Team-BHP - An economical guide to rebuilding a bashed up supercar

After having posted 2 threads on how I managed to rebuild to cars at a very cost effective price I am listing a guide below that explains how to go about the entire process.

Before I start this a description of how to go about this job, there are a few essential personal requirements to taking on a wreck to rebuild.

a) Patience (A lot of it)
b) Ability to accept negative surprises
c) Ability to shed all pride (will explain later)
d) Hard bargaining (key to cost control)

Before you buy the salvage vehicle

More often then not you would come across an amazing set of wheels that has been involved with a major collision and you would end up thinking "That is going to cost a fortune to repair" that's exactly what the owner thought and most likely the insurance company too. So if you are willing to do extensive internet research for parts and know of a good paint cum mechanical shop you could end up getting a super car for a sweet deal.

How to value the wreck

The valuation process of the wreck is going to be the key to keeping the cost down. Key things to consider are structural damage, airbags and electronics. Check that structural damage to the vehicle is localised in my case with the c class the damage was to the front end right hand section of the chassis was slightly out of place but the rest of the car was fine. with the x-trail the damage was limited to the rear left chassis near the suspension mount. Airbags very vital to what it is going to cost you to set the car right. Busted airbags will add a substantial cost, so if the wreck has busted airbags that should set the valuation down by a lac at least. Most dicey to get back into place are the electronics so if you switch on the ignition and don't see red all over the place chances are that the electronics are ok. With cars like Merc's and Bmw's they will end up throwing errors on the screen I had 41 errors the first time I saw the display. Most of these errors are stored faults and will vanish the moment you connect the corresponding computer device of the company.

Sourcing Parts

My process of sourcing of parts was localised to the United Kingdom because I was travelling often this year for work and have good friends with whom I could store the parts as I bought them from salvage yards or ebay. Of my research of salvage yards in Europe, UK seemed to have the maximum number. I have also heard that Malaysia and Dubai have large breaking yards with low cost airlines flying to these destinations from various points in India, cost to bring parts could go further south.

Contd.......

Salvage yards in UK are very well organised they never do assortments to name a few that I used MERCMAN, 4X4Freelanders, etc. they all have their specialisation. Suv's, Mercs, Bmw's, Jags there are breakers who will have all you need. Then you have random small guys who sell you parts over ebay have no fear in buying a wrong part as the big guys would trade you wrong part in for the right one and charge you marginal profit only. Everything is very proffesional though all my parts were salvage and taken from cars that had their other ends smashed every single part delivered to me was in excellent condition and perfectly working. Most of the breakers are located a while away from London, the way I organised my purchases is figured a breaker, called him from here sent him a list of parts and pictures for reconfirmation. When I got down to UK I had my visit list ready hired a Chevorlet spark lol: and was off on the Motorways picking up parts. Once you have got the parts which is the easy part now you have to get it back.

Packaging and Check In.

The essential to packing parts coming back to India is to keep in mind just one thing the customs are going to want to know so be careful. I organized all my small parts into bubble wrap and in to the hollow part of the alloys then had the alloy bubble and shrink wrapped. Nothing else needed these alloys are meant to handle Indian roads no conveyer belt will do any damage. Bubble wrap and shrink wrap is all that you need as packaging material except for parts like Aircon Condenser and Radiator. If traveling from UK most airlines will give you very low baggage allowance but if you use Kingfisher and Jet Airways in the lowest occupancy periods they usually allow double the baggage allowance (Else Book two one way tickets on Kingfisher the total fare changes only by 1000rs but kingfisher has a standard policy that if your journey originates in UK you are special and will be entitled to 50kgs allowance!!!!!!!! hence a one way ticket qualifies as Journey originating in UK). Now here is where the first section of part 1 has relevance “c) Ability to shed all pride (will explain later)” as you walk your way through the airport and believe me it’s a long walk people are going to look at you funny with bumpers being balanced on your two trolleys. The cute check in counter staff will give you a look of are you really going to Mumbai or is it Mozambique. This is where I kept saying to myself I will make up for this on the streets of Mumbai. As long as you are not grossly overweight on your baggage allowance you will receive a boarding pass and pay nothing. Do reach well in advance for you check in. Oversized and odd baggage is sent separately at Heathrow and most international airports, so the chance of any damage is almost negligible. Hand baggage is the key to cover up for the little excess that you have. When I got back with merc parts my handbag weighed 22kgs and no one cared. Stuff parts that do not looks like explosives or have sharp edges into your hand baggage the security staff will ask you to open but all will be fine no hassles. Your checked in baggage is screened behinds curtains so that’s absolutely fine. I was concerned when one of my bags had a single airbag but it was cleared without any questions so anything else will not have any problem. Be one of the last passengers to reach the boarding gate that’s when airline staff are in a hurry to close the doors and will not bother about your 3 pcs of hand luggage. Once seated you and all your parts and on their way back home.

Customs! Customs! Customs!

For all you guys coming with super parts for super cars AVOID MUMBAI!! For some reason the deadliest lot of customs guys have been posted here. I don’t know how or why. I really had a tough run the second time when I came back with the x-trail parts. Do carry papers for the car you have bought this will help you prove that you are not doing a business with the car parts. Just as a lot of other things in India even the customs let you go after the right moves. So don’t show that you a intimidated, stay on top of the conversation and hold your price. These guys will let you go they just want to shake the tree as hard as they can. If you carrying something small walk through the Green channel, if you are carrying half a car like me STAY FAR FAR AWAY from the green channel. Carry invoices for you purchases so that you can prove the price of the product these guys will use the internet as reference to find prices and trust me Yahoo has no car part prices listed ;-). If you do know someone in customs USE the contact. I managed to pass my merc ac evaporator as a box of chocolates since it was wrapped in my pull over. After this :Cheering: your out and now is the fun part.

Contd……

I agree, that salvage yards in U.K are by far the best when it comes to procure second hands car parts. I'll recommend a site: Car Parts: Car Breakers, Used Car Parts and Engines, 4x4, Gearboxes, Ford, Peugeot, Citroen and Volvo Auto Parts . Initially, you'll need to enter the details of the car parts you require , you'll have the option of inserting photos of the parts, your information may specifically narrow it down to part number of the car you require or you merely know the car part name , both ways your request will be processed . Your request will be send to thier network of suppliers , if the required parts are available , they'll send you an e-mail confirming parts availablility.

Now, i presume, after this all one got to do is pay with credit card for parts and shipment method. The parts arrive at your door-step after a considerable period -- depending upon the shipment method-- but, i presume that such things do come under the ambit of custom duty. Therefore, before you recieve your shipment , you'll need to pay the custom duty as determined by concerned authority. If you pay the custom duty, you'll recieve your shipment.

I never thought , one personally need to go to U.K to get parts, pay for it there, bring them back with yourself. Pay customs, when all this could be done away without one personally going there?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ritedhawan (Post 1587998)

I never thought , one personally need to go to U.K to get parts, pay for it there, bring them back with yourself. Pay customs, when all this could be done away without one personally going there?

He travels to UK thats why he brought these things by hand. Plus carriers like kingfisher allows you 50Kgs of free baggage. Remember this thread is about economically rebuilding a super car. As per the customs is concerned they do not charge customs for anything less than $1000 value if it is shipped to India under the label of gift(i could be wrong). Plus he is not evading customs due to business interests. If you contact an importer. he has business interests hence imports in bulk. overall value goes high, he charges the buyer for his profit+shipping cost+greasing palms etc.etc. so it runs out to be huge. Then its better to buy stuff here itself from A S S as that runs out to be cheaper. Or else one can buy another donor car for parts but that means huge amount of time for searching the donor. When i was in Hyderabad i used to service my car at a workshop where the owner of the workshop used to buy totaled cars and rebuild them. He once brought a 2006 model accord with the engine bay intact(side impact) for ~3 Lacs. he rebuilt it from parts from scrap yard and sold it for 9+lacs.

@ aatish I am eargly waiting for the next installment of the story, please update your thread.

Pramod