The ‘Mad Mic’ Salvage Car

Here's one of the biggest jobs I ever did. To say this car was a bit of a mess would be like saying Amy Winehouse just needs a nice quiet night in. It was a car bought by my boss at the time, 'Mad Mic’, the man who taught me the tricks of the trade. And who was also, frankly, bonkers. After all, who'd buy a car like this?

Mad Mic would, and did. He got it from a salvage yard as the car was involved in a motorway accident. Well, it doesn't look like a parking shunt, does it?

It took me maybe a month in all to repair as I could only work on the car in afternoons and weekends. The front chassis legs were mangled and the back end was twisted so I had a fair bit of jig work to do on the car. 

Those who know will get how much work this is. If you don’t know what a jig is, it is a vital piece of equipment we use to repair cars that are really badly bent, like chassis wires. It is a big platform, set in the ground which can pull the car from all the different angles with hydraulic rams. It's a serious bit of machinery. To add to this, there is a specialist measuring system which measures the car. I will speak in detail about this in a later blog, as it's another amazing bit of kit.

But there's a reason for me explaining jig work to you, whether you know what it is or not. A jig is a sign of a proper pro. If you see someone repairing a car this badly damaged and not using a jig, then the words ‘cowboy’ & ‘lasher’ spring to mind and the car will not drive right.

Sometimes it’s worth paying that little bit more to get someone to do a proper job than being tight and getting a job half-done that looks as though no effort has been put into it. Shall we have a 'spot the difference' competition between the 'before' and 'after' photos....?! Now, though I say it myself... that's a job well done. I was really pleased.