OK, I must have been more upset than I thought because my photography is
usally better than this, but here are some pictures of the now infamous
bent bonnet of my '68 MGB. The photos are pretty dark and I have just
thrown them into a directory without any explanation, yet, so make of
them what you will.
I will just say that, in case you are wondering, the bonnet is propped
up sideways so that you might be able to pick the bends and twists
better and to show off how the hinges were ripped off the alloy (with
some close-up shots of both the bonnet side and remaining hinges inside
the engine bay).
http://www.erickson.on.net/mgb/sobstories/
I actually thought, on second glance (and with some wishful thinking)
that it wasn't in too bad shape but now even the insurance assessor
believes it is written off. The argument, however, now starts with what
they are going to allow me to spend on its replacement.
For a painted steel bonnet I am up for about $AU600 and for a painted
alloy bonnet it is about $AU2000 (yes, you read it right - it is getting
tough to find a 'new' allow bonnet these days in these here parts).
With some minor other panel work, damaged when it flew up, you can add
another few hundred dollars. My insurance excess is $200 so you can see
that I won't want to skimp and do any of this myself. If I have to pay
that excess then....
You can imagine which option the insurance company wants to take, but I
DO NOT WANT A STEEL BONNET. They want to assess the car and see if I am
really after the originality factor of the alloy bonnet - if the car is
a rust bucket/basket case then they will insist on the steel/cheaper
option.
Has anyone got any good arguments I can put to the insurance assessor?
Eric
'68MGB MkII
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