Freelander 1 My Freelandering Days May Be Over...

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The sub frame is a right mess. There's a lump of angle iron where there should be a tube. Also the OS rear radius arm mount has collapsed and folded in on its self. (Possible reason for loss of control in the first place?) Cars rust badly that part of the world.
A replacement rear sub frame would restore the rear suspension to correct. It won't fix the body damage though.
Well spotted Nodge. Looks like the rear subframe has been welded up in the past.
 
The rear subframe needed welding for it's MOT last year. It just went through another MOT a month ago and I didn't realise the subframe was so bad on the opposite side or I would have asked for that to be welded as well. To be honest I'm surprised it passed like that. But you can see just how badly cars corrode in the salty air up here and this one hasn't spent it's whole life up here. It was brought up from the mainland some years ago by the previous owner. I made the decision a while back never to buy another Shetland car. They're money pits.

At first I suspected that something had gone wrong with the car to cause the accident as my wife's description of what happened sounded a little odd. But having spoken to other people who use that road, including the police officers who visited the house later that day, it seems there might have been some slippy contaminant on the road, possibly waste from overspilling salmon farm wagons, and it was raining, because other people reported sliding round that bend. It's a particularly bad one heading downhill with a bit of adverse camber.

It doesn't help that there are massive ditches along almost all of the roads in Shetland so going off the road almost always means you're not getting back on under your own steam and any accident outcome is aggravated by that. There also happened to be some massive concrete structure in the bottom of the ditch at that point which she was unlucky enough to hit and that's what's caused all the damage.

But hey, the outcome could have been much worse so I don't give a monkeys about the hows and whys and who's fault it might have been. My wife is OK. That's all that matters.
 
Glad your missus is okay. Where in Shetlands did the accident happen as I used to live in Saxa Vord on Unst and driving was an art in the eighties.Shetland Ponies Sheep or Church Wardens was some of the events. There was a house on Unst that's taken a few hits even from me. You might need the local Shaman to bless your vehicles next time.

It's on the main road approximately half way between Voe and Mossbank. The lovely long straight bit heading downhill you can see in the photo is just before the start of Dales Voe. The whole road is a lovely drive.

I'm presuming you served in the RAF at the radar station, by the evidence in your avatar pic. It's now holiday homes and there's a cafe and small "museum" in what used to be the main admin building.
 
As for what's happening with it now, we've decided to wait until the insurers have done what they need to do before taking any parts off it, and some of the better stuff will probably end up on my Freelander. But NOT the rear subframe.
 
Here's a screenshot taken from Google Street View of the bend. You can see the concrete structure lurking in the ditch near the bottom right.

road.JPG


And here's a view taken from the other side of the bend heading into it.

road2.JPG
 
But hey, the outcome could have been much worse so I don't give a monkeys about the hows and whys and who's fault it might have been. My wife is OK. That's all that matters.
Absolutely 100%!!! She's okay!

The body cell has done its job, and to the cursory inspection, the car looks amazingly straight, all things considered (missing wheels/bent suspension apart!)
 
It's on the main road approximately half way between Voe and Mossbank. The lovely long straight bit heading downhill you can see in the photo is just before the start of Dales Voe. The whole road is a lovely drive.

I'm presuming you served in the RAF at the radar station, by the evidence in your avatar pic. It's now holiday homes and there's a cafe and small "museum" in what used to be the main admin building.
Not for long the MOD are thinking of reopening Saxa Vord according to Shetland Times report last week. Yarp I did serve a Butlins holiday camp for the mentally insane in 1988-1989. I seen the Google map tour version and the old installation still about and buildings up there too. So I guess the accommodation might take to the hills to start. The original holiday camp with the accom block was great before they destroyed the character. Skittle Alley for Zero's and the Saxa Rugby field at Burrafirth with the Golf Course. Not forgetting the Simmer Dim Raft Race between sections. Some happy memories. And the adventure to Skaw via Norwick.
 
As for what's happening with it now, we've decided to wait until the insurers have done what they need to do before taking any parts off it, and some of the better stuff will probably end up on my Freelander. But NOT the rear subframe.
I'm still after some Cairns blue fog lamp trims, if they fell off in the incident? ;)
 
Here's a screenshot taken from Google Street View of the bend. You can see the concrete structure lurking in the ditch near the bottom right.

View attachment 131691

And here's a view taken from the other side of the bend heading into it.

View attachment 131692

That lump of concrete is very badly placed. If that wasn't there, the FL would likely have survived the incident, relatively unscathed.
 
Fog lights/trims, whatever, no problem. Might have to wait a little while though. I'm up to my eyes right now.

As for the concrete structure, I'm pretty sure I'd be driving the car now if it wasn't for that. I've no idea what it's for.
 
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