First off, guys, thank you for all of your kind (and worried) words. I am still ok, albeit sore now in a few spots, and I'll be going to get myself checked out in a short bit.
What happened?
As I was going down into the U-turn I was going a bit fast, 15mph according to the GPS. I braked at the apex (the halfway point in the corner) and next thing I know the rear end is sliding. I did my best to counter-steer, and I tried to break.
The gravel gave under the front tires and due to the bad camber on the road I slid down. I had just enough time to go
*GASP*, and then I flew into the valley.
Thump... THUMP
There was a certain silence for a few seconds (probably stress) then I realized the engine was still going. Shut that off, windshield was missing by then, and I crawled out. Waved down a motorcyclist to get a tow truck (he never made the call) and then I rushed back down to disconnect the battery.
I started to unpack, and I was pretty sure an hour has passed before the crew coming down stopped and saw me.
The Tow
The guy took every road except the one we were on. By the time he got out there it was easily 8:30PM. So, he said "Alright, I'll get the two guys out here and we'll do it tomorrow morning."
And so we did.
Here are the shots from this morning. 2 trucks and 3 guys did all the work to flip it over, and gently roll it up the hill.
And here is the van, in the morning, laying on it's side.
The fellows measuring up how the rigging going to be set up.
And it's flipped! 3 cables were used, 1 to flip it, 2 to pull it up (weight and counterweight cables)
Even with the counterweighting, the tow truck was lifting.
Here it comes...
Video part 1
Almost over the edge.
And we have finally gone horizontal again.
Video part 2
Final motions to line her up with the flat bed.
And up she goes.
In travel shot... The Chevy almost looks sad. :(
At the tow yard. I didn't get a chance to read Tris-es comment, I knew damn well that plenty of rare parts are on that rig.
Home again...
Damage assessment:
Outside
Driver door is %(&*ed.
Passenger door now sticks, the gaping isn't correct.
The side and rear doors open and close fine.
The frame looks straight.
Inside
The floor seems to be flat up until the rear of the dog house.
Dog house is tweaked about 1/2".
Dash is tweaked, not sure how much.
The engine looks good, the fan has one blade bent @ a 90* angle half-way in.
No glass broke, windshield did a dead fish flop away from me.
So, here are the pictures.
Of course it was the left side that got the hit. Pretty good hit too.
What's next...?
Of course no insurance claim will be filed... No sense to get it.
Beyond that, not sure. The way it's looking it is a very borderline case. The frame
looks good, however I am starting to have second thoughts about that since I caught the dirt with my left tires.
- Option 1 (fastest) is stripping it of all the good/useful parts, and getting rid of the hull. This way I get a bunch of parts too, worth a good penny.
- Option 1a is keeping said parts and grabbing a new rig. After all, they are dirt cheap compared to VW's.
- Option 2 is a thorough check of the chassis, and grafting a new front end onto it... This of course is a shitton of work and money. It may not be even worth it, as from the way I look at it the front area till the doors, left 3/4 and top 3/4 would have to grafted on... That's a lot of metal to line up.
So, that's that. Now I'm going to eat breakfast.
I will likely drop the Lab today, just to chill a bit and say Hi.
