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PostPosted: Tue Jul 31, 2018 12:17 am 
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Joined: Tue May 27, 2008 8:53 am
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Location: Las Cruces, NM
Year and Trim: 1993 Buick Park Avenue
1994 Buick Regal Custom
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...or, at least it was the night before. That's how all good stories start off, isn't it?

Well, at any rate, the first 2 miles of my 10 mile commute are on a county road. The speed limit is 40mph, and there are often areas on one side (that I happen to drive on heading out) that often have puddles across less than half of the lane, not more than a few inches deep, with the exception of one spot that can cover just about the entire lane, and be about six inches deep at the deepest point near the right shoulder. This road also never has pot holes, and debris is extremely rare. 

What does all of this mean? High yield puddles with very low risk of problems. 

So, while others are tip-toeing around the puddles, I lock speed to 40mph, and destroy them. Makes for quite a fun time, if you are in to that sort of thing, which I happen to be.

This last Friday morning was no different, or so I thought. 

Water was flying, the road was clear ahead, I was having a blast making quite the splash. Then, while blasting "the big one", I heard a noise in the right front of the car. It sounded like a light to medium 'pop'. Notable enough to  warrant a brief look when I get to work, but not substantial enough to warrant an immediate stop. I also didn't feel any kind of impact, aside from the bog of the water. No jolts, nothing. My guess was that something got kicked up, I would get to work, see nothing (or maybe a little something), laugh about it, and move on. The rest of the drive went without a hitch.

I got to work, and realized I was sorely mistaken when I saw this:

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The water force was so great, it blasted the outer skin away from the support and mounting structure at the bottom, going halfway up the fender, and then blowing out across the surface of the fender.

I was shocked, but so amazed I couldn't even be upset about it.

I was also extremely grateful at this point that this car was fully insured with a $100 comprehensive deductible. 

For those wondering, this would have likely totaled the car if repaired properly

A straight fender replacement painted (but not blended) is in the neighborhood of $800.

Add in to that the necessary work to properly blend adjacent panels (Hood, door), and it starts going up from there. 

After settling on a couple of appearance allowances (the insurance equivalent to  'deal with it'), the final estimate rang in at $1008.

So I plan to lay off on the right side puddles for a while, at least until I can get this sorted out. I need to have a look, see what's holding what together, and what's blocking what from what and doing what where.

If the fender gets completely replaced, it will not be painted. 

Another scar is added, bringing another story to tell.

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~Randall~
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1993 Buick Park Avenue - 197k - Some odds and ends done - Simply won't die
1994 Buick Regal - 78k - Bone stock - Always ready for a good kicking
1990 Oldsmobile 88 - Gone to a better place


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PostPosted: Wed Aug 01, 2018 12:28 pm 
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Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2009 8:32 pm
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Location: SE Michigan
Year and Trim: '99 Montana
'04 Dirtymax
'97 Camaro
'92 Trofeo
Sounds like there must have been a piece missing off the bottom of the fender that's supposed to block water from getting back there, or maybe that got left behind in the puddle?

Must have had some good tires to blast through puddles like that and not hydroplane.

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The Fleet:
'93 SSEi - Twincharged + manual Build thread
'97 Camaro - Top swap
'05 STS - V8, AWD, her DD
'92 Trofeo - Fair weather DD
'99 Montana - top swap 3800
'04 Sierra 2500HD - LLY Duramax

Current project:
Something cool, trust me.

Upcoming projects:
'92 Bonneville SSE
'87 LeSabre T-type
'67 LeSabre

Gone to greener pastures:
'84 Sierra Classic - Twin turbo 3800
'97 LeSabre - Top swap

RIP:
'86 LeSabre - pictures
'93 SE - L67


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PostPosted: Wed Aug 01, 2018 2:14 pm 
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Certified Bonneville Nut
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Joined: Tue May 27, 2008 8:53 am
Posts: 5403
Location: Las Cruces, NM
Year and Trim: 1993 Buick Park Avenue
1994 Buick Regal Custom
I believe I neglected to put the shield on in front of the balancer when I replaced it a while back. I plan to take a closer look at it when I sort it out to fully assess the damage and potential future actions.

Also, most of the puddles are on the right side only, leaving the left side planted squarely on pavement.

Like I said, high yield low risk puddle jumping :D

_________________
~Randall~
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1993 Buick Park Avenue - 197k - Some odds and ends done - Simply won't die
1994 Buick Regal - 78k - Bone stock - Always ready for a good kicking
1990 Oldsmobile 88 - Gone to a better place


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