Chassis repair

[karlpayne]

Hi 

I need some help! A few months ago my beloved Westfield was stolen (along with my other car!) and the thieves managed to crash it a few hundred yards down my street. After some insurance fun and games I finally have the car back. It has a crumple in the front chassis and I'm trying to figure out how to fix this.

I spoke to the Westfield factory and they were non-commital, saying it probably needs a fully new chassis. Does anyone know anywhere (preferably in the Birmingham area) that could fix this for me? Any help is much appreciated... I'm desperate to get back on the road whilst the weather is still so great!

[Rusty Nuts]

You could try Procomp but you will need someone with a jig to align everything up. I would take it to the factory if you can manage it, have you had a look what the chassis is like under the body.

[Marcus Barlow - Show and Events Co-ordinator]

is your insurance paying?

[stephenh]

That's quite a kink, personally, I'd be looking for a new chassis, particularly if it is insurance. Anything less is |"cutting corners" and a spliced repair may or may not be satisfactory.

[Michael Whitworth]

I would speak to Matt at Procomp although if the insurance are paying I too would want a new chassis.

[Gary Taylor]

From the picture it really would be a new chassis, I’m not doubting anyone’s ability to straighten it with the right equipment, but given that this area includes the suspension and steering pickups and the time involved. I think it would be more time and cost effective to re-chassis her, not to mention your own peace of mind 

[DamperMan]

A new chassis is just box section welded together.  it’s a lot of work changing a complete chassis and not cheep.    But i’d  just replace sections as long as all the pickup points are in the right place, quality welds, extra plates at joins at high load points.   

[karlpayne]

thanks all.

I have tried calling pro comp (the number on the website) but no reply for a few days. does anyone know if they are still open or have an email/direct number?

[Greenstreak-Andy D]

Are you able to say what the insurance situation is?

If the insurance accept the cost I would request a full repair from Westfield factory. Westfield don’t cut corners and will do a top repair with new chassis and all affected parts. 

Just don’t expect your car back this year though if this is your route to sorting.

Very sorry to hear of your misfortune, there are some awful sh**e despicable thugs that have done this. Hope you get a great solution in the end, which ever route you take. 

Andy

[JulianE]

You could always speak to Siltech I believe they may be able to help although not local

[Terry Everall]

Any repair will need engine out for access. The damage looks quite bad and you may even need to take the body sections off to see the full extent of the damage. As already stated the geometry of the car has been badly affected so any attempt at welding in new sections of steel will need some very accurate templates and jigging. It looks like a new chassis to me !

Any more detailed pictures

[DonPeffers]

Can you contact here   https://en-gb.facebook.com/Procomp-motorsport-376574512390043/

[Kevin Wood]

If the damage is limited to the front section, Westfield will replace the chassis section forward of the scuttle with new, and I think this would be your best bet if you're doing a DIY repair. Looking at the distortion on the bits we can see in that photo, I doubt much of the front section is still true. Of course, it may be bent further back than this, in which case they are right that you need a new chassis.

You'll need to remove the scuttle, bodywork, engine and gearbox and the ali panels forward of about the dash area for them to make the repair.

However, if it's an insurance job, I'd angle for a new chassis and factory repair.

I think you have to balance this against the chance of an insurance write-off and / or the turn-around time for a repair. If you're not bothered about either, then see if you can get a factory repair authorised. Otherwise, you might prefer to so the stripping down / reassembly yourself (maybe negotiate some cash with the insurance company to cover your time, as it will be much less costly than the factory option). The factory will turn a round a chassis repair quite quickly IME so you might have it back on the road before the summer's out...

[BugMan]

Not speaking from any point of authority here, but I personally would be very wary of anybody BUT Westfield repairing the chassis.

I would be more concerned about the damage caused to the rest of the chassis, depending on the speed of the crash, as if a bastar robber was fleeing the sceen I can't imagin he/she/it was driving slowly.

Nothing in your immediate future I think is going to be quick, and I think you are just going to have to accept that.

As I understand it, and it's just my PoV the chassis would have to go back into one of the master rigs at WF, so they can assess the extent of the damage, and for that to happen it's going to have to be stripped down, nothing here is quick and/or easy.

As other have asked, what is the situation with the insurance?  If its possible get it repaired by WF under that as you will then trust it.  If it were me and some 3rd party fixed it for you it would always be in the back of my mind, and TBH I would never trust it.

If the insurance wanted to wright it off, and somehow you ended up with the car you potentially could strip and rebuild it yourself with a new chassis and any damaged body work.  If this were open you would need to consider the chassis number, as I would be suspicions that the government would see it as a new car, hence IVA and all that crap.

Just my 2P worth, I'm sure there are others here been on this journey 

[Kevin Wood]

If you can avoid a write off, the factory will supply a replacement chassis in exchange for the old one, bearing the same chassis number, so you can rebuild around that chassis and avoid another IVA, registration and so on.

If it's written off as unrepairable (cat A/B), this option will be closed to you, so you need to negotiate with the insurance assessor with a view to what you want to achieve..