Priya's SX/4 project

[El Matador]

I can't believe you're going to drive it in winter.  I realize that's what Eagles are meant for, but if I had that much time, effort, and money invested into one... well, I'd do my best to ensure it never saw snow or road salt again.

I drive my '86 wagon year round, but I have a very minimal investment into it.  I'm pretty diligent about washing it frequently during winter to keep the salt knocked off, but rust is still becoming a problem.

There's not only the rust factor, but the other drivers around you.  All it takes is one idiot with bald tires and/or no concept of winter driving, and your many years of work is negated in a second.

[Sunny]

There's not only the rust factor, but the other drivers around you.  All it takes is one idiot with bald tires and/or no concept of winter driving, and your many years of work is negated in a second.

If you talk to your insurance company, and they seem the vehicle to be 'worth it' or a hard to replace vehicle, you can get them to do an agreed value policy, so if it is written off, you don't have to fight about the price after the fact.

If it's going to happen either way, you might as well be protected.

There is usually a minimum value, and age range, unless the vehicle is listed as heavily modified.

[priya]

I can't believe you're going to drive it in winter.  I realize that's what Eagles are meant for, but if I had that much time, effort, and money invested into one... well, I'd do my best to ensure it never saw snow or road salt again.

Yes, that's a common reaction when I tell people this is going to be my winter car.  I tell them it isn't any different than someone spending $30,000 - $50,000 on a new car and then driving it year round, winters included

If you talk to your insurance company, and they seem the vehicle to be 'worth it' or a hard to replace vehicle, you can get them to do an agreed value policy, so if it is written off, you don't have to fight about the price after the fact.

If it's going to happen either way, you might as well be protected.

There is usually a minimum value, and age range, unless the vehicle is listed as heavily modified.

Yes, I'll do what I did with my Corvette.  I'll get it appraised and then I can get insurance coverage for the appraised amount.  I'm guessing it'll be appraised at around $5000 which is nowhere near what I have into it (in labour in particular) but at least if it get's written off I won't have them saying "An 81 Eagle goes for
$800, here's your cheque for $300".

[priya]

If its any consolation to you El Matador, I typically don't drive any more than 2-3000 miles a year so the Eagle will actually only get 1000- 1500 miles a winter on it.

[Sunny]

If you talk to your insurance company, and they seem the vehicle to be 'worth it' or a hard to replace vehicle, you can get them to do an agreed value policy, so if it is written off, you don't have to fight about the price after the fact.

If it's going to happen either way, you might as well be protected.

There is usually a minimum value, and age range, unless the vehicle is listed as heavily modified.

Yes, I'll do what I did with my Corvette.  I'll get it appraised and then I can get insurance coverage for the appraised amount.  I'm guessing it'll be appraised at around $5000 which is nowhere near what I have into it (in labour in particular) but at least if it get's written off I won't have them saying "An 81 Eagle goes for
$800, here's your cheque for $300".

Yep! That's exactly what I was talking about. 
It's so much easier than fighting them for a value when the car is written off.

Generally, when they do that, they'll also cover if the vehicle was in an accident, and say was worth.. 10,000$. It cost 3,000$ to repair, but now it's only reappraised for 5,000$ because of the accident. In my policy it states they'll sent me a cheque for the 2,000$ lost in value (basically, value lost minus repair costs) after the repair, which is pretty neat.

With anything older than 15 or so year's, it's really a smart way to go, if you have a decent amount of money tied up in the car.

[priya]

Well, I got my Eagle outside today to get some pictures of the current state of the car.  Here they are:

[Prafeston]

It looks great... a little naked minus the wipers!

I mentioned this in the Nov. EOTM thread, but I'd be curious to see what it would look like with black Handles...or maybe even the blue to match the rest of the car...

[priya]

Blue door handles sounds interesting, but I wouldn't know how to do it and have the paint stick.

[El Matador]

Proud supplier of mirrors and steering wheel to the Priya SX/4. 

I should show this to my daughter, she loves purple.  I hope you do as you said earlier, and keep the winter miles to a minimum.  All of your hard work deserves to be preserved!

[WoodenBirdOfPrey]

Wow, that thing is just gorgeous! 

[Hawk258]

Couldn't you use some prepainted black handles from a Jeep? Then you could paint it I think.

[Prafeston]

Couldn't you use some prepainted black handles from a Jeep? Then you could paint it I think.

Yeah, I was just thinking to use the Jeep Black handles...not actually painting hers black...though if she wanted to do the Blue to match then yeah, the Jeep handles would still probably be easier to paint over than the Eagle Chrome ones.

[priya]

Proud supplier of mirrors and steering wheel to the Priya SX/4. 

I should show this to my daughter, she loves purple.  I hope you do as you said earlier, and keep the winter miles to a minimum.  All of your hard work deserves to be preserved!

Wow, that thing is just gorgeous! 

Truly amazing!! Words fall short.

Aww, shucks, thanks everyone.  I owe a great debt to the Eagle nest and all its members who supplied parts, expertise, advice and encouragement, without your help I couldn't have done this.

[mudkicker715]

It is amazing. Makes want to repaint mine. Truely inspiring.

[priya]

Thanks Mudkicker!  I've owned roughly 50 cars in my time and while I had quite a few favourites in some ways this is my all-time favourite because so much effort has gone into it and its the first car I've had that's been highly tailored to my personal tastes.