Sigma-galant.com

Well, Rebuild or Memorial.

Short end of it - Thursday - Old bloke faints/blacks out - full on the pedal in an auto - clips me while stationary at a T Intersection, then continues on to hit a parked 4x4, turning it 90 and pushing it and himself onto the footpath till he finally hits a shop.

His Camry and the 4x4 totaled.

My car - to get it going.
caster rod - bent
control arm - bit bent
control arm bolt - broken
sway bar bolt - bent
cross-member - hole for the arm bolt oveled
wheel



Cosmetics
light surround
grill
guard
paint guard

Oh - and he has no insurance -
Phoned him - go's to voice mail.

/end rant.

So for a start off - want to hear your story's /suggestions on dealing with non insured people.

Second - will fix the mechanical damage - has rego till April - GF has the AU - and the GK and XF are no where near finished - need a car.

Third - RUST - I have. I think, a very bad patch bottom corner drivers side - the panel damage is not worth doing if the rust is to far gone / above my skill level to fix.


So best case - fix all the damage and rust - start a full respray.

Wost case - fix the mechanical broken bits - come April, strip the good bits - cube the shell into a 4x2x1 with a thick bit of glass on top - my new coffee table.

Will know more when I pop the window out

So, Suggestions / Ideas - Dealing with non insured people and Cutting out Rust.

Dam man i hate people that have no insurance
my mate learn t this the hard way
he didnt have it and hit a brand new VE and is now paying it out since he didnt want to pay the 400 a year for third party

real sad to see what happened man

like you said you need a car so maybe you might have to fix it up for now and if the rust is really bad then maybe a re shell into another GH or something along those lines.
You can follow this up legally with the guy you can have your insurance company deal with it and he will prob have to pay you for damages ect but i cant be too sure.

Hope that helped
let us know how you go mate

TUFSIG

If he's got no cover its very unlikely that you'll see anything

The rest is just steel and bolt ons, rebody it if you can find a good shell

This is bad luck.

What sort of insurance do you have?
I am assuming because of this post it is third party property damage only.

As far as chasing someone with no insurance, how much do you have in details?
Name, Phone, Address, License Number?

You could take him to court. It would cost quite a bit, then he can say he's broke and opt to pay you back at $1 a week.

I think the re-shelling idea wins for me. After all, it is a Sigma and they don't go for too much money. That gives you till April to find another shell. So you might want to fix the mechanical stuff for now and look for another shell? At least it is a Sigma and there are still plenty of them out there?

I had something similar to my GB galant. A truck cleaned it up. I drove it till it cost me one dollar. I got 6 months out of it. It got stolen and recovered in that 6 months too.
It was sad to see it go. I stripped it and hung onto the parts looking for a new shell. But couldn't find one. I gave up.
9 years later I found my wagon, but had already got rid of the parts.

Wish you all the best. I don't think there is a happy ending anywhere here.

Dave...

Nasty :-(
If you know who he is, get a quote for repairs, then get a solicitor to write him a letter of demand. It might cost a bit, but sometimes it works. If it doesnt, you can try visiting him yourself (feel free to take a few mates, or a big dog) - in my experience he'll probably agree to pay it off in installments, and will do that for a while then you'll have to hassel him and finally you give up and get on with things. Forget court - too expensive, and even if you win they'll just tell him to pay - no enforcement.
Sorry to see this...
T.

If you have property only on your insurance it might still be worthwhile to contact your insurance company to see if they can send a letter of demand on your behalf. I'm not positive as i have never been in an accident like that as to what options you have.

Thanks guys, was expecting there's not much chance of getting anything out of him.
Will continue to phone anyway, only got the machine so far and at least want to tell him if he was over to the left a little more, he could of wiped out my entire family ( mum's side - only the 3 of us - mum 60 / nann 92 - we where going shopping )
And you never know he may do the right thing. But with the fines the cop said he will get and the 4x4s dudes insurance company will probably be after him. I will be the last on the list.

Mechanical she should be going by Wednesday. Theirs a cross-member on ebay I'm hoping to get, the other bits from the wreckers and Micks got the light surrounds and Grill. Should get it rolling and legal.

Next step, pop the window out, inspect the rust, rebuild or let the rego run out next year.
No re-shell - we don't need the GH, its sentimental value ( Grandads car ) and practicality ( one of the 2 cars that the wheelchair will fit in ) is why we keep it. oh, and the turbo buzz.

Cutting rust out, pix's if ya got them.

Sit tight for a while: you dont know what he's going to do - Ive had a chap claim against ME for the damage to his car when HE ran into ME. And if the damage to his car is substantial, it might work in his favor to go to court and you could end up paying 10% of his damages just for being there (ask me how I know ). Keep in touch with the police, get a copy of the report and the number. Take photos of the damage from all angles. Write down (or record if they'll let you) everything that is said. Dont mean to freak you out - just relating some personal experience ....
T.

Bit of an update - cross-member, hole for the arm bolt oveled pic



New one is in - and all the suspension stuff was finished in June.

Unfortunately the hit made the rockers on cylinder 4 walk forward - at the time was thinking a coil plug/igniter plug had got knocked off (3 cylinder sigma) so didn't think anything of it.



Engine ok - but got an M7 head from the wreckers to get checked/redone. ( 6 weeks now and its only been checked to see if its usable )
The old head had stainless valves. Want oversized valves and a cam in this if anyone can recommend a place to get them. Keep in mind I want to keep my rollers and hydraulic lifters. Schneider cam only on the list so far.

and ideas of running a solid sleeve on the rocker support shafts rather than them springs that keep them there.

Shame about your car Steve as for the old coote KILL HIM na only joking there is little you can do ,if you need a hand with the rust I m more than happy to help gettin quite handy with the mig welder.

With no insurance AND having hit another car AND a shop, I don't think he will be in any situation to pay, not that it sounds like he would anyway.

Pity you don't live in Vic. Just bought a partly restored GN Wagon, that just needs to be put back together.

Could have let you re-assemble and use it for a while.

Cheers.

You can go through small claims court if he doesn't reply within one
month of your lodgement the sheriffs office will reposess goods go the
the value of the damage.go down to your local court for more information

crystalmeths wrote:Shame about your car Steve as for the old coote KILL HIM na only joking there is little you can do ,if you need a hand with the rust I m more than happy to help gettin quite handy with the mig welder.

I live in hope that he's in one of the substandard Nursing Homes. Friend of a friend works at Urban Auto Body Styling, so that maybe covered now.

Superscan811 wrote:With no insurance AND having hit another car AND a shop, I don't think he will be in any situation to pay, not that it sounds like he would anyway.
Pity you don't live in Vic. Just bought a partly restored GN Wagon, that just needs to be put back together.
Could have let you re-assemble and use it for a while.
Cheers.

Thanks for the offer - But would need to start the 1uz install then. lol.


Finally, some work done on the head - OS valves in + porting. Waiting on Cam + maybe more porting.



The Turbo is back from Fred (Turbologic ) reco while its off the road - picked up 4x 1000cc injectors to replace the 550s - cleaned up the diff hat/bars I pinched of the XF + urethane bush kit - ready for the watts link.

Good to see a bit of progress.

Are you doing the porting yourself?

BTW it may be a good idea to remove the sharp edges in the combustion chamber as well as porting.
Around the sparkplug and in between the valve seats would be a good idea.

This will help eliminate hot spots and reduce the chance of detonation.
The porting and blending is a lot easier to do before you install the valves or cut the valve seats.


Cheers.

Superscan811 wrote:Are you doing the porting yourself?

Hell no, I just bolt things together, dark arts are best left to the pros - just cnc job aroud the valve guides so far.


Speaking of dark arts - Camshaft decision time - Going with RPW as they still have Billet Cams.

http://www.rpw.com.au/Products/Engine%2 ... ec4g54.htm

I have no idea on cams, so to give you an idea. Want to have a go at the local hill climb, and an odd track/drag day - Its street driven once or twice a week.

Of course my eyes went straight to there stage 4 turbo cam, but after reading http://www.rpw.com.au/shop/index.php?op ... &Itemid=51 was thinking the stage 3 - Dude at rpw recommends the stage 2. but he may have done what they recommend - go with a lower stage cam to what you think you need.

I dont what to get to crazy for the street, yet still don't want it so mild that it was a waste of $$$. Would like to keep the idle 1000 rpm or under. A custom cam is only $55 more so keep that in mind too.

Whats the stock cam anyway - M7 head if theres any difference.

The engine is an efi 2.4L, JE 2.6 pistons, 2L crank and stock prepped rods. Old head only had stock size stainless valves.


So feedback on cam selection please.

Update:-

Get the head Wednesday/Thursday if lucky.

Turbo now reconditioned. New wastegate. Did the down pipe and manifold in the heat wrap that I've had for years and never used.

Need to make up a shield for the top of the turbo. Dont want the bonnet to cook the paint again. (if it gets paint)

Head is finally back.





Hi rez pix

First of the rust removal.

Coming along I see
Taking advantage of the public holidays?

What's left to do on it now?

Dave...

The head is on - Computer came back not configured after the firmware update, so more phone calls.

This is only the 2nd door - so loads to do.

but, it's getting done.






PS - on the look out for a passenger front door.

nice work man

wheres a link to that dohc build you are doing??

Sorry - no dohc build link - I'm to slow with the GSR + the XF and GH keeps taking the $$$ away.

but half did the fuel rail and bolted on a heat shield that was ment for the GH a few weeks back.

3rd door and I thought this was the good one.





yes - ony half done - should be finished by tomorrow.

and the poor guard he's get'n metal from

Door finished.


Now the body.





FFS - more rust.

Remove the lip.


Clean and weld up any holes.


Weld channel back on.

So, respray after all this?

Looks like you're doing a thorough job? Make sure you do something with the insides of those panels to protect the metal from rust coming back...

Dave...

Nice to see this still lives Steve

nice looks like uve done a good job

75wagon wrote:So, respray after all this?

Looks like you're doing a thorough job? Make sure you do something with the insides of those panels to protect the metal from rust coming back...

Dave...

Yep - cobalt blue this time.

Inside is get'n something similar to fish oil.

amgis_obrut wrote:Nice to see this still lives Steve

GC75 wrote:nice looks like uve done a good job

All Mr Joel's work - Would of given up at the rust in the channel.


Other Side.



All run'n - need to clean up - oil breather / wiring / and think an injector or more may be leaking (run'n rich).


Hi Rez


Edit:- and more.





Edit 2:-

Slow, but still on going.

Replace the guard that got hit.





Re-do the s13 radiator - Cut down to clear the intercooler pipes.


Installed the delphi 1000cc injectors - replacing the old rx7 550cc.



And, something missing in this pic.


After 3 run's around the local area the turbo shit itself - can only guess the new kid put it together.

Hey mate if you with aami you get uninsured motorist insurance if they not insured aami pays for repairs and takes the bitch to court for the money some f wit trucky reversed over my car and kept saying ill get back to you went to aami and they sorted the fuck out! but this is all based on if you with aami sorry if you not.