ChevelleSSLS6

1. This is the GF's car... 97 Civic lx sedan, nice dark red metallic color, and mods are kenwood cd player (installed by me) and a bunch of girly stuff (heart seat covers, fuzzy mirror cover). Nothing special really. Nice driver... cheap on fuel and handles well, and that's about it.

2. Front end of exhaust heat shield came loose on the downpipe, so I secured it with a hoseclamp a few months ago. Now the rear end of the shield came loose, so I drove it up on some ramps (it rubbed but so did any other car I put on them) and in a couple minutes had that secured with a hose clamp.

3. Was backing up car, GF was standing there, and I see her going spaztic and yelling 'stop' and so I stop, and the bumper cover caught on the ramp and pulled it forward a bit... I drove back up on the ramp, and used a traditional floor jack to lift the car, then I removed the ramps. Set car down.

4. Damage analysis: pass. side where bumper cover mounts to front fender (screw going vertically into front fender) is torn. Pass side of bumper is about an inch or two forward of where it's suposed to be, drivers side is about 1/2 inch forward/down from where it's supposed to be. It is well secure enough to drive.

5. Questions:
1. did this happen to any of you guys before?
2. did I likely bend some of the light stamped metal pieces that hold the bumper cover in place? (they're just under the headlights)
3. is the bumper cover friendly to the practice of plastic welding (yes plastic welding is real)
4. how would I remove the bumper cover to check the condition of the 'bumper guts' to see if any sort of mounting bracket is bent/damaged? I see some body clips along the radiator support... is that and the screw in the front fender (look just inside the wheelwell where the bumper and fender meet) all that holds it in place?

mixwell

pics?

ChevelleSSLS6

no pics... imagine the bumper pulled out a couple inches on the pass side and about an inch on the drivers side. And that's what it looks like. It's solid like it belongs there, except where it tore on the pass. side from that screw.