A Happy Accident

Published: 2021-11-25

Life sometimes has the ability to throw a few curveballs, especially when things seem to settle down. On a cold morning in February 2019 I was doing what I had done for the last 6 months, drive to work. Only this morning was a little different because there was more ice on the road than normal. I’m sure you know where this is headed so I’ll save the colorful language and just say I wrecked my 2003 Honda Accord into a white composite fence after taking too sharp a turn. This was the first accident (and hopefully the last) I’d ever had and I was just a bit shocked at first. Shock was very quicky overtaken by a weird mix of anger and sadness. After writing a note and leaving it in the mailbox a lady ended up walking out from the home that sat behind the fence and offered me to come in while the police came. She assured me that this particular event was an annual occurence; I was just the lucky contenstant this year. The cop gave me a ticket for failure to control and my car was towed with pieces dragging behind. But why would I be telling you this? Because it was one of the better mistakes I’ve made.

I want to also fill you in on something before I go deeper into this story. Before this accident occurred, I could’t tell you the difference between an alternator and a carburetor or a carburetor from a radiator. After my car got dropped off on the driveway I taped up some of the bumper and drove it over to Grismer. They quoted me $2400 in damage; considering the car was probably worth around that much I knew I was either going to have to do what was easy (buy a new car) or start getting creative. I thanked them for the diagnostic, took my keys and drove home to start the fun part. The first thing I did was look up junkyards around me to see if they have some of the parts needed to frankenstein my vehicle back together. Turns out the internet has changed the junking game because the pick and pull in Columbus had catalogued inventory of all the vehicles on the premises. They had 4 of the same color ‘03 Honda Accord’s that I had so I drove up an hour from Dayton to take a look. I needed a bumper, a front left headlight, a new air intake box, and a drivers side door in addition to new brake pads, rotors and calipers (hindsight now tells me that I probably only needed new pads but mechanics are always trying to make another buck off ya). I pulled out of the lot with a new looking drivers door, headlight, and air intake box for around 55 bucks. The only thing I didn’t end up with was the bumper. Turns out amazon had a black bumper for 80 bucks and I ordered pads, rotors, and calipers from Ebay for a little over 100. Probably wouldn’t order the brakes off ebay again but they have worked well for me after almost 2 years so it can’t be that bad. What followed was a 7 seven day battle of me vs the car. I’d come from work and work until I was ready for bed. Along the way I had to buy many new gadgets aquired from a mix of harbor freight, lowes, and craigslist. All in all I spent around $600 bucks, only a quarter what the mechanic was asking and I scored many socket wrenches and bits, 2 air impact drills, an air compressor, 2 jack stands, a torque wrench, and a hydraulic car jack.

All in all this experience made me much more comfortable around my car and I look forward to it breaking down. Earlier this year I busted my window out picking up wood to build a standing desk. I ended up going to the same Columbus pick and pull and picking out a passenger rear window for 20 bucks. The tint is a little different but it doesnt look so bad. I also have done 3 oil changes since then the first taking a little over an hour from start to finish, the second around 45 minutes, and the last maybe half an hour or so. Iteration is important. I’m eyeballing the 200,000 mile mark, only 10,000 miles away, to begin my next test, replacing the timing belt. I’ve put a few pictures of my car when it was stripped down and the busted window below.

Onward and Upward