Mustang Wounded! And, almost caught on fire!

[StangFlyer]

You're not kidding Steve (Capri306)! That would have really sucked if I had a cigarette hanging out the window. LOL

1989GT, Believe it or not, skydiving is probably twice as safe (statistically) as just driving my Mustang around town. Despite the two bizzare skydiving deaths reported over the holiday weekend, your chances of dying skydiving are 8500:1. Your chances of getting killed just driving your car to the work are 3500:1. Go figure. There are like 4 million skydives in the U.S. each year, and out of those there are, on average, 30 deaths per year. Modern skydiving equipment has brought the sport a long ways and drastically increased safety. However, there is some level of risk... but, with proper equipment, adherence to safety protocols, and common sense it's an acceptable level of risk... just like with drag racing or many other activities.

Jester, I'm not as upset about it as you might expect. I'm happier that it didn't go up in flames, or slide a few feet farther and flip into the ditch, etc... The result was rather minor to other possibilities.

In any event, I'm ordering a new facia, bumper support, and fog light bracketry. The impact support looks fine... although it made an obvious mark where it moved in and out absorbing the impact of the pole.

Here's a pic:


Here's more:
http://www.danmcclain.com/photos/MyC...rontEndDamage/
(you can't see it, but the one fog light bracket bolt ripped right through the bumper)

[1989GT]

Yeah I realize skydiving is "safe"...just something about jumping out of a plane that doesn't seem quite right...although I'd like to try it sometime LOL .

[Mr 5 0]

Originally Posted by 1989GT

Yeah I realize skydiving is "safe"...just something about jumping out of a plane that doesn't seem quite right...although I'd like to try it sometime LOL .

I have a friend who is a 'private' pilot (non-commercial) and says that he could never see the point of jumping out of a plane unless it was going to crash. I get that - but like many others, experiencing the thrill of free-falling from thousands of feet in the air before opening the chute and drifting down to a safe landing is very appealing.

Unfortunately, my wife has made it very clear that she is 100% against my attempting skydiving as it is a totally unnecessary risk, in her opinion. I have chosen to respect her wishes and forego any skydiving attempts, at least for the near future.

StangFlyer:

Scary experience there - but at least you ended up safe and with only minor Mustang damage. As others have mentioned, extended storage can do more harm to a vehicle than actually driving it. Now you see how that works. Perhaps next winter, you may want to keep the insurance on the car and on dry days, drive it a bit just to keep it 'limber'. Like people who don't get any exercise, non-use of a car can atrophy seals and other parts.

In any case, glad to see you handled the situation with good sense and quickly located the cause of the problem. Best of all, you didn't get hurt.

[rwhite65]

StangFlyer:
I can totally sympathize with your experience. Launching the old mustang thru that ditch and hitting the culvert all due to a darn dog, thought I had tweaked the frame for sure. Lady luck was with me and I only lost the front spoiler.

I hate having to store my car every year....I put it away gorgeous and ready to roll in the spring.....hard to remember the last time I got it out in spring and it didn’t have something acting up I had to fix.

Glad you both are ok.
Ryan

[Rev]

Originally Posted by rwhite65

StangFlyer:
I can totally sympathize with your experience. Launching the old mustang thru that ditch and hitting the culvert all due to a darn dog, thought I had tweaked the frame for sure. Lady luck was with me and I only lost the front spoiler.

I hate having to store my car every year....I put it away gorgeous and ready to roll in the spring.....hard to remember the last time I got it out in spring and it didn’t have something acting up I had to fix.

Glad you both are ok.
Ryan

Glad both your cars are not badly damaged. No winters to speak of in Texas. Houston humidity and 90-100+ F June-July-August-September is a hardship for most though. Some of us old timers here are just used to it. You can drive your baby year round though. I actually wait until the "dead of winter", Jan-Feb to go to the track so I can get some cold air (40 F) for good track times. Come to Texas, we need more like Dan and Ryan.

Rev