Back in April my beloved '69 EB jumped out of gear and rolled down my driveway, collided with a tree then rolled down into a gulley. At least it stayed upright on all fours. Anyway, the damage incurred is the bed floor is bowed, the left rear fender is crumpled, the rear bumper is bent and broken at its attachment points, the driver door is bent and the door post is slightly bent. The frame is apparently out of alignment (at the crossmembers, but not actually bent). The windshield is also cracked. The panel behind the seats is bent also, but not too bad. I didn't have the half cab on, so it survived otherwise it would've gotten busted. It can still be driven, tho not comfortably, I use it around the yard and use the winch. Insurance doesn't cover it since I had everything but collision coverage and even if I did have collision coverage, but not as an antique, I wouldn't have gotten much anyway. Now, my dilemma. It was my late dad's and I got it when he died a few years ago and fixed it up, probably put $3K - $4K in it including a just under $2K paint job. Don't get me wrong, but if I hadn't inherited it, I wouldn't have gone out and bought an EB, much less to fix up. If that were the case, I'd probably have gotten an old Toyota Land Cruiser or maybe a Jeep, but I like EBs anyway and this one was already mine. Now, I also don't 'need' an EB, but I do think a 4WD and winch come in handy and I like driving ******* as well. This body repair is way over my head and capabilities. if at was an airplane I'd be undaunted, but, it's not. I found a '68 with a decent body and uncut fenders, which mine is uncut and I don't want cut fenders. Time and money wise, all of the '68's problems would be just as expensive. (Engine work, wiring's been gutted, needs floorboards and seats as well as putting the front of the body back together. Plus, being painted). The guy wants $2800 for it and some extra body parts. I've had one body shop guy and a couple of other so-so body folks say the best way to go is cut the rear halves off of mine and the '68 and put the '68 bed on mine as one big section. The driver door is a simple swap and straightening the door post is probably not bad. windshield is straghtforward too. Problem is, I'm looking at somewhere between $6K - $7K total, including the '68 purchase and new paint job. All of the parts except the windshield can come from the '68 except for a few odds n' ends. I figure I can sell the leftovers from the '68, which has a 289 V-8, a PTO winch some typical EB odds n' ends. Heck, someone could probably get it running and make a flatbed out of it for running around their hunting camp. Never the less, I could recoup 'some' of the expense money. So, should I go to the expense of repairing mine or sell IT as is and look elsewhere for an already decent EB or as previously mentioned, maybe a Jeep or a Land Cruiser? If selling mine as-is, maybe for running around camp, what might it be worth? As for a 4WD and winch, I can get a decent, used 4WD pick-up with a winch for what it can cost to fix my EB, or even a good bit less, but it won't have the class of an EB! Thanks for the read and any input.
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