What would GRM do - Sell As-Is, Part Out, Fix & Drive?

I am in the come-along and a trip to LKQ camp. Mustangs are pretty common in the self-serve yards around here.

Thanks for all the feedback, I really appreciate everyone's input. To answer some of your questions:

• It's a third vehicle, so I don't need to drive it on a daily basis right now. I have some time to fix this if I want.
• Track/auto-x time just isn't in the cards right now due to my job, commute (65 miles a day), and family time. This would make a great track rat, though!
• I didn't carry collision on it, because after the deductible, the insurance company wouldn't be paying me anything
• I'd like the car to be somewhat presentable, as I do drive it to work usually from March/April through November/December. My standards of presentable are significantly lower than my co-workers, as most of them wouldn't be caught dead in a sometime that's older than 3 years.
• U-Pull-It Junkyards are non-existent around here (CT). I don't know why, but I'm disappointed! See here for the discussion on this very topic on here: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/question-new-york-new-jersey-or-connecticut-u-pick/123721/page1/
• I ran a Carfax earlier this year when I had an account, and it shows close to the current mileage. I'm not trying to hide the mileage from anyone, and if possible, I'd like to hit 300k.
• The hood is not metal, they came from the factory with a composite hood (looks to be fiberglass/plastic). I'll show a few more pictures of the hood damage below (it's actually cracked).
• Mustang parts are actually still worth something, so the car is worth far more parted out than whole. Wheels/tires would be an easy $300, same with the 8.8" rear, the PI intake is worth $200, PI Heads are worth something, seats are worth a few hundred, stock H-pipe with cats is popular for emissions, etc. I'm not crazy about parting it out, but if I decide not to fix it, it's probably the best way to recoup some of what I have in it. I just dropped $600 in parts into it last weekend (Ford Racing intake manifold, radiator hoses, heater hoses, radiator expansion tank, and associated parts), they have less than 100 miles on them. Even accounting for the fact that they're now used, selling the whole car for $500 would be stupid.

My current thought (I still want to process this a little bit) is to ghetto fix it and drive it, and then replace it with better parts as I can find them. I need to pick up a header panel so I can mount a driver's side headlight. If I can get the top of the radiator support close enough to keep the hood closed without resorting to bungee cords, that's a big win. For $70, something like this (although completely hideous IMHO), would mask the worst of the damage to the front bumper cover and hood until I can find a good replacement:

From what I saw about replacing the radiator core support, I can't see a body shop doing that for less than $1k. I may get a quote just to see, but have a strong feeling I'm going to be rigging up any necessary body work.

Here's some detail of the hood damage.

Driver's side crack:

Leading Edge:

Passenger Side:

Parting it out is the smart move if you have the patience to do it. Fixing it and driving the hell out of it to 300k and beyond sounds like a more satisfying route, though.

I'm just sayin'.

I am willing to bed with some careful looking around, you can even find a bumper, hood, and fender in the correct colour. I would heat and bend the radiator support back into shape with a BFG (preferably a deadblow hammer) and after a headlight, grill, and badges, call it good and drive the snot out it

I have pulled upper rad supports worse than that with a chain hooked to my truck. Put in low low and pull while hitting the support with a dead blow hammer. They move really easy. That one looks like an easy fix.

I've straightened out radiator supports worse than that. Take the radiator out for room and beat the radiator support into submission. If it's not a daily driver, start shopping on www.car-part.com for replacement parts. That's the best chance of finding parts in the same color. Otherwise you can buy aftermarket, put it back together yourself and take it to get painted. It sounds like you enjoy driving the car. You'd have to fix it anyway to sell it or trade it and parting out is a lot of work.

djsilver wrote: I've straightened out radiator supports worse than that. Take the radiator out for room and beat the radiator support into submission. If it's not a daily driver, start shopping on www.car-part.com for replacement parts. That's the best chance of finding parts in the same color. Otherwise you can buy aftermarket, put it back together yourself and take it to get painted. It sounds like you enjoy driving the car. You'd have to fix it anyway to sell it or trade it and parting out is a lot of work.

Yup this^.

I have parted cars and yes you can make some money at it but you also have to factor in your time and the BS that you will have to deal with, like no-shows and 17-year olds that commit and then say, "Well I know I said I would buy it but a buddy's sister had a friend that can get me the part."

Even without pick-n-pulls you can use www.car-part.com and the phone to find good deals.

I would fix it, buying as few parts as possible and enjoy it.