Rusty Honda Fuel Tank Repair
Moving on to the top...
May 17, 2005
The patches for the top of the tank are formed and clecoed in place (to hold them for tack welding). Now to find some time with the TIG machine.
Feb 2, 2006
Some things came up, and I haven't been able to get much done on the tank.
The summer weather slowed things down, since welding in an unairconditioned metal building just didn't seem to be an appealing way to spend lunch. Then, on July 17th, 2005, the driver of an SUV lost control, crossed from the eastbound side of I-24 to the westbound side, took out a pickup (it rolled, and the driver was lifeflighted) in the left lane, then ran over my car in the right lane. OVER my car. As in drove up the driver's door and over the roof. The EMT's checked me over, and I thought I was just bruised (and a few scrapes), so I didn't go to the hospital. A week later, after taking it very easy, I had full motion back in my shoulder. A few weeks after the accident, after trying to get back to the normal level of activity (they quit taking it easy on me at work), I started getting occasional numbness in my hand and my shoulder started acting up again. Several office visits, two X-rays, two MRI's, two outpatient surgical procedures on my spine, and 3 weeks of physical therapy later, I'm waiting to hear what the orthopaedist decides to do next. I'm restricted in what I can do (the physical therapist suggested I change jobs, after a bad day at work set me back a week or so on what improvements the therapy was making), so welding is currently something I can do for very brief periods, and then not too often.
There's also been a priority shift, since I have to replace my car. The insurance company for the SUV (which was owned by a large car dealership and driven by one of their employees) has been quite uncooperative, and has gone so far as to make blatant false statements to a state investigator after I filed a complaint against them. It took nearly 5 months for them to reimburse me for what I paid the tow truck driver. They still seem to think I should accept their appraisal of my car (the appraisal report contained false information on what type of engine is in the car, included condition assessments of components that were destroyed and left somewhere at the accident scene, and began by stating how "local market value" is determined, then completely ignored it's own guidelines), and accept their explanation that NADA book value has absolutely nothing to do with the actual value of my car (especially since the bottom end of the NADA price range is over twice what the appraisal report says my car is worth).
Here's a couple of pictures taken the day after the accident.
As far as I can tell, the rollbar saved my life. It folded inward a bit, but transferred most of the impact to the other side of the car, and kept the SUV off of my head.
It'll probably be a while before I can get back to working on the Honda, but I will get back to it.
Get your own Free Home Page