(5/4/2004) - Today could have gone better...   I was on my way home from work, and the car in front of me slammed on their brakes and locked 'em up.  Of course I now have 4-wheel discs, so I was able to stop in time - but the Volvo behind me couldn't cut it.  I heard the tires screeching, and saw it coming in my rearview mirror - Kaboom!

It could have been worse, but its still annoying as hell!  I ONLY have 6 brake lights, how could this happen?  :-) 

Well anyway, I'm alright, and the car is fixable.

Luckily the Baja bumper saved the engine, but it took a beating in the process.  The first thing I noticed was that the bumper was a lot closer to my exhaust...

The Volvo managed NOT to have any damage (damn!).  

For the most part, the Volvo hit the left bar shown below.  From this angle it doesn't look so bad.

This makes it look a little worse (it takes quite a bit of force to bend steel tube that much)

My main concerns were the crossmember under the trans, and the firewall.  As you can see, the firewall was pushed in about 1-2" (that's the downside of having the upper mounts bolt to the firewall).

And here are the lower mounts that I fabricated - they USED to be perfectly straight.  Argh!  (you can also see my oil leak in this pic - yuck).  

I got a check from the Volvo's insurance company.  And it is enough to fix the damage.  I will probably re-fabricate the lower mounts, cut off the bent tube and re-weld a new one (and re-powdercoat the ENTIRE bumper), and I will need to pull the damage in the firewall.  

Sounds like fun! NOT.