drivetrain.

Sent from my SM-G973U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Buy it back from the Insurance Co. & part it out. A real shame.

 

maybe.?........find a 6 cylinder mustang......swop the drivetrain........make the tail lights, head lights, grill and bumpers fit......hmmmmm?

 

6-cylinder and V8 cars, in that year, do not have the same body shell. The V8 cars have more metal, thicker metal, and more layers.

 

you saying it can't be done?

 

I'm sure the one he has was a 6 cylinder car.

Sent from my SM-G973U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Don't know about these, but I have an original '65 Mustang 6 cylinder and the whole front end is so different that it would be cheaper to buy a whole 289 4speed car than it would be to convert mine to V8 power. I expect this is about the same.

 

Did you see those words?

You need to add a lot of bracing to accommodate even a stock V8. Even modified 6-cylinder cars driven aggressively can develop serious cracks. Ask me how I know.

My 6-cylinder car gained about 200lbs, to keep the body from bending, and has a subframe that ties the front lower control arm pick up point together.

 

They were throw away cars when new, they didn't really plan on them lasting many years, nor did they figure on V8 power to start with. They were just a cheap car to get buyers into a new car, hoping their next car would be more upscale.

 

I had braced this one to handle the v8 based on gimpy's prior advice.

Not sure what the plan is yet. I built it for my wife, so if she wants another Falcon, she can have one.

 

If you could get it I'd buy that white one. Swap floor pans and then all your other good stuff. In the spring paint it blue. If you have the space it would keep you busy during the winter. You're getting money for insurance with a possible buyback option. Makes sense to me...

 

If you run across anything down this way, please let me know. I usually make a couple trips a year back to Pa, so it wouldn't be a problem dragging it that far for ya (F-250).

 

We have ones in good repair out this way, fairly often. There is not much in the way of winter, just some rain.

My '60 has two dime-sized perforations in one wheel arch, and some surface rust, when I got it, with one respray in its lifetime. From where I am located, down to where @squirrel is located, there are probably thousands of Falcons, all nearly, or totally rust free.

 

With the crushed cowl and dash that's a parts car. Bent door openings is another really bad sign. The six shells were pretty flimsy....

Find a V8 shell with no motor, they're out there...

 

The low rust zone seems to me to extend from the coastal mountains in California, to the middle of Texas. And north a long ways, too, as long as you're out west.