dear anthony

gee that is sad ...
sorry the damage was such a shock --
glad the van may have played a part in saving your life--
my thoughts are ...
is it possible to repair the body ...
i see loren b says it is not so ..
but my 68 was bashed to death in the front from the inappropriate driver and
the wierdly mounted front tire
i used a set of jacks to push the body and "frame" from the inside ... then
some fill to fair the body
yes i know there is no "frame" on the inside of a 68 but the shaped webbed
pieces of structure are supposed to be "frame" like

i am not attempting to set up an argument about what is possible and what is
not ...
i live in a world where all things are possible in regard to motor vehicle
repair --
the only thing to weight against doing such repairs are time and money --
and money is becoming more worthless as i type

repair of this vehicle might be the only way --
my self i would try to fix it ...
yours

On Mon, Oct 6, 2008 at 8:27 PM, Anthony Kimmons <akimmons@gmail.com> wrote:

> To all my good friends and Vanagon folks-
> It is with much regret that I write this email telling a sad sad story...
>
> Here are some pictures showing what I am about to tell-
> http://www.anthonykimmons.com/ike/ike.html
>
> When Hurricane Ike came through, peered out through the garage window, late
> at night to check on the cars.
> With no electricity and only a flashlight, I noticed that my van was
> 'tilted' slightly but did not take alarm. Then I noticed that the tree that
> was next to my 87 Vanagon seemed to "not be there anymore". I was a bit
> concerned, but waited until morning to find out the news.
>
> Later, when I went back into the house. I heard a huge crash above my
> bedroom and a great pile of branches and leaves fell. The next morning I
> discovered that an 80 foot pine had fallen over, crushed my beloved Vanagon
> and was perched above my bedroom. The van however had prevented the pine
> from falling completely into the house and possible saved me as I had been
> right beneath it. I may owe my life to this old Van.
>
> So, now I find myself without a Vanagon or at least a drivable one. I have
> had this car since 1988 and have treasured it through the years.
> We had some good times over the years and all the times it left me stuck in
> the road seem now to have faded away. I think of only the good it brought
> to
> my life. Funny, I always thought it would die from rust or an engine fire,
> but never thought about it being crushed by a tree in the driveway. Oh
> well... such is life, full of surprises. Regretfully, this may be one of my
> last posts to the Vanagon list. All of you have been such a help as I
> worked
> to restore this van for years now. Whenever I had trouble finding parts or
> fixing some problem, there have always been those helpful list folks who
> have gotten me through and kept this van running. It was in good shape, had
> lots of new parts. I figure I put in far more than it's worth over the past
> few years with a engine rebuild and lots of new parts inside. I was hoping
> to have this van for many years to come...
>
> What now? Looking once more from list advice. Part it out? Ebay?  Wondering
> if any of you have suggestions? Wondering if there is any reason to believe
> that I could recover the van even from this? The engine was not damaged at
> all... as I said there are tons of practically new parts, including heads,
> hoses, etc. As you can see from the pictures, the drivers side of the van
> was pushed in and the top crushed down to the level of the seats. The
> interior is basically fine as well, it's mostly body damage and window
> glass
> that the van suffered. What should I do with this old girl? I don't see
> where the Bentley covers this! Suggestions welcome!
>
> Signing off-
> Tony
>

--
roger w
There are two kinds of jobs in the world:
Picking up garbage and telling people things.
Successful people do both, with the same good attitude. (riw)
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