nose crunched 164;a plan of attack.....74 spider value advice;Logo Stencils?

[Milanogold@domain.elided]

Greetings Alfisti!
       This post is for the gentleman  with no collision coverage who had the 
unfortunate meeting with the poor driver, resulting in a nose crunched 
164.Did you get the other person's insurance information?Laws regarding 
accident handling vary state to state;here in VA each person has to trade 
insurance info if the accident happened on a public road (whereas you DON"T 
have to if an accident happens on private property like a parking lot.A 
stupid law here;and lots of extra work for me when a renter gets hit in a 
parking lot in one of my rental cars)..
    If you did get the other person's insurance info;file a claim with that 
company whether or not they ultimately accept liability .If the person 
created conditions for an accident there's a chance that the other person's 
insurance company will accept a claim.It may take a while to determine 
liability (the best determinator is the police report,at least with my cars 
recently)but I've seen similar instances like this with some of my renters; 
and State Farm, Geico, Progressive and Hartford insurance seem to be the most 
equitable in this regard.Nationwide and allstate are the worst;only God will 
help you if you were hit by one of their insureds.
    If the other insurance company denies the claim;then go back to your own 
insurance company and ask that your car be fixed by them under a UM 
(underinsured/uninsured motorist) claim.They should fix your car under these 
circumstances, and will subrogate the costs of the accident to the other 
persons' insurance company.The good thing is that your car will be fixed;the 
bad thing is that you had to file a claim through your company, which may 
result in higher insurance rates for you.The procedure of filing a UM claim 
for an accident like this is rather unorthodox;but again I've seen it done 
and it works..................  
      Take the car in and get a good,detailed estimate from a reputable body 
shop.Most of your larger bodyshops have insurance company estimators in these 
shops.Please make sure the estimate is detailed and thorough;I've had rental 
cars that were estimated by the insureds insurance company,and I've seen 
these estimates "lowballed" (written for less than what the actual damage 
is).A lowballed estimate only makes it more aggravating when additional 
estimates are done for supplemental damage.I hope this info helps;if you have 
questions please feel free to email me;I average 1 dented rental car every 2 
weeks so I've learned the ropes pretty well.
    I also have a question for all Alfisti with Spiders............Money is 
burning a hole in my pocket, and I'm looking for another Alfa.(The wife 
doesn't mind, either.Strange, very strange........ :)I've narrowed my 
prospects to 3 cars;an Alfetta GT that intrigues me, another Milano, and a 
'74 Spider.I know Alfettas and Milanos pretty well, but I'm not so well 
versed on Spiders.The one I'm looking at apparently has 59k original miles, 
it's that wild yellow color, has a hardtop as well as the soft top 
(relatively new but a cheap one)needs a clutch;needs SPICA work (at the least 
a new TA, at the most a new SPICA pump) and has a rusty floor board on the 
drivers side (has a small hole in it already.The owner, who is definitely not 
Alfisti doesn't have a clue as to how much he wants for the car;and 
truthfully I don't know how much to offer him....
Could I get some advice on how much this car is worth in its current 
condition? Any advice or suggestions would be most appreciated...... 
    Finally,I wanted to know if anyone could tell me where I could find a 
stencil for the Alfa Romeo logo.I'm looking for a stencil about 4-5 inches in 
diameter.My reasons for this is that I'm making a set of seat covers for 
Lazarus, my alfetta Velocissima and I want to embroider the logo onto the 
covers I'm making for the headrests (like the logos on the 156's interior, 
but handmade and in full color......cool!).Anyone know where I could get a 
stencil for tracing the pattern onto the cover material? (I couldn't draw if 
my life depended on it,hence the need for the stencil.
Thanks for the help!
Terry Akins
Alexandria, VA
1987 Milano Gold (Alfie,next to receive spiffy seat covers if the Alfetta 
seat covers work well)
1979 alfetta Velocissima (Lazarus, getting ready for his coming out of 
hibernation party...finally)
Another Alfa to fill this space soon.......
lots of rental cars

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