Deer vs 60: need denver body repair recommendations (1 Viewer)

[Infinity00]

Hey everyone, hope you had a good thanksgiving!

looking for some advice on a good body repair shop in the greater Denver area after hitting a big buck.

Damage to bumper, front valence, grill, headlight housing and the hood got a few small bumps that Gerber (insurance recommended repair shop) thought was hail damage but I’m pretty sure isn’t. The hood got misaligned and it looks like it was sandpapered maybe by the deer idk. They didn’t look at the frame or under the hood. Overall, based on what they said, it isn’t in too bad of shape but needs fixing and they can’t do it. Gerber pulled the bumper off the tire so it’s drivable now. Would like to get it fixed properly and have someone who is knowledgeable look at it for real. Any recommendations appreciated! I called Slee and he doesn’t do 60s.

The deer came out of nowhere (don’t they always) and leapt to it’s death on Pearl Parkway at rush hour. I think it was hit midair, no room between cars and it slammed into the opposite traveling cars. Dead on impact. Big buck. Never saw it so never slowed down, going 40-45. Barely felt it in the cruiser, I shouldn’t be surprised, but I was.

 

[OSS]

Major bummer. Would something like shown below saved your cruiser from the collision?

 

[NeverGiveUpYota]

@evilorgoodtwin what a bummer! Glad your okay tho! How’s the truck look?

 

[Infinity00]

@OSS yeah I’ve been thinking about something like that but the mule deer around here are usually car adverse - don’t seem as dumb as the eastern white tail around cars. Something must have scared it into traffic. It happened pretty much outside my old work and I’ve never seen bucks around there.
@NeverGiveUpYota now that the bumper is pulled out you can barely tell unless you look close, but I haven’t really driven it much to see if anything is seriously wrong. I’m hoping not. Think I got lucky.

 

[SteveH]

Pics?

 

[Cruzerman]

I've hit five deer with my 60. I hit two in one week! Some dents and scratches but never anything that kept it from running. In every case, the deer didn't fare as well.

 

[boerboel313]

Where are the pics?

 

[Infinity00]

It doesn’t look too bad in these pictures. The shop quoted $1700 but then says they can’t get parts to fix it. I guess I’ll be looking for a new bumper and valence and hopefully the hood will align correctly.
pic has deer fur captured in endcap.

 

[Infinity00]

The passenger side headlight cover thing got bent too, which is weird since it’s plastic I thought. This pic just shows the hood misalignment. Not sure about that.

Yes

 

[Infinity00]

Still trying to find a Denver area shop to repair it since Gerber can’t do it. Any recommendations?

 

[SteveH]

Thanks for the pix. The truck survived this well. You are going to have to find a shop willing to go slowly and carefully. I think you can salvage the valance and probably the hood. The odd misalignment of parts may be the radiator shell that supports the headlights being tweaked.

If I were you, I would try to fix this myself, but not everyone finds winter bodywork to be all that exciting. You need someone who will study the radiator shell and pull it back out to its original shape so that the grille, valance, headlight doors (surrounds) all fit and look as they should. Most body shops will be all about 'how can we sling this out of here in 3 hours and move on to a more profitable project' - and that's not the environment in which this truck is best repaired. Just my .02 worth.

 

[Hojack]

Did you bag it?
In Oregon it’s now legal to take your road kill.

 

[Infinity00]

@Hojack i wish. I’m originally from Michigan and if anyone got a deer and didn’t pick it up, the very next person did! Not so much here in Colo. I don’t think it’s legal here but I should check in case it happens again!

@SteveH thanks for the good info. I didn’t think about the radiator shell maybe getting tweaked. I am considering fixing it myself but it’d be a half assed job. I’m not patient enough to make things perfect. If I don’t hear from anyone on Mud recommending a shop in Denver I’ll probably take it to a guy Christo from Slee recommended but the dude is in Grand Junction or the junk yard guys down in Salida. I don’t really want to travel that far but might do it to get it fixed right. My insurance is USAA and they seemed amenable to having a classic specialty shop work on it. I mean that’s why I have full coverage on my baby, so I want to use it.

 

[Hojack]

I’d say time to throw on a 4plus

 

[WSOPgold2012]

Major bummer. Would something like shown below saved your cruiser from the collision?

View attachment 2147811

Is this for sale?? That looks bad ass!

 

[Infinity00]

That’d attract elk, no thanks!

 

[Hojack]

Is this for sale?? That looks bad ass!

You’d just need forks on the front and after hitting game just keep going all the way home

 

[LCnAZ]

Still trying to find a Denver area shop to repair it since Gerber can’t do it. Any recommendations?

Check around town for a shop that is one in the USAA program (Stars 1?). We've used one here that is super. USAA holds them to pretty high standards.

I think this is an invitation to buy a different bumper, for sure. We've had several wildlife encounters with mule deer, javalina, and raccoons around here. You're lucky that the dear didn't get over the bumper to wipe out the grill, condenser, radiator, etc...or worse, get over the hood to you! When I was restoring our '62, the wifey saw an ARB front bumper and insisted that is the way to go.

Otherwise...I think a shop might be able to kind of do some paintless-type repairs/manipulation to get the valence back in shape. Tough to tell what else might be out of wack. Perhaps the metal mounting points that the headlights and similar are attached to have been pushed aft out of position. The hood may be a challenge. You might have to search salvage and repaint for that.

My $.02 worth. Good luck.

 

[Infinity00]

Thanks for the response, Gerber is the USAA shop and they won’t do the work. USAA asked ME If I knew of another shop. Gerber said to find a classic restoration shop. I believe the deer jumped and was in mid air when hit, so I think it must have been the momentum of flight that kept him going to the other lane and not on top of the hood completely. I can’t think of any other explanation. But glad. New bumper for sure. Wish I knew of a class to restore metal and I’d take this opportunity to fix this and the rusty areas I’ve been wanting to fix. Gerber never opened the hood, maybe I should have them take a look and see what attachment points might be messed up.

 

[Hojack]

New 4plus or ARB and you won’t even notice the valence. I’d just use a soft head hammer to slowly work out the dents. Doesn’t look bad at all from your pics. I wish I still had my front stock bumper if that’s what you just want, I have given it to ya. Guess I should have kept it.