Having avoided it yesterday due to the weather I finally got a chance to get downstairs and start assessing the damage. First thing was to get the car up onto axle stands and get a couple of photo's of it before we starting to dismantle the broken pieces.
The first piece to be removed was the bumper, a complete write off. The number plate has some how survived unscathed and will be reused. The bracket that the mounting bolt attaches back to is bent, but not beyond repair.
Recovered the passenger side driving lamp, some minor paint damage to the back of it. The front of the drivers side driving lamp was mashed during the collision and will probably have to be written off. The bracket might still be salvageable.
Recovered the two air horns from between the nose and radiator. The longer of the two has sustained damage to it's trumpet. The bracket is also twisted.
Started dismantling the drivers side wing in order to remove the nose cone. When reassembling it should be noted that bolts 4+5 from the front have their outer repair washers cut down slightly. Experienced a lot of difficulty getting the bolts out because their threads had been painted over. The 5 bolts securing through the wing, engine bay wall and nose cone are all M6.
The nose cone has sustained minor damage to the bottom, mainly some cracking. Both wings will need to be fully removed before it can be withdrawn although it is now loose allowing both bonnets to be opened.
With the bonnets open it can be seen that the engine bay appears unaffected, with the exception of the starter motor in the front right hand corner. It has been bent out of alignment, which probably explains why the fan belt has come off. Loosened off the securing bolts and deliberately revolved the starter motor into the engine bay to allow easier access to the wing fixings.
The radiator hoop around the back of the nose cone has been twisted, since it attaches to the upper suspension assembly. Noticed that there was still some dripping when the car was lifted onto the axle stands, although over the past few days nothing had gathered on the floor of the garage. The water (definitely cooling water since it is coloured with anti-freeze) came from a small pool that had collected in a depression on the lower suspension member. This is located below the inlet to the radiator, the main top-up point for the cooling system and a Y-split in the pipe running back to the expansion tank, any of which could have sustained damage. There was no immediately obvious damage to the radiator, although will need to investigate further with a torch.
Drivers side door is stiff to shut, this appears to be because it is rubbing against the trim on the running board rather than the tub being out of alignment. This bodes well for the majority of the chassis being square. Other than scratched paint work there appears to be no damage to the tub.
Recovered torpedo sidelight from the drivers side wing. Unfortunately the rubber gasket broke in two whilst prising it off of the paint work. Also had to cut the cable, although left enough length to add a bullet connector later if necessary. The underside mounting plate was also recovered since the weld to the supporting arm that runs up from the top of the suspension assembly had failed.
Started looking at the damage to the chassis. The two tabs that attach to the bottom of the front suspension sub-assembly are definitely bent, the drivers side tab to the largest degree. The piece of box steel that supports the top of the front suspension sub-assembly is also bent, the paint has flaked off of the area around the bottom weld where it has bent. Passenger side appears unaffected, although is most probably slightly out of alignment given that the lower tab is obviously bent.
The lower member of the suspension sub-assembly is bent, and the steel has been torn in one place. The lower suspension arm is twisted. The steering rack has been pulled across but doesn't appear bent, this will need checking once the front assembly has been detached. The anti-roll members appear fine, there is no discernable bend. The steering arm on the drivers side hub is probably bent, indicated by the fact that the paint if flaking off.
Attempted to remove the drivers side wing to get a better view of the whole suspension sub-assembly, and to facilitate removal of the nose cone. The smaller bolts and a lack of runners and right angle screwdrivers forced the attempt to be abandoned for the day.
Haven't heard back from LCDevelopments yet, probably need to call them
again tomorrow.
Need to start calling around to locate a MkIII front
suspension sub-assembly.