Cord Owner Needs Help with Estimate

Hello,

GXT Transport provides express air, road, rail and ocean shipping in the GTA and all over the globe. We also offer truck services for companies.

Cheers

Thats kinda what I was posting in my first post. Things usually are not what they appear to be. I sure hope this gets worked out fair to all partys...involved.. Thanks for the update..

I have invited the owner to weigh in here but he has apparently chosen not to do so. In the meantime I have received information from multiple parties saying that there is a lot more to this story than what was presented by the owner and so I am not going to comment further until the owner decides to get involved directly.

There is general agreement that this car has problems but there are differing stories as to what caused them.

Justin

So is there and update on this issue yet??? Still wondering what happened...

I have seen similar with a non acd car that I bought sight unseen- It turns out it had dropped one front wheel off a ramp onto a front corner without rolling- damage to fender and all connected body work- The 'antler" fender support was bent up and the hastily rebuilt fender was reinstalled with difficulty (hung under antler rather than on top). A quick measurement from a flat floor and some level shots told the story.

Looking at the sub frame of my cord sedan - it would seem to take an enormous force to actually distort that sucker. It would sure show itself by ripping sheet metal in the dozens of places where the metal is bolted to the frame members-

I agree with the comments- there is more to this one than meets the eye I doubt very much that a professional carrier would do that kind of major damage without serious damage to his own equipment.

Please beware, let us not speculate until all the true facts are presented, On a side note I have witnessed restored cars with internal frame rust I have seen Cords split in half at the cowl, so while the jury is out deliberating let us sit back and wait for the appraisal to be done.

Hi,

Pictures will be essential for meaningful discussion.

--Tom

Thanks everyone for the responses thus far. Turns out I transcribed his email address incorrectly so he didn't have the link to the forum here. My mistake which has now been remedied. The owner should be here soon to answer questions and discuss.

Thanks,
Justin

A broken suspension bolt or slipped spring is what I posted above but I think we are all on the same wave length here. First thing that needs to be done is diagnoise the issue. then determine if it was done in shipping and was it avoidable during shipping. If something broke during shipping and the car ended up damaged determining why it broke is important. I'm 8 hours from the car but driving there is going to be a two day trip. I'm not offering to go but I'm really interested in this post too. By no means am I passing myself off as any knid of an expert on these cars. Looking under the car and seeing the spring or controll arm bolt with the rubber cushions is the best thing I can tell the owner to look at...

Agree, not so quick, maybe a broken suspension bolt or the front spring slipped out to one side.

Be carefull gentlemen, you may not have the full story.

Randy

I did get him the information to join the club and he is in the process of doing that. I'm not exactly sure how internet experienced he is so I have asked if I may post his phone number for contact.

If anyone can suggest someone specific in the Phoenix area who would be willing to look at the car and share their thoughts that would be of great help.

I will relay any additional information I receive.

Thanks,
Justin

Did Mr. Krikorian buy the car sight unseen and the first time he saw it in person was when it came off the delivery truck? If so he could have been misslead by the seller, and not all damage was caused by the shipper.

CORDially Mike

A very sad story. I'm sure that there are body shops in area that could do a very good repair job on his Cord. I would suggest that you get him to join the ACD Club now. He can sign up on this web site.

He should talk to Cord owners in the area to get an idea of who does acceptable body work. Check with Cord owners listed in the ACD Club Directory as to who they would recommend. I know a number of them and I'm sure they will gladly help him.

Wow... Please post the name of the transport company so others will know of them. Hopefully they fired the guy that did the unnecessary tiedown to the car. The paint cracking is of interest. I see no way the sub frame could possibliy be bent by a tiedown. Knowing where the straps or chains were placed would help lots. If they went over a drive shaft up front that may be the cause of the fender height differance. The front spring that holds the car up and allows for suspension travel only contacts the very center of the front sub frame. The controll arms have a suspension bolt that connects to the arm and thru the spring ends. Both the top and bottm has a rubber bushing in them. That may have collasped. If the center bolt in that broke or was missing maybe the spring has moved causing the car to loosen up during shipping. Then the shipper sees this and tightens the car up some more. As for breaking or bending something causing a nearly 2 inch drop in fenders is not easily figured out without actually seeing the car. Taking it apart is the next thing till you actually "find the reason". All the costs are on the transportation company. If they are a reputable shipper they will stand behind what happened. But if the car had issues that the new owner didn't see or know about. Thats another issue. Really sorry to read about this too. Nothing like getting a classic car and then it gets damaged just trying to get it home. I will be watching this for a happy outcome.

Very sad story here~

Was there any damage done to the Cord's exotic front wheel engine/drive system & suspension ?

How in the world did the transport company torque, or twist, the entire front end of the car out of shape that much ?
Did they drop it off of the transporter ?

This sounds like a very expensive & complicated repair .
There may be quite a bit of hidden damage here.
I would not be so quick to give the transport company's insurance co. a complete damage quote~~~
They may be trying to get him to settle quickly before the entire extent & severity of the damage is really known.
This is a common trick that the insurance cos use all the time to save themselves BIG money.
Once he accepts a settlement check, and signs off on it, ~~~he may be out of luck if more severe & extensive damage is discovered when the front end is actually torn apart later.

Best of Luck to Him!

Hello Fellow ACDers,

I spoke today with a gentleman named Mike Krikorian who resides in the Phoenix area and is the proud 3 month owner of a 1937 812 Cabriolet. Unfortunately during shipment to him the car was damaged and he is now stuck in a dispute with the shipping company over the cost of repair. As he describes it to me the car was not hit nor did it collide with anything but rather the front end was torqued and now the sub-frame is bent. He reports that one front fender is 1.75" higher than the other and there is various cracking and glazing on the front fenders as a result of the bending.

He has had it looked at but not by any Cord expert. His immediate need is for a reasonable ballpark estimate on what it will take to fix it assuming the following:
1. The car from the firewall forward must be disassembled
2. The sub-frame will need to be repaired or possibly replaced (are replacements available?)
3. The front fenders will need strip, blocking and paint
4. The car must be reassembled

He is going to send me some photos that I will post but no one is going to be able to give a really specific estimate based on this information or even photos. What he is really hoping for is some knowledgeable feedback from our club members so that he can quickly give a reasonable number to the transport company to settle the claim.

If there is anyone in the Phoenix area with expertise who can go take a look that would be extremely appreciated as well. Mike will be joining our club soon and I hope all of you can welcome him with more experience and better information than I can.

He will be watching and hopefully posting in this thread soon.

Thanks,
Justin