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Hit by a deer this morning...

46K views 256 replies 47 participants last post by  FUZZY 
#1 ·
On my way to Downtown Flint for Back to the bricks... Less then a half mile from the house. Two bucks running hard out of a cornfield right alongside the road. JUST missed the first one, the second one ran right into the side of the right front fender.
Police report and a claim in to Hagerty and we will see how this goes...






I will be looking for a fender and trim if anyone has them laying around. :)
Mark
 
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#3 ·
Hate to see your ride beaten like that. We're on Mich /Ind border and the deer are all over here too. Beans and corn all around us. If not dodging deer , your driving around irrigation systems shooting across roads. Please keep us up on Hagerty's coverage. Thanks , gene:blowtiedb:
 
#8 ·
In my experience, that could have been a lot worse. Thank God, you were not injured. I've seen them come right through the windshield and land in a passengers lap.
 
#9 ·
Very true Nick...I had a deer jump out in front of me and total my beloved 57 Belair two door sedan back in the day...It was a large buck...The antlers got stuck in the headlight bezel on the passenger's side and the deer's body swung around and severely damaged the whole side of the car...Front fender, door, and rear quarter were all destroyed....Even the B pillar was bent inward....I had spent months of time and money on the car and was very torn-up over it.

 
#10 ·
If the fender was an original, have Hagerty find someone to fix it or find you an original Fender in good shape. I think they are good about that. Ditto for the trim.

Sorry that happened to you. They talk about a lot of deer during mating season but I see them 24/365.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Yes, it got up and kept going in the same direction it was running. It may die from injuries later but it was alive and kickin after the impact! Looking at the fender I see where the shoulder hit it right in front of the wheel well then the body rotated and slammed into the fender lengthwise. There is deer crap all down the length of the car from door to tail light...
I can probably get it bumped out myself, I do stuff like this as well, it's just been awhile.
I see lots of "skim coats" already popped on the fender. I will have to wait for Hagerty to make a decision before I strip it down to bare metal to check out the condition.
The fender seems pretty solid so, if I can fix it, I will.
The funny thing is I was planning to pull the front clip off this winter anyway to do some major stripping and painting to the inners, replace the bobbed splash shield and do some much needed sheet metal alignment. Guess what I will be doing this winter...
Mark
 
#20 ·
your lucky, could have been a lot worse! i’ve seen some serious accidents in Oregon with deer or elk....
 
#22 ·
Dang, good your not injured !!

Hope you can straighten out that fender.

I've collided with Two Deer in the last decade, both Does. I live remote and up a 3 mile hill with no cross streets, lots of Deer almost everyday.

Hit a Doe in my '56 this spring. Luckily I was driving extra slow because it was a bit Foggy. I was almost stopped when we collided, she only caught my right fender at the turn signal lamp. Spun her around 180 and she just walked off. No metal or trim damage, but this winter I'll need to re-align the front sheet metal. I was very very lucky.

The funnest thing that I ever heard when a neighbor was driving up this hill at night and an Elk Bull jumped off a bank. The driver thought that the Bull was going to hit the Cab in his window area. So he sped up and the Bull handed in the Pickup Bed. Naturally He slammed on brakes.. Then there was mayhem in the Pickup bed. The Bull jumped out but after a lot of paint damage. We still tease him that he was Slow on the Draw...

God luck with your repairs and insurance claim..

Michael..
 
#24 ·
Thanks a lot guys! I appreciate the condolences!
I was out measuring yesterday and, like Churchkey mentioned, it looks like the whole clip was pushed to the left. The hood gap is non-existent on the hit side and it is opened up on the right side. Like it was shoved over and then didn't spring back...
Hood at the front.

Hood at the rear is popped up and won't go down... And you can see where the paint is chipped at the door and cowl.

It doesn't look that bad until you start "looking" at it... :(
Mark
 
#28 ·
In 1961 I had a very quick little Studebaker Lark, and was driving from Boulder to Colorado Springs to get married. I was late, driving too fast in a rainstorm, not realizing that the rain was freezing on the road. Down by the North entrance to the Air Academy a 5 or 6 point buck jumped up out of the borrow pit, and I hit the brakes. Car did a 180 and went off the road backward at 85 mph, flipped, and slid on it's top about 100 yards. Doors peeled away, windshield went out, and the only thing that saved my life was the non-OEM seat belt that I'd had installed three weeks earlier. Now I don't even move the car. in my own driveway without automatically clicking the seat belt on. We don't have deer on the property, but I'm pretty watchful on the road. In today's money the repairs on my Lark probably cost 4 or 5 times what your Chevy will cost. I hope your luck get's better!
 
#29 ·
Deer and Elk are a huge cause of damage and death here in SW Co. one of our clients installed a test warning system on US 160 which monitored movement off the sides of the Hwy. and big flashing warning signs would light up when triggered. The section is a known migratory route.
Did it work? Yes for deer, elk and even moths.

Our property and surrounding section of land is infested w/ deer. Most have 2 fawns every year. Most fawns are killed on the road. County won’t even post “deer crossing” signage. Luckily all my encounters have been minor body damage. They are all bedded down as I post, under the Apple trees nibbling on falls.
 
#31 ·
I saw the adjuster Thursday afternoon. Waiting on the quote right now.
I did take the car to a good body shop Sunday morning. He wants to replace the hood as well.
I will be throwing more money at this then what the insurance will pay. The car has at least 4 coats of paint on it, a few rust bubbles in the roof at the drip edge and some funky stuff going on in the rear fender lips.
I would like to soda blast the entire car, get back to square one with it and then figure out what absolutely needs to be done.
We talked about doing the floors and inner rockers as well. I figure if it's going into paint jail for a while we may as well make it right. I am going to start pulling the front clip off this week. Lots of work I want to do up there as well and I may as well do it rather then pay the body shop.
Mark
 
#33 ·
Got the estimate back from Hagerty this afternoon. It's more then I thought they would go. I'm going to start pulling the interior and stripping some of the bubbly spots on the roof and along the top of the fender.
Game plan is to fix the obvious rust first then have the car soda blasted and go from there.
The crushed fender is pretty much toast. The headlight area is all egg shaped and even the chrome trim is bent from the hit. I will be looking for a replacement fender as well as the headlight bezel and fender trim. If Mikey or anyone else has a nice rust free fender lets talk... :)
Mark
 
#34 · (Edited)
I don't have a rust free one, however the one I have is about 95% rust free. I could fix the rusty area with new metal without a lot of trouble. It is a B/A but I could weld up the extra holes.

Let me know if interested. It's real nice otherwise.

I have some real nice headlight bezels that are not new, but real nice. I have buckets as well. The side extensions and parking light panels I don't have any nice used ones. I'm sure I have the fender trim as I stated before.

Mikey
 
#35 ·
Personally, I'd fix both the hood and fender if it were here. I've seen new parts fit that bad right out of the box. It's nothing a little time, patience, and experience can't fix.

If he insists on replacing them both let me know. I'd take em and repair them just to have on hand. Kinda like the complete sets of glass I have for 2 dr hdtp, 2dr sdn, and 4 dr sdn. It's just nice to have if there's and ooops.
 
#36 ·
The thing is the time it will take. A used fender, if it is straight, will be a better use of the shops time. There is so much other stuff to do I would rather put the time and money toward those. I will keep the fender and hood and work on them myself. I've fixed worse also but being able to do it on my own time will work better at this point.
I will pull the fender out and get it close to original profile before I take it off the car.
Mark
 
#38 ·
Mark,
I prefer to provide it in ready to use condition. This way you/or anyone cannot complain about what you got. Been there and done that. And besides I am cheap labor....LOL

Just to let you know thare is a 3-4 inch section above the head light on the brow that has a dent in it, like a 1 inch rod fell against it. There is some rust in that area, but it is only about 1.5 inched wide.

The other is down in the skin, where crud get trapped. About 4 inches by 2 inches.

Other than that it is a nice fender. It's up in my barn and the lighting is not good enough to get good photos. I'll bring it out in the day light and shoot some photos of it.

Even with my work to repair it, the price will be fair.

Mikey
 
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