Miata Mailing List: December 1998, Message #355

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Well, the body shop serving as Thumper's medical clinic called today to say
they were done. I went over and guess what, they still have her. I think
the list of things I found that were done incorrectly are reasonable,
assuming the shop fixes them (soon!). However, I offer the checkout and
errata to the list to see if anyone can think of anything I missed,
especially if it may be related.

The bumper, hood, right headlamp, right front fender, right door skin, and
right rocker panel were replaced. I looked at paint color in sunlight
(couldn't detect a difference), they did do the texture correct height and
roughness on the lower portion of the door, too. 

The hood and doors seemed to line up correctly with the rest of the
bodywork, gaps are of consistent width. 

The hood, top, and doors operated smoothly, no binding (I think I forgot to
check the trunk action, but that didn't take any direct hit in the wreck).

There was a little roughness in the paint at the edge of the hood (looks
like small particulate). The inside of the fender (under the hood) had what
appeared to be a tape line - I was debating accepting this, as it is not
visible.

The engine shield was cracked in the wreck - they did not replace it, and
one of the mounting bolts (shared with the guard next to it) was missing.
The adjacent guard was replaced.

The right window front edge comes up about 1/4" lower than before the
wreck, but wind noise was consistent side-to-side. Both window-top seals
look good visually (I didn't water-test them).

The right outer window-door seal was not properly aligned (contacted window
at the back edge only, about an 1/8" gap at the front). However, the outer
edge of the seal did seem to follow the line of the door, so this makes me
wonder if the door skin itself is improperly aligned.

Slight reddish tinge on the creases of the right seat and floormat.
Possible overspray and sloppy cleanup?

They did not replace the Ston-Gard headlight protectors, so I only had one
(left side) and it was partially separated from the headlight. I'm buying
the replacement myself (at the insurance's expense).

The grill (aftermarket) was deformed and had started to rust where it was
creased. It seems they didn't know what to do with aftermarket parts.
Again, I'm getting the replacement at insurance expense.

Test drive showed nothing obviously wrong. In fact, it felt pretty good.
Accelerated and braked with no pull to either side.

Several small black marks on the paint that seemed sticky/gooey when
touched - almost like a gasket sealer or tar material.

Overall, if they can properly clean things up and replace the busted parts,
it seems to be in good shape. However, this is my first real experience
with a body shop (previous fender-benders in OTMs have been very minor) so
I want to make sure I don't miss anything.

So, does this sound like a reasonable number/severity of errors?

Thanks,

Chris Pilla & Thumper
'99 Classic Red & Tan
Team HUGE First Ding
Team K.G. Works
Team Dealer Alternative
Team Duetto
Team Soon-To-Be-More