Wrecked the 1996 Camaro SS
 

Hey gang...it happened after owning the car for 8 years. I've had a few little mishaps that weren't my fault (lady backing into me at Walmart, someone sideswiping me, lady backing into me at a gas station, brother backing into me), but this one is finally mine.

Long story short, my buddy and I were coming home and driving down a two lane freeway. The freeway came to a stoplight and when we tried to stop, the brakes stopped working. We were going freeway speeds unable to stop so to keep from rear ending cars at the light, we had to swerve and go over several curbs before spining through the intersection and jumping a few more curves. Luckily neither one of us had any injuries or no other cars were involved.

I'm almost certain that she will be totaled out...14 year old car with 150,000 miles on it. The engine still starts. Not sure about the transmission though.

From what I can see, the damage is pretty much this:

-All 4 tires and wheels are gone
-Right rear tire has broken off the axle
-Rear axle will need replacement
-Probably all four corners need complete new suspension
-Passenger window busted out
-Severe exhaust damage (pretty much gone)
-Severe quarter panel damage to passenger side
-Bad quarter panel damage to drivers side
-Bad wheel well damage to front drivers side
-Front and rear bumpers will need either replacement or repair


I really can't tell if the frame has been tweaked or not. The doors seem to be misaligned but that may be due to the quarter panels being bent into them.

I just can't see myself letting this car go. It was my first car and I've taken such great care of it...can't even tell you how many hours I've spent washing and Zainoing it....how many hours of general maintenance, countless passes down the track.

I'm still waiting on the insurance company to give an estimate, but I can't imagine that it would be worth more than $5k to 6k.

Anyone had any experience with running over curbs at highways speeds? I want to rebuild it. Am I being nuts right now? I know it would end up being a salvage title, but I would never consider reselling anyways...just to have her maybe as a track or weekend car. I just can not see her sitting in a field somewhere, rotting away, parts being taken off of her.:cry:

As long as the frame isn't screwed, she's fixable, but you are right about insurance. They'll total it out, but if you want, you can buy back and at the worst, part it out for another car. But IMO it really doesn't look that bad.

so sorry about your loss, I would have cried :bang:

I would have just just yanked the e-brake and wished for the best.. but, it doesn't look to bad.. and if you want a track car your good.. if the frame is not all bent

It doesn't look that bad at all given what you described, holy cow. From what I can tell in the pics, the body lines are still straight (looking at the hatch and quarter lines in particular), the popped t-top on the driver side is a little concern though.

I'd honestly look into trying to fix it too. And not as just a drag car, but back driving again.

If I had to guess, you lost a brake line possibly... My 98 has 159k on it now, but I recently replaced the rear line as it was all rotted out and about ready to give out.

That is beyond totaled man. Keep in mind the body panels looked messed up (and the suspension is what took the hits anyways, so image the damage under the car...)

Glad you are OK.

sorry for that :( but honestly its not that bad! you should see what my friend did to his v6 and he got it back factory looking..good luck with yours.

EDIT: sorry i just read the damages..your better off it lol just get another one. gd luck again and glad ur not injured :)

That might have worked if he'd done it slowly, not yanking it, but he didn't have time to think.

I don't think it would have done much. It was pulled but there just wasn't enough time.

Still waiting to hear from the insurance.

shes totaled, the suspension needs repair, that counts for mechanical work witch cost alot more then body work.

Now that being said, the driver 1/4 panel can probably be repaired, the passenger side 1/4 and rocker panel need to be replaced.

Buy it back and use the money to upgrade/replace your broken suspension, send your wheels off to wheels of America for repair.. they can fix just about anything.

And take the hit for the body work, if the frames got a little tweak id still fix it..

Its a Original 96 SS, shes a keeper no matter what.

But thats IMO.

good luck, I hope you keep it.

Wow very sorry to hear this happen. If you can keep it, keep it. You can restore it easy.

you could probably save it if the floor pans and the rest of the undercarriage, e.g. sills aren't completely mangled. You can buy all the replacement mechanical things on here. I'd say do it!

I had a toyota mr2 back in college that my brother drove over some boulders. destroyed the front suspension and the floor boards. we were young then so we fixed it all our selves and drove the car 12 more years :)

if they total it, you can always buy it back and part it out.
and sell me that spoiler of course. :D

sorry about the loss though man, i know how you feel.

i dunno where my post went but here i go again,
what kind of insurance do you have, statefarm uses NADA book value, the rst use kelly blue book, and ill say it again if the frame rails are bent of swayed over doesnt always mean its totaled

we can and do fix frame rails, section in new rails, its the cost of parts and the labor that will totale a car not frame damage, so many shops use, chief computerized measuring system, car-o-liner, the list goes on we can and do fix damaged frames

this also depends on the mileage of your the cost of parts and labor, and also when the car is torn down there is always more damage which can sometimes total out a car due to more parts more labor

please stop deleting my posts i did nothing wrong but tried to respond with a technical answer

Hmm..I have not deleted anyones post??

I have State Farm insurance.

I'll take the hood but i hope this car can be saved.

I wish you the same luck that I had with my insurance.. its in the shop right now. Theyre estimating 12,000 USD all said and done. I know how you feel, its like somebody died..

Nobody in here can delete posts except mods... my guess is there was a glitch and it didn't post, or you hit the post button and then either went to another webpage or closed the browser too quickly.

It is totaled...they claim they will give $6500 for it and $1400 salvage value. What to do now...

You going to buy it back?

buy it back, get to work

I dunno about fixin this one.....lots of underbody damage.

But it back, look for another car and sell the good parts on here :)

Buy it back, make it as driveable as possible.


In 20 years that vin = $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Really sorry to hear about the car. :(

What'd you end up deciding to do.

i hate that happened to ya and i hope it all gets fixed for ya in the end

I'm buying it back. I figure I will take it to a body shop and see what kind of frame damage there may be and see if it is fixable.

It will be a LONG term project for me. My brother is buying a car trailer so we're picking it up this week and putting it into my storage unit for a bit.

In the mean time, I should be picking up an '04 Lightning to drive around and haul stuff. The SS will be the weekend/track car.

I'll be going to pick her up tomorrow. My brother is buying himself a flat bed car trailer with a wench so I'm probably going to bring my old SS wheels and tires and put those on at the car place so we can roll it onto the trailer. Then I'm going to put it into storage for a little bit while I gather my thoughts on everything.

I swear though, I'm having fucking bad luck on cars right now. The day before I went to pick up the Lightning, it got stolen and involved in a high speed police chase.

Luckily the only damage is the front bumper has some gouges and the fuckers tried to run from the police with a blown out left rear tire...and of course the door lock and ignition. It's getting fixed by insurance now as we speak.

i would pass on a car that you know that was stolen.. i theif beats the living dog piss out of it if it was in a chase..

Unfortunately I can't...it's already been paid for.

If you bought it and it was stolen off their lot before you took delivery, i would think that would let you out of the deal somehow.

Im definitely glad you decided to buy back and keep the SS ! Best of luck with it as well :)

Here are some shitty cell phone pics of it getting loaded up. They use a freaking fork lift to move cars around at this auction place!! Good thing is while it was up in the air, I was able to get a good look at the undercarriage. No real damage except the muffler is all fucked up. The rest of the engine, transmission, k-member, and other braces and parts aren't hurt.

I guess first things first, gotta take it to a chassis shop and get the unibody checked out.

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It's a bummer seeing her like that man. I wish you the best of luck getting her back together. I'm sure it will look gorgeous when done.

I hate to see stuff like this. With the frame damage I see in the pictures thats gonna be a parts car. Best of luck to you.

buy another one and start again or come over on too the ls side:devil:

Glad to hear that you & your friend are both ok,sorry about your Camaro man trust me I know the feeling of losing a car you put so much time and money into I also hate to see Fbodies go to waste so if I was you I would fix my baby good look hope you come back out on top

Thank y'all for the kind words. I have a replacement axle for the passenger side so once I get some air bags to lift the car up (since it is so low now and I can't get a jack under there), I will pull out the busted one and put the replacement axle in so it can at least be a roller. From there, I am taking it to my favorite body shop and having the frame checked out.

Updates to come...keep in mind this is going to be a pretty long term project. I just don't have wads of cash to throw into it so I gotta do some saving up. :bang:

EDIT: I keep looking at those pictures of it on the trailer and get so sad. Even all wrecked, she still looks so shiny and clean. :(

i have some chrome zr1's just like those 17"x9.5"-11" with nitto nt555's on the front, and sumitomos 315's out back in good condition for sale if you're interested.

Thanks for the offer but wheels are the LAST thing I have on my list for this car!

Just saw this post, that sucks pretty bad man :(

Any updates? So sad to see a car this beautiful in this condition

I read the whole thread, however, I would seriously consider selling it for parts at this point. Or, having the underside checked out BEFORE dumping any money into the car. From the damage I see on the outside, all the suspension mounting points are gonna be way out of whack. Thats gonna be one crooked driving car if some $$$ isn't spent at the frame shop. Just not worth it IMO. And yes i'm aware of LT1 SS production numbers. Still doesn't justify getting all holy about it. In the end, it is just a car, metal and plastic. I would be sick if I was in your place too, however I would be seriously realistic about my decisions and keeping that POS.

Fix it
 

Get it measured. Any good body shop will have a laser frame measure system. The car will be clamped on a level bench. Then they will set targets at four equal points near the center of the car to create a "box" making sure the unibody is straight. After this has been done then they can check specific points like k member mounting points or rear trailing arm mounting points. Even if these are off its easy to be pulled back into range. Factory fit allows plus or minus 3mm so some measuments can be almost 6mm off when compared side to side (of course this is an extreme case). From the looks of it it doesnt appear to be too badly damaged. I would and can fix it! I love the earlier fourth gen front lights. Looks so mean

Edit: to have the unibody checked is 1.5hr industry standard. not including removal of any parts. so for under $150 you will know how straight or crooked this car is.

Hey guys sorry for not updating...I didn't get an email update that anyone has posted.

I am off from work for the next two weeks so I finally have some time to get the axle changed out so it can be at least a roller. I am taking it to S&T Auto as soon as I get the axle replaced to get the frame checked. If the frame is too damaged to repair, then I will obviously sell it out for parts. BUT....the guys at S&T are quite confident in their repairs that they also offer a lifetime warranty on it. They charge $90 to check the frame and then I don't remember what they said for each hour of repair.

So I will let you know how it goes!

probably about $45 an hour to fix the frame.

If you keep for a long time, in 20 years fixing that car will be one of the best things you did.

think about how many people would love to have there old cars back.


If they can restore some rusted POS first gen to a head turner...they can fix that.

Consensus :D Shitty news ,new fresh list of mods/projects:D

REAL shitty news...but yes, I'm already planning out what I want to do once I get the frame checked!

You say it was at the auction. Was it easy for you to purchase back? Did you have first dibs on the car? was there other people bidding ?. Sorry about all the questions and sorry about the damage. I've been wondering how the process of purchasing back from the insurance company works.

I just told State Farm that I wanted to keep the car and they deducted the salvage value from the claim payment. I then had to drive to the auction place and pick it up.

Sorry about he car definately a sweet ride. From the pics. unless the floor pans are ripped shreds i don't think it looks that bad good luck with the resurrection

even wrecked you can tell its a nice car... glad to hear that your fixing it man

any update on the ss?

No current updates....to follow though!

man i feel your pain ...good thing nobody got hurt. maybe you could look around for
a similar car ..a roller . then transfer the parts from your wrecked car .check
classified section good luck.

Are you going to keep the thread updated as you put it back together?

How's the car coming along?

How far is katy from OKC? I might have a rearend out of a 97 that has new axles, a new auburn diff, and 3.42's. If I still still got it and you will come get it then it's yours. I put a few blocks and dyno runs on it, maybe 100 miles and that is stretching it. Oh, it's got a cast diff cover also.

Just checked mapquest, it's about 450-500 miles and 7.5 to 8 hours away.

so glad to see this car getting fixed! i hate seeing so many cars like this one getting parted out these days because everyone is too lazy to get off their ass and fix it!:nod: i had a 95 z28 that looked like it had come strait from a junkyard when i got it. after about a year of work, it was finally completely restored. i had so much fun with the build, and everybody that saw the car when it was done thought it was'nt the same car. it was one of the nicest ones that i had owned. make sure to take your time and do everything right. so have fun with the rebuild and keep us updated:D

What the frame place say?

Good grief, y'all like LT1 4th gens much lol

:nod: gotta love the body lines. and that list is old i need to update it. we sold the 96 TA i restored and the white ws6 and bought a 99 nbm ws6. and we now own 3 96/97 slp ss cars

Any updates?

Hey guys...didn't get an email there were replies to the thread. Unfortunately due to work travel, vacations, weddings, and just other "stuff" the Camaro is still in my storage unit on the trailer. I have not lost motivation to fix, just time isn't in the greatest quantity right now.

Ugh man that is painful to look at. Hopefully it's fixable.

Best of luck in fixing your car. I've always liked that SS and it's tough seeing her sitting on forks. Can't wait to see some updates.

I'm bumping this thread because I love your car and I hope to see it fixed. Any updates?

Yes I want to see this fixed!

Red I've been lookin at pics of your car (before wreck) for a long time and it's been one of my favorite LT1 SS's I've seen. I was incredibly sad to see it had been wrecked. But I just wanted to throw my support in the ring for you deciding to buy her back and keep her. If it takes 20 years to get back on the road so be it. I would absolutely make the same decision with mine. It's my baby and I couldn't let go. Good luck man

The guy hasn't registered activity on this site in 3+ years. One could assume that he probably gave up on the car and its hidden in his garage or he parted it out. (if so I hope he comes back because I am dying to find a 96 Car Cover)

You should post up some pictures in the Special Edition forum section under the "Post Pics of LT1 SS".......I love me a good LT1SS

Holy crap I'm surprised I remembered my password! Thank you guys for the kind words but she is still on the trailer in storage. No real excuse but I've just been more involved with my motorcycle, Lightning and just generally traveling.

The biggest reason of all that I have not started on it is that I just don't have room to work on it anywhere. My garage is taken up and I don't know anybody who has a cheap garage.

Well if you ever decide to part it out, I'll take the hood. Hopefully you restore and get back on the road, though.....Good luck

Dibs on the mats, airbox, shifter, car cover if any of that becomes available.