Hey I hit the back of a truck and need some advice on how to pull the radiator support back out. Now I am aware of the search tool on this forum and I have used that to get a lot of good info now on to my question that I have not been able to find. I need to pull the support down. It looks like it is about 1/2 inch too high. Any advice on how to pull/hit it down would be great. I have pics but I guess I am not able to post pics because I am new to the forum.

 

You may or may not have to get it done professionally. You could always weld a new support in as well if its that backed in.

 

I helped my son do a similar thing to his 91 Accord last weekend. He purchased it with a damaged front end. We got a colour match donor car and did the following...

1) open hood
2) remove grill
3) remove bumper cover-bumper will also come off on the 1991.
4) remove headlight-in our case it was the drivers side that was slapped together and out of alignment by previous owner who just wanted to get it back on the road.
5) park a heavy object about 15 feet in front of your vehicle. I used a 1/ ton truck. You will also need chains, come-along, tie down straps and a custom made hook type thing that you can insert into the metalwork on the Accord.
6) hook the come-along to your car and gently start pulling out the bent metal in the opposite direction of the impact. You may want to loosen the bolts of the steel you are trying to straighten prior to pulling. Some hammer work might be required but you will get a feel for it once you get started.



http://s1196.beta.photobucket.com/us...tml?sort=3&o=4





http://s1196.beta.photobucket.com/us...tml?sort=3&o=0

We are not experts...just what we did.

 

I don't know where all my pictures went from my previous post but here are a few more...







Ya, I don't know what I'm doing with these pictures...can't get it to work...sorry.

 

I get it now. You click on the bottom link in post #3 above then you can scroll through the pictures in reverse order.

If you scroll far enough you will see we did the rear bumper too and that was about a week prior to doing the front end repairs.

 

Hey that looks great gdrew888 nice work. Thanks for the advice. I have got it almost pulled all the way out (to the front of the car) I just need to pull it down now. The lights are sitting about 1/2 above the bumper. I just cant find a way to hook up the come-along and pull down.

 

I would think you would need to anchor your bent piece to the ground somehow and then jack up the car. We didn't have the same issue as you are having so I'm just making this up as I go along. Good luck with it!

 

Thanks. That is what I was thinking also. I just can't think of a way to anchor to the ground.

 

Maybe a 12' 4x6 with a heavy object at each end, a couple of trucks? Oh... and a case of beer to lure the trucks into helping.

 

That might work. (the beer that is) I hope that these links work.

http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/...ps039a6a84.jpg

http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7bbfc3b6.jpg

http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/...psff1f6ecd.jpg

http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9d7c0646.jpg

http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/...pse5314e1a.jpg

 

If you had a good concrete driveway or the like you could sink some "red heads" in the concrete to attach your chains etc. to and then jack up the car. When you're done cut the anchors off flush, pound them in a little more and cover them with some concrete filler. I have used this method before in home remodels.

 

can you buy "red heads" at home depot or Lowes?

 

Yes, I would get at least 3/8" preferably 1/2" x6" in size. You may want to secure the use (rent or borrow) a hammer drill first to see what size bit is available. If you decide to go this route let me know and I will walk you through the process, it's more than just drilling a hole and installing the red head. I don,t want to waste your and my time if you decide to try something different.

 

Sounds good to me it'll be a week or so before I am ready to do this. But I will let you know. Thanks