- - = = * * U P D A T E # 2 * * = = - -

Just a few quick shots right after we threw the hood on in the parking lot when we picked it up. Had to drive a few hours for it, but for $ 58 it was worth it. Picked up the fenders while i was there but they didn't have the MF'ing front bumper cover. Oh well, just another 3 day vacation on the horizon in south FL

As you can see, everything wasn't quite tweaked back out perfect yet...now that straight parts are on it should be easier to try & get everything lined up properly. The top of the support isn't quite where it should be so it seems to make the hood close slightly askew, hence the last pic of the ugly gap between fender & hood. The pass. headlight isn't quite in perfect position either...tweaked slightly north. Will probably be on it by this weekend. Still gotta throw the condenser in, too.

More to come...
















- - = = * * U P D A T E * * = = - -

[I] The next three pics are the most recent. She is both road worthy/legal again in these. Minus the mangled hood i think she's looking pretty damn good. Some help from a well-equipped & knowledgeable friend, a radiator, condenser and headlights and we're back on the road. The radiator fan/motor was salvageable however the condenser fan may not be so lucky. Runs as good as before, although i'm not used to really seeing the hood as i drive...feels like a buick.

I've yet to put the condenser back in, but no worries there, the lines are plugged for the time being and i have the condenser and can scoop a can o' freon anyhwere. The O2 got bent back a bit, but i have a new one anyways (was bad before the crash).

The only snag is the speedo is out of comission so i've gotta check connections/wiring/and/or replace the VSS probably and voìla! The new hood, bumper cover, grille & fenders will be procured by week's end.

PS Would you believe i got this bitch on the road, took it to work on friday and got stranded by a shot alternator!? LOL

Anyway...here she is ATM --









~~~ Further Updates to Come... ~~~


*GASP!* The Dreaded -B E F O R E- pics!
Let me get the gore out of the way 1st:







And a closer look under the hood @ the extent it was pushed in...







Now, obviously i'm gonna need:

- Hood ($90-130)
- Bumper Cover ($40-50)
- Fenders? ($35-50) (maybe they could be bent out? dunno)
- Headlights ($120-150)
- Grille ($40-50)
- Rad. support, rad, fan, maybe fan motor? ($ 150-200?)
- ?????

Anything else that anyone can see will need replacing? Look like any bumper supports or anything are screwed? I'm going on the assumption that this is a relatively easy fix, basically dismantling the front end and putting it back together w/new parts.

Any incidentals that i didn't mention in my checklist, like hood latch etc, or is that a part of other parts i'm replacing? Other small parts i'm forgetting?

Any guesstimations on cost, labor, difficulty of repair etc. are welcome as i'll do as much as i can myself.

TIA & Merry Christmas, BTW...this was my gift from the Fates this christmas morning

from_zer0


Modified by from_zer0 at 9:53 PM 1/29/2006


Modified by from_zer0 at 8:56 PM 2/2/2006

 

i knocked in my right side pretty similar to your accident, i needed new fenders, Splash gaurd, radiator support, radiator, hood, and headlights. i looked around alot to see if i could do it myself, but it has about 30-60 spot welds on the radiator support, and i didnt have access to a spotwelder. I ended up going thrrough a body shop, Most bids for mine were from 2500-4200. i got alot of bids and found a shop to do mine for 1200 with primer only. Im still working on getting back my carbon hood, JDM headlights, and xenon lights back.

good luck tho, just dont rush things. and get lots of bids.

 

Thanx for the info wspcivic! I know of a couple people who can weld, one of which is a pro, so hopefully i can call in some assistance there.

Trying to avoid the body shop, cuz i'd rather keep the money

$1,200, even if it was primer only sounds decent considering you were being bid $2,500-4,200.

BTW, anyone have a ballpark on painting the hood, bumper cover, fenders & grille when off the car?

Was anything else tweaked in your accident that i may have and not thought of? Anything that surprised you?

Thanx again....from_zer0.

 

I slid into a gaurd rail. so it went right above my bumper support beam. since it didnt touch any of that, my frame was untouched. although my alignment was off when i started to drive the car. and i ended up having to get one. other then that nothing else was harmed. From what it looks like you just knocked in your radiator support, so i doubt ur frame was touched. usually the metal is thin enough to where it tears away from the frame.

the shop that i had fix my car wanted 300 for the paintjob for my parts.

 

thats how mine looked

 

Those prices you listed for the new body parts sound like they are form one of those "discount auto parts" online stores. Just FYI I got some parts from one of those places and they fit alright, but no where close to OEM quality. Thats why it costs so much at a body shop cause they use good parts. You might get lucky and get some good pieces...good luck with that

 

holy crap man what did u guys do??

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SRd240sx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">holy crap man what did u guys do??</TD></TR></TABLE>

hit stuff

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Soccerking3000 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

hit stuff </TD></TR></TABLE>
you think

 

I couldn't pull up their site @ the time, but we got some of the same parts that i need now just recently for my gf's hatch from CertiFit. They don't ship & only deliver locally, so we had to drive for it, but the fitment seems to be decent and the parts are also of decent quality, although not yet installed (waiting on paint).

The majority of people seem to be satisfied with them and it's hard to argue w/the #'s...F. Bumper Cover and Pass. Fender would have been ~$ 220 with an employee discount (50+%?) thru a buddy @ Honda and we got away for $ 57 @ certifit.

I am wondering if the hood, 2 fenders and the front bumper cover would all fit in a '98 hatch?? Anybody done it or know for sure if it'll work? I know when we got the bumper it ran from the hatch up in between the front seats, so i'm interested to see if/how that'll fit with the hood in there, too.

TurboCoop, where did you get your parts, what parts, and what sort of issues did you have? Meaning, how did they differ from the OEM components? Just looking to arm myself w/all the info & knowledge possible to avoid a similar mistake. Thanx.

Some of the comments have been more helpful than others, but keep 'em comin'! It's good to know it's not the end of the world & that someone else has been there & done that & come out clean.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by from_zer0 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Now, obviously I'm gonna need:

- Hood ($90-130) Yes
- Bumper Cover ($40-50) No
- Fenders? ($35-50) (maybe they could be bent out? dunno) Maybe
- Headlights ($120-150) Yes, no question
- Grille ($40-50) Yep
- Rad. support No
- rad, fan Maybe
- maybe fan motor? Same as above
</TD></TR></TABLE>

You don't need half that stuff if you take the car somewhere that can pull the rad support back out for you, take all the stuff off before hand and give it to them like that so all they have to do it hook it up to there machine and pull away. As long as you do most of the work for them it shouldn't be to expensive. Its a lot easier then cutting out the support and re welding it. but if that's the way you want to go, get the new one first them cut it out based on how the new one looks, because you never know how they cut that one out of the car.

Fenders were a little hard to see but should be able to be straightened on the wheel.

The bumper cover looked fine to me just a little sanding and what not and those scratches should come right out.

From the pics that's the best I could tel you.

 

my grandma got rear ended over the weekend but she's ok...i havent seen her 99-00 sedan yet but if its totalled then i'll try and help anyone out...btw are 2 and 4 door headlights, fenders, hood, and bumper the same?

 

i bet the frame is a little bent by the look of the pics thats my guess

 

my ej looked exactly like that when i crashed i threw away the bumper rail and welded a new core support on your ac lines are def crushed im going to try and weld some new ones in on mine

 

Happend to my brother in his 98 ex after he blacked out momentarily (inhailer did it). Damage wasn't as bad, he just got a new core support/fenders/CF hood/lights and was good to go. Ditched AC.

 

- Hood -YES
- Bumper Cover -ONLY IF U DONT WANT TO FIX THAT ONE
- Fenders? -ONLY IF U DONT WANT TO FIX THOSE
- Headlights YEAP
- Grille-YEAP
- Rad support
radiator and fan
a/c condensor and fan
the car is hit above the frame rails....So i would say no frame damage...do u owe any money on the car,if so the insurance will not just write u a check....and let u fix it......take the car to a good shop and have it fixed RIGHT..That way when u want to sell the car or trade the car in on something else,or if it gets wrecked again u can get what the cars worth....if the car isnt fixed right it isnt worth half of what it is suppose to be

 

Sounds manageable then...the fenders i'm thinkin' about bending out, the front bumper cover actually has a 2-3 inch crack in it, not just scratches, so i'll look @ my options there.

I just got the car 4-5 months ago, so i do still owe on it, but my gf's was the same way, they just cut the check to her and the lender, meaning it can't be cashed/deposited w/out a signature guarantee from the lender, who obviously won't sign off 'til the car is fixed. No worries there.

I don't trust a shop anymore than i trust myself...believe me they'll be just as quick to use cut-rate parts or do a half *** job because it's not their car and their profit then goes up. I believe in personal responsibility. If i do it, i know to what standard it was completed and the level of the parts used rather than a body shop grab bag. I don't mind doing the legwork and calling in people i know and trust and maybe even collecting a little extra cream off the top for my trouble.

If the a/c lines are mangled, i can put that on the back burner if necessary since it's wintertime, but why not make it right as long as i'm in there...i thought i might have to deal w/some incidentals like that.

As long as there's no frame damage (which majority seems to believe given point of impact) then it's basically dismantling the front end & reassembling. Nothing a little bit of time, patience & elbow grease can't accomplish.

All of your responses are greatly appreciated! Viva la DIY!

 

- Rad. support, rad, fan, maybe fan motor? ($ 150-200?)

If you need all that, it cost more the $200! LOL

 

ouch

 

my buddy just crashed the same way. There are 30 spot welds-ish, get a drill and drill them out then use a long bolt or two to secure the new rad support instead of spotwelds.

A new rad support is like $70 shipped on ebay

 

I recently had a woman eat a stop sign in front of me and had about the same amount of damage as you i just bought a shell and swapped everything over. Take a look

now i still needed parts like ac condensor, fan, all new ac lines and some more small items.Heres the new shell a midori green 97 hatch.

 

So i got some figures in hand....

Insurance is offering $3,700 to fix it...i can work with that

Got my hands full ATM w/the new year barrelling down on us all, plus a lotta MF'ers don't wanna work right now (go figure )

I'll be on it like stink on **** come the first of the year which is, incidentally, 3 days from now.

I'll keep everyone posted.

Thanx again!

from_zer0

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by from_zer0 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">TurboCoop, where did you get your parts, what parts, and what sort of issues did you have? Meaning, how did they differ from the OEM components? Just looking to arm myself w/all the info & knowledge possible to avoid a similar mistake. Thanx.

Some of the comments have been more helpful than others, but keep 'em comin'! It's good to know it's not the end of the world & that someone else has been there & done that & come out clean. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I got my stuff(front and rear bumpers, front fenders, fender liners) from discountautoparts.com, Im pretty sure that was them, all the names sound the same. Shipping cost more than all the parts combined, the total was like $350. The front bumper fit good except under the left headlight it sags down a little. The rear bumper was good except for under the left taillight. The fenders and fenderliners were pretty good except they dent really easy (I found out the hard way). Good luck
P.S.- When someone hit me I got $2700 from insurance and I bought a body kit and started peicing together my turbo kit

 

good luck on the fix

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by from_zer0 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Now, obviously i'm gonna need:

- Hood ($90-130)
- Bumper Cover ($40-50)
- Fenders? ($35-50) (maybe they could be bent out? dunno)
- Headlights ($120-150)
- Grille ($40-50)
- Rad. support, rad, fan, maybe fan motor? ($ 150-200?)
</TD></TR></TABLE>

This should do it
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by wngliz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> good luck on the fix</TD></TR></TABLE>