This summer I installed a used rear section on a Honda Accord. My dad (Ray) gave me a hand cuz I only had one. It was a fun project. This video gives you a look into what it takes to splice a car in half and put it back together.
When this is done correctly there is absolutely nothing to worry about. The car is 100% and will drive the same and perform the same as factory. The car will hold up in another accident just as if it were never hit. This is a front wheel drive car so there will be no issues with the transmission.
Been a panel beater for 30+ years we used have a Swedish book in our garage (UK) economical body repairs from the 60's showed you how to 2 half it was insurance approved back then in Sweden . I have did a few many years ago .
love the comments, so many "experts" judging this repair method even though they have no idea how to do it themselves, no structural parts were cut, it was joined at the factory structural seams, outer panels which are not structural were cut, which is what you are supposed to do,(even the manufacturer allows you to do that) even better, those joins had gussets, that is Icar standard practice. no need for measuring equipment on such a job, if the rear door gaps are even, and they shut perfect, its 100% right
GoneBadKiwi if you read my comment I mentioned that no structural parts were cut , you are right honda / most manufacturers do not allow you to do that
This has been proven to be unsafe. Clipping cars is a very old method. Its not a matter of it holding together, its a matter of it buckling in the right areas. These shade tree butchers are far from engineers! Looking right and being right are not the same!!! Go back to tech school, clown!
Seems like a professional work to me nothing hidden... this is restoration at it's best...way to go guys kudos for you..... wish l could restore old cars this way
@enquire422, Well it was not easily repairable. The right quarter panel,frame rail,rear body panel,floor,&the inner quarter/wheelhouse all had to be replaced. It was not cost efective to replace only these parts with new parts. The insurance company wanted to buy a used rear section of the car because that was cheaper for them. It does not make sence to seperate the used section and use only the parts mentioned above. It is eaiser to put the complete clip in & maintain the integraty of the car.
@ chucky, I would disagree with you. This car is 100% safe to drive and will perform in another accident just as it would from the factory. Cars are designed with crush zones. The crush zones in the rear of this car are behind the rear wheels to the back bumper. This area has not been compromised. The used rear section that was used was installed along the factory seams across the floor and roof well in front of the crush zone. As long as its welded properly, there are no issues.
Judging by the repair, it was done properly, all seams were welded and ground smooth, everything works as it should, it's structurally no different. It might even be a tad bit stronger. I love how everyone turns into a Structural Engineer on the internet. Any family that buys this car in the future will have a car with fresh paint and the only inkling of it ever being repaired will be on Carfax. It's just as safe as before, just as strong as before. It's the easiest way to back-halve a car that has been skewed and twisted.
+Morten Kristoffersen Seeing as how this is what Honda would instruct someone to do, in order to maintain structural integrity... Your "qualifications" hold no merit here. The new rear clip panels are attached in the same manner the factory ones are, therefore it's like it never happened. Factory style spot-welds on factory-designated seams. It doesn't really get any better than that. Plus if you were such an amazing engineer you'd notice how low-stress the factory split joints in this car are relative to the strength of the spot-welds. Structural integrity is the same. Also, road vehicles (namely passenger cars) don't have to abide by the same incredibly strict standards of airframe construction.
Most qualified engineers are painfully aware that in a structural zone, even a scratch is in fact a fracture in an early stage. When a scratch is a starting fracture, what are those welds ? -Can you send a link to the official factory recommendations, please ? I would like to see for myself where the factory is stating cuts for replacing e.g. quarter panels should be.
Sorry, forgot to mention that the added heat from the new welds will have severely changed the properties of the steel in that area, it has now hardened, and thus the crumple zone has changed shape, and the deformation speed will have changed. Nothing is as it was supposed to be. One can get away changing e.g. a QP, but not bodging on a full rear end. I never said I am a brilliant engineer, but I do hold the qualification (-; On 18 Nov 2015 09:42, "Morten Kristoffersen" wrote: > Most qualified engineers are painfully aware that in a structural zone, > even a scratch is in fact a fracture in an early stage. When a scratch is a > starting fracture, what are those welds ? > -Can you send a link to the official factory recommendations, please ? > I would like to see for myself where the factory is stating cuts for > replacing e.g. quarter panels should be.
great job good as new if done on factory seams like this car......."cut & shut" is done different so this is not to be confused as i did a car like this for the wife and run it for yrs in uk,nothing wrong with it if done correct........well done lad's nice work,shame the car is crap though ha .
Amazed you are allowed to do that. It's like the number one no no here in UK, they call it a cut n shut and is against all regulations. I have tried to put my point across that if the original seams are used and welded the original way it should be ok but the man ain't having any of it! Nice job by the way,looks straight and clean
+Rafael Ramos Melim The difference there is that you *know* the car is modified. The car has a warranty, and it certified as modified to a whole clutch of engineering standards. A layman wouldn't with this car. This is why in pretty-much every modern country (and I discount Merka as a modern country) you aren't allowed to do this. A dodgy job done will kill everyone in the car. This is why it's banned...
These guys are proffessionals ,you would never know .because they fixed the car so well ,it would be very hard to tell the car had been repaired this way,again only an expert would be able to tell
Thanks for the comment.Saw your video,van turned out real nice!I agree with you when you say"the hard way"as it is faster and easier to cut the car in half and join it together and weld it however that is not the way the car was designed.To keep the integrity of the car I spliced and welded this where it was put together from the factory.IMO this is the proper way to do a job like this.A little more work and thought goes into it but in the end it is not the hard way but rather the proper way.
Top job on staggered panels ,this is not a cut and shut , a cut and shut refers to one straight line through the car .this is not one single cut .they've cut all the panels staggered ,every single panel has a different line through the car , outer sills cut on one line ,inner sill on another ,floor different to the others , same on the top of quarters or c post . Top job boys you've covered the minimum requirements to stagger the panels ,don't listen to idiots who obviously don't have a clue the difference between what you done and a cut and shut
"Cut and shuts" have been illegal in Australia (in NSW it is any way) since the start of 2011 due to the vehicle rebirthing legislation. Although I helped do one when I did my panel beating apprenticeship in 2006/7 seeing what's really involved to do one. I personally wouldn't feel safe driving one especially the Nissan 180SX I helped do the main panel beater did it and I just watched and learnt. As yes that was done in accordance to the factory specs but it came back a couple of months later with the floor pan split in two and it was only held together by the roof. Turns out it had fatigued on the joints and let go on the highway doing 110kph.
so my question is will it ever be the same after changing the front clip? and will be able to be aligned? i really like this car is my first one and well i want it to be like it was before thank you for your time.
So many ignorant people that have brainwashed by an ignorant media. That bodyshell is nothing more than various small panels that have been welded together in the first place. The safety of the car depends on the repair. This kind of repair is NOT illegal in the UK or come with a long jail sentence.
+V T so many fucking engineers lying around youtube....there are much much worse repairs, and the way they did the overlap was not bad at all . you ignorants see a lot of cars having replacement rooftops and that is much more dangerous than this repair because it is almost NEVER done properly...try chopping the roof of a car and watch it bend in half.also the pillars consist of multiple layers of steel and they always solder only the outside metal.and there is never this level of criticism on those videos
Yes, what kind of crap do they show on tv over there? Some witch hunt investigative reports crap? I'de drive this car before i'de drive an old rusty car or a really small car.
i have 2005 gt mustang and someone rear ended me hard but its still drives fine but doesnt look very good there is frame damage but it doesnt effect the draving at all it is salvage title i wanted to keep the car. so would you guys do the same to my car like this in the video? does the 1500 include the new car half? and how long does it take to fix it?
TO ALL IDIOTS SAYING THIS IS ILLEGAL/UNSAFE It is 100% legal if you follow the admistrative procedures (that means the car has to be inspected for road-worthiness, be assigned new registration number, pass the standard MOT test). What is illegal in some countries is the "sale" of these cars, not the repair. As for the safety, cars are made from sheets of steel bolted and welded together... do it RIGHT and you can put them back together, and they will be as safe as a new. That said, I would never buy a car that has undergone this kind of repair, because only the owner that paid for the repair job knows how the job was done, and as such he should keep the car for himself.
what ban? you obviously have no idea what you are talking about, we have a category rating in this country c and d are classed as repairable by the assessing engineer, most of the comments here are about the method of repair, reed some of the other comments,
***** But the example in the video is not really repairable. You may well be a car mechanic,others on here may well have education within engineering and metallurgy. A mechanic saying "Yeah, can fix it!" is NOT any guarantee for safety. The damage in the video is a category B (Not fit to go back safely on the road), so no reason to yell about C & D, which are both repairable. Repairing a Cat B, as here, is certainly banned in the UK !
+Morten Kristoffersen Sorry must have missed something here, so your an insurance assessment engineer now!! ,and you rate this as B?? sorry, but this is not even in the UK!! and thanks for assuming I am a mechanic!! I may go down to Halfords auto centre later, and see how many body work jobs they have on!! There is no point me going on here , As you "obviously" know more than I do!! I have stated the facts, and even tried to explain why some of the points made by some are incorrect, So again, may I suggest you visit a reputable major accident repair shop, and ask to see some Jig work being carried out, and pre pair yourself for a shock!! incidentally , it is not possible to put a category A or B back on the the road in the UK, as the car Would not be issued with a V5, road licence, or insurance, the biggest problem in the UK is still unrecorded damaged vehicles, these can be repaired with no history, even when they should not be returned to the road, i.e., far worse than the damage to the car in this video, C and D are simply not worth repairing due to cost of new parts and labour, not safety issues!! these can be purchased from salvage yards, and repaired using second-hand parts and cheap or self labour, and it is totally legal to do so, the car however will stay on the register . so back to your original point of write-offs being repaired and sold, there is no ban on, selling a repaired cars, of C and D, FACT!
Seriously dangerous. To do this sort of work the car should of been set up on a jig so the car keeps its factory shape. No doubt this car drives bent and isn't straight as you have just welded it together. Even if its legal in your country in the lower panels and C pillars there should be supports joining the 2 pieces together. Then the supports should be bonded to the cars frame as you have weakened the cars shell. Looking at it its highly dangerous and shocking. Doing a repair like this weakens the car shell as your welding will never be as good as a machine weld as we design the weld into the cars design. Most likely will have cause damage to the metal around the welds so in a crash 'your' welds will fail before the factory crumble zones work. If you want a full break down of what you have done wrong please let me know as I work for Honda in the UK. My line of work is teaching car repair shops on how to repair Honda cars. The car would be safer if you had only replaced the outer shell and kept the inner cell of the car in 1 piece. Its truly shocking that a so called 'professional' shop/company carried out a bodge repair. I could right a essay on & how you should of done it correctly
+adam Robinson so what your suggesting and I quote " your welding will never be as good as a machine weld " that all welds done in refinishing are not safe? so anyone having accident repairs done will have a car thats unsafe? so on your point- any car having any major repairs I.E., chassis leg, inner and outer quarter panel, wheel tub, boot floor, need I go on? I too used to work in a main dealer major accident repair shop, most of the time on the jigs, and I can honestly say I would rather have a car repaired like this, than having it stretched back into NEAR its original shape with crumpled sections being hammer and dollied back to NEAR there original shape before being skimmed with filler! truly? what repair do you think is the weakest, and your point on the C pillars?? as far as I saw, the whole section was replaced up to the roof seem, only a small butt weld section was done, and backed with a plate, and the frame was sectioned and re welded, I think the fact here is, no car will ever be the same after major accident damage, on a point of strength or the ability to resist rust, whatever method of repair is used, and if you think differently, then your not in the real world!! on another point, are you suggesting Honda does not have a let in point guide?
+rottenbot No reason comparing this to stretching, as stretching is just another repair method which is being abused. The issue lies not in method, but in letting dead cars rest in peace instead of making easy money on reselling write offs!
like I said, you have no idea what you are talking about!! may I suggest you visit a main dealer body shop, and ask to see some jig work being carried out, and then you can tell them what they do for a living is illegal!!! to be honest, some of the cars I have been involved with I would not want back if they where mine, however this would be down to the fact of welding in corrosion, the car will never be as good as what it was originally, but try telling your insurance you want a new one, instead of an economic repair!!
So you work in a Honda garage , am fully trained in this ,from old schooled method to right upto date , I was taught from picking 2 shells apart and welding it together with and WITHOUT a jig ,yes without a jig ,we where taught to aline up vehicles by other methods ,something not really taught these days as it's mainly done by jig if insurance will pay cause it's a near new car and top of the range , I'm served CGLI an not nvq ,I put my hours in to know what am talking about so maybe you wanna break it down what these have done wrong and I'll tell you how his dad obviously was taught an old school approved method still approved but insurance don't touch it as to many cowboys where cutting and shutting so they prefer to use jigs( covers there ass's ) or sell on crash damaged salvage . Just cause your not seeing the modern method it don't however mean he's done it wrong , go ask an old panel beater / crash repairer if this method is wrong and he'll tell you so long as they've measured precisely they is nothing wrong in this method , that's ANY old schooled panel beater / crash repairer still WORKING in a top garage (not some shed ) they can break it down to you as trying to tell you would take a year to type ,you wanna see my college folders ,they are packed of stuff you needed to know ,you wanna say to the panel beater to show you drop line and chalk method where you do trig on the floor and he'll laugh his tits off as it's a proper method still can be used to check measurement but so dinosaur way to do it
This car is a salvage. The insurance company totalted the car (because the cost of the repair was 80%+ of what the car was worth) but the owner wanted to keep the car and have it repaired. So the insurance company gave them the car and a check less the salvage amount. The customer had us fix the car and was out of pocket maybe 1,000 to 1,500 bucks.
ineurope cars that have consistent accidents are doomed to be scrapped or crushed. because no one will insure your car anymore so the road safety will send you car to the crusher and the papers will be destroyed. This is a good thing because the chances of buying a car made of 2 half cars are marginal.
A true fly-by-night job! zero structural integrity left in this shoddy cut'n'shut. Hope the buyer doesn't end up being rearended in his new Frankencar !!
Wow, looks like a really high quality job! I just watched it the whole time thing "why bother on a older Honda Accord", surely the cost to repair outweighs the value of the car itself?
Eh you can make some money off this. Low cost for the two totaled cars. If the engine is low mileage you could probably get like 5 grand flr the car. If you have a deal with where ya got them and do this multiple times it's profitable
People are so naive when it comes to salvage cars. If done right there is nothing wrong with them. When was the last time you saw a car break in half because of a bad repair?
Ok, do you know what happens to airplanes that have taxiing accidents where a tail or wingtip gets damaged? They cut the damaged section out and add a new piece. Or what about a limo? That is just a regular car that gets cut in half and a middle section is welded in. Like I said, if done right its just as strong and safe as new. But if done by a hack shop then your concern is valid.
Thank for your comment. Weld thru primer was used. At the 1 min mark you can see a close up of the iside rocker lip and the backing plate I am holding. They are both grey from the weld thru primer. All overlaps and seems were coated with the primer. As you know, the primer is only used between the panels not on the outside. Thanks for watching!
Oh yea I understand the original owner, but I mean does the car work the same again? (Im not a pro or anything like that) I mean after something like this is the car drivable the same way it used to? And also doesnt it affect anything say in the future like a missaligned chassis or problems with say the transmission?
with the damage. If damage was on left side of car only then a complete front clip is not necessary. You can replace the left frame rail and shock tower only, if needed. There may be suspension damage. A damaged lower control arm will cause the wheel to be set back. The suspension subframe may be damaged as well. The car could be fixed and drive properly if the work is done right. I would have another shop (reputable one) look at it and see if they can figure out what it needs.
This car was well maintained and origional owner. Most people would rather have their own car repaired rather than getting another one where they don't know the history of the car. The cost was less than trying to replace the car.
i dont see why everyone has such a problem with this its completely safe and its probably been elded together better than the factory robots do, id do this to my car
The way this car was repaired, I would feel very safe. I worked at a body shop near my place, he's the type "in today, out yesterday". he butt joints, I don't need to describe the results, pro body repair men will understand. A greedy body shop owner where you get less for more $$$$$$$
astonmartinridin Its not illegal so long as they dont try to sell it as a clean title car. It would have to be a salvage titled car. But I agree with Josh Aden's comment, if its done correctly then there should be no problem with it. If I were the buyer however, I would take it to a body shop to inspect the welds for integrity.
+ITSAJEEPTHING all depends on what state you live in... here in north carolina we can chop all the way until the dash or at the engine compartment at the firewall and put a rear or front clip onto a car.
+ITSAJEEPTHING Ιf the body work is done carefully like the video the car can stand a crash again!I have see the work of a friend painter in a 2002 red mitsubishi colt.It was a brand new dealers test drive car crashed front and back!The front was in a good condition the back was crashed bad!One day i saw it cut in half and the back was blue!When i ask my friend about the reliability of of the car now he said when its over i will take you for a ride if i drive a car like this everything its ok with it!A year later after the ride the car was crashed again in the back by an SUV!Nothing happened to the inside of the car nothing lead to a failure of weldings!Always have a trustworthy mechanic!
hey i have a 93 Honda prelude i crashed the car really bad this past summer after a week i had it, so the car got fix they changed the tower were the shock screws on and well the car is not the same the hit was in the front driver side and the wheel is back about 2, 3 inches and if u see the car straight u can see one side higher then the other the thing is i want to get it fix the right way and i was told that the only way it will ever be like it was is to change the whole front clip,
Wszędzie sie takie naprawy robi ale osobną kwestią jest sposób jej wykonania. Na tym konkretnym filmie widać że jest to pełna profeska w dobrym warsztacie i taki pojazd jest dalej zdolny do jazdy co innego gdy to zrobi nasz przysłowiowy pan Czesiek z jakiegoś zadupia.
the problem with this video is that people that don't know how to do this work properly will go cutting into cars and make them unsafe. i have done this kind of work for more than 20 years and still cringe at some of the so-called repairs that are done by amateurs in their backyard being driven on the road.
Ok... It looks good, and I'm sure its safe. BUT If you were off just a hair wouldn't that throw the rear alignment way off?Well screw alignment, the whole car would be tracking down the road "sideways" right? If I'm missing something please let me know!
+Chevymalibuls Yep! the fact is they didn't show you the car being set out, plus all cars come with some tolerance, you are correct though, if a job like this is done badly the car would crab, in this case, the job was well approached and the end result was a success, tell tail signs would have been badly aligned door gaps, and badly fitting trim etc, the section they cut included all the suspension points, so the chances of them getting it wrong, are far reduced, I noted them taking pre cut measurements before the section was removed using panel marker points, the same the factory used when the shell was assembled.
it would preform allot worse if the rear leg was pulled an a new quarter panel slapped on, once its joined properly and doesn't rust it will perform the same way Mr Honda intended
saw a honda accord ripped in two after the driver crossed the median on the HIGHWAY and got hit but a large suv.... I guessed it was a car someone had cut and shut XD probably not this car, but everyone was okay except for the fact traffic was blocked up for 1 hour and 30 mins in the 4 lane, and we eventually got out of our cars and talked and chilled out while we waited for the cops and firetrucks to finally move so we could get on our way.
HEY PLEASE GIVE ME SOME INFO.. I HAVE A MUSTANG GT 2000. THEY CRASHED INTO ME. (HIT AND RUN) I FIXED IT MYSELF BUT NO GOOD, YOU KNOW THE CHEAP WAY. BONDO AND STRECHING. . ITS A CONVERTIBLE CAN YOU GIVE ME SOME ADVICE. LIKE YOU SAID. THEY ARE GOOD AGAIN. ARE THEY GOOD(SAFE) WHEN YOU CUT AND REPLACED WITH ANOTHER BODY ? WHAT SHOULD I DO? IT'S MY CAR, GREAT MEMORIES AND I HATE TO LET IT GO.
it looks great, but for me....i'm really scared of driving a half-cut car on the road after I saw in my country a half-cut built car split in two right the same spot where it was attached on the highway and killed the passengers in the back instantaneously
