Rayfer

Because boring titles are boring. :-)

Hi yall...Ray from Texas. Wife and I are in a precarious financial situation, made worse by my motor going in September, her truck being wrecked in late November, and the tranny in her wrecked (but drive-able for two days) vehicle going out in early December. It's the mechanical nightmare trifecta. I'm working on a country song about it.

So we figured we'd have to buy yet another sub-$1,000 band-aid car to get her around when we came across an 09 HHR which had plowed into the back end of a truck. $800 got it to our driveway, and I'm hoping another $3-400 will put it back on the road using discounted parts from car-part.com. (This is not an elaborate ad for car-part.com, however if yer on a tight budget it's a worthwhile place to shop.) Interior is nearly immaculate. Seriously, it's incredible. Wife goes out and sits in it just to enjoy the niceness.

Never dreamed we'd have a car this nice and this new (my car is/was a 93, hers a 94)...we've been so accustomed to band-aid-ing the band-aid cars and never being able to save up for something nicer! Wife is really happy at the prospect of driving something that's not quite as old and temperamental.

Here's a few quick pics of the damage. And here's my first conundrum with the repairs. It has the running boards which appear to cover the bottom-most mounting bolt for the front right fender. Will be using the SEARCH function to learn what to do, since I've already pulled a bunch of T30 star bolts and the running board has no interest whatsoever in moving. I looked online for factory service manuals and nearly passed out...$300 is 3/8 of what we paid for the whole car! Haynes to the rescue...heh...

So, greetings all, looking forward to learning a lot from everybody!
:-)

PS - wife says I should explain the term "band-aid car". It's not a permanent thing, it's temporary, to help heal the financial hurt, and you can dispose of it once you're made well. I thought it was a common enough concept, she says I've inhaled too much paint fumes...heh...

Oldblue

Welcome to the site, looks like quite the bent unibody there, you have a unibody puller or access to one?

donbrew

Not a good deal, unless you use it for a parts car for the interior.

Rayfer

Thanks Oldblue! Question...by unibody, are you referring to the part between the fender and the motor? The thing the core support connects to? I'm not a mechanic by any means, but I'm a pretty good parts swapper. I'm investing in one of those hydraulic rams with multiple attachments...around here they're called porta-pullers or a porta-power. It'll push that part back out closely enough to get us on the road, and we can work on making the lines look perfect later on down the road. We're just happy to have a car we can be passionate about, rather than a vehicle which is nothing more than a tool for transportation! :-)

Hiya Don! Around here, $1000 will only buy ya two of the following four options: low (<150k) miles, clean cosmetics, solid motor, or solid transmission. We've always opted for the solid motor & tranny with previous purchases (we're financially challenged due to drama no-one cares to read about), which means our rides have always required constant maintenance and still always looked like a garbage truck. The rest of this HHR is *incredibly* clean, inside and out, and non-wrecked examples around here are pulling in $4k-$6k in this condition. We'll have under $2k in it once it's 100% fixed, so for us, this was a no-brainer. Add to this the "Happy Wife" factor, and it's not a good deal...it's a GREAT deal. :-)

Ohiocruiser

Welcome to the site. Hate to agree with previous replays. 3-400 Will not put this car on the road. It really looks like a parts car. Is there any way you can return it?

Rayfer

Hiya Ohio! Please, don't hate to agree...all opinions welcome in my book! I accept your challenge and shall eventually report a final tally! Oh...and...obviously...we shall *not* be using new parts. ;-)

Right now it's looking like it'll need an intake, fuel rail, motor mounts, radiator, condenser, fan, throttle body (if I can't glue the bits back together well enough to make it air-tight...and yeah, feel free to snicker, I'm aware it's definitely not the Right Way to fix it), oil tube, headlight, fender and hood...prolly some more I can't think of off hand. Believe it or not, my average price on purchases made thus far has been under $20 per component. There's u-pull-it salvage yards in Dallas who let stuff go pretty cheap. If it weren't for that (and car-part.com), there's no way we'd be able to make it happen. This is only slightly more work than I'm accustomed to having to do to keep the family on the road...meaning...normally it's not all had to be done AT ONCE...heh...wish us luck and I'll buy the first round if we go over $400. :-)

Ohiocruiser

I like your attitude! Wish you best of luck with this project. Keep us posted about progress. I personally will be shocked if you make it under 400.

hellshotrod

u got a keeper , iv fixed worst with less if u need parts lmk i,m the parts guy just bought 3 more hhrs this week so i,m up to 30 parts cars and at least 10 builders u can do it hhrs are like vw's 20 years ago u could afford too buy a new one but could not afford too fix the one u were working on LOL ,, lmk if u need help or parts dave,, HHR Hells Hot Rod

Rayfer

Thanks! Is this the correct thread to continue with updates?

Hey Dave! Yeah, my father just placed and order from ya! GREAT deals! Much appreciation! Will send you a PM with another shopping list :-)

Air cooled v-dubs were my first love. All the other boys had posters of girls on their walls...I liked the curves of the VWs and Porsches of the day!

You either have a salvage yard, or a private warehouse, or a lot of land! I'm turning green...would love to help keep things on the road...

hellshotrod

i restore old vw's for collectors now iv built so many vw's that i just build now for owners that can afford more then one and they want a 1st place car or mag car or just killer daily driver ,,, i,m to old now to impress others , i just do what i love and care for , as for hhrs i,m just a junky i bought 2 new in 06 and have had too many now to list and still just love them as well, they are the new vw of buying they won't make u cash but u can afford to buy more and hoard them as i have i,m sick i need help !!!! LOL ,