t-boned, fixed it; electrical short, fixed it; engine knocking, cant fix...now what?

[johnunit]

Imo
Get a frame shop to double check straightness before dumping more money into a potentially ruined car. You may be better off transferring parts to a mint chassis. You could even put the newly painted parts on the uncrunched chassis and have the unremovable painted surfaces done to match.

[pivichot]

Have you checked the alternator? Had a problem once with one an the battery would get drained. It can still charge the battery but it will draw electricity. Either you might need a new alternator or rebuild it. Other than that rebuild, rebuild, rebuild.

[86VickyLX]

Have you checked the alternator? Had a problem once with one an the battery would get drained. It can still charge the battery but it will draw electricity. Either you might need a new alternator or rebuild it. Other than that rebuild, rebuild, rebuild.

I've seen it. Feel the alternator after the car has cooled down, see if back by the regulator is hot. If it is, the alternator's defective.

[GM_Guy]

well i cant leave the battery connected overnight...or even during the day for that matter....battery gets drained in a matter of hours, dont know where the short might be. thought it might be my dome light again, but thats not it, my radio suddenly turned off a while back so might be something along those lines, maybe a speaker wire or something, i hope. if not then it all refers back to the wreck....

Start your check where the body shop had body panels off, and where your damage was. You either got a pinched wiring harness in the collision, or the body shop bolted something back on pinching a wiring harness. For the first, you will need to feel the wireing harness in the area for damage (you'll know it, if you don't, get an old computer power cable, bash it in a door and run your fingers across the area).
Pull the door sill plates on the damaged side, same deal; check the wiring that runs under the sill plate. Look carefully where it passess through the sheet metal. Did the body shop do any cutting of the metal in those areas? Then start by checking that wiring harness with a meter to find possible damaged wiring thats hidden behind sheetmetal.

You got a lot of checking to do, but start with a harness check on the damaged side of the car front to back. All of it.

Alex.

[GM_Guy]

Just had a chance to look at the pics; in case you are not aware, the passenger kick panel has live wiring in it (ie windows, locks) and lock relays, and a few other always powered lines in it. Start with your door harness as it is the most likely culprit where it passes between door and car, possibly even withinn the kick panel area depending on how the harness got yanked during the collision (ie: any slack in the harness pulling it out of the body cavity during the collision, getting pulled back and hidden afterward).

Alex.