professorman

My best friend has a 97 Lude SH and 1 year ago, he was overtaking someone when they decided to turn left AFTER he was passing them, so he had to slam on his brakes, and basically spun out spinning about 2-3 times and ended up in a ditch backed into the hill, while smacking the front left side since it was low. It ripped the bumper off and bent the fender a bit. Look at the pictures and you will see that on the left side there is a dent/bend on the lower radiator support. Its so low, it sometimes touch over speed bumps.

My brother is in a bind with his 91 Prelude SI, and my best friend decide to sell him his wrecked Lude. We are trying to figure out what needs to be replaced to get it going again. I drove 3 hours with it yesterday to my house. The steering is crooked 1/4 turn, but it drives straight and it doesn't pull to any side or anything. The brakes are also firm and there is no vibrations or any pulling to any sides with the braking.

I know we need to replace the front left:
Fender
headlight
bumper cover.

I am wondering if we can just "beat out" the lower radiator support and beat the upper one back a bit, or do we really need to replace the radiator support. If so, can we get away with only replacing the lower one and slightly straightening the upper? Or go ahead and replace both upper and lower?

What do you think?

Pics














VIDEO

omiehomie

you can probably get away with banging out the bottom portion of the radiator support, if the top portion of it still lines up and the hood closes. it looks a little scratched and dented on the bottom but for the most part it looks structurally intact. just my .02 cents

matysik27

^^x2

professorman

Does anyone know the measurements for the "points" in the engine bay? I was wondering if I needed a "frame pull". I think the engine bay might be slightly pushed to one side. The hood latch striker is bent to one side and is sitting about 20 degrees to one side instead of 0degrees.

Should I get a frame pull or just get an alignment? I am thinking that if it can be aligned, then everything in the suspension should be good. If they say that it can not be aligned, then I know I have a problem.

professorman

Any other opinions?

sayanything

iTrader: (1)

take a look,

this is the damage, doesnt look like much but the radiator support was smashed back about 7-8 inches



then we used a 'come along" and hammer, to get to this



finished



fitment isnt perfect, but its better than it was. hope this helps..

professorman

Oh, thanks for the pics. I bought that "come along" from walmart and used it to pull out the supports on my Prelude as well. I didnt know the name of the "come along" but I have heard that name used before. I did pull it out significantly. I wish someone had the measurement for the crosses of the engine bay for the Prelude. The body shop says that the would have just measured the engine bay points to determine where needs straightening. My radiator is now off the engine and it looks decent again. The only problem is that the entire front is pushed UP a bit, making the hood higher than the fenders. I was trying to figure out how to "pull" it down, but I would need attachment points on the ground to pull the front back down a bit. I might have to get a shop do a "pull" on it to get everything fitting properly again. I should be getting my bumper tomorrow so I can put it on and see how everything fits.

mattsnooz

Hammer drill, 1/2" masonary bit, 1/2" lags, and bolts/washers and a plate with a ring loop in it.

Mount the plate with the loop to the concrete using lags/lag bolts. Run a chain threw it with "cari******s"<or how ever youspell that , to where you want to start your bend. In this case if you want to lower that part of your front end, you need to chain it from there to the ground, and than jack/raise up behind where it bends using a jack.

Need more info I'll draw you a picture.

Edit: Why did "******" < get edited out? Be@ner ??

prion

It's carabiner for sure. Funny that got edited...