A while back I hit someone while it was raining (their fault) and my driver side front corner went into their passenger door at roughly 25 mph.

I accepted $500 from them for me to disappear and now I'm thinking I shouldn't have... My new front end doesn't line up properly due to the core support being dented in and all and had someone tell me my frame is probably irreversibly damaged.

Is there any practical way to repair some light frame damage up front to make my front end line up again? Am I going to have to buy and weld on a front clip like a few people told me?

I drive a 98 Civic Hatch.

TL;DR, front end doesn't line up due to collision. Most likely frame damage, is it repairable?

 

pics would help

 

IKR? I guess we're supposed to guess at the amount of damage?

 

Well the question in mind is if frame damage is a reasonable repair, not so much if it is frame damage at all.

Here's a gallery of images I just took tho: http://postimg.org/gallery/3boaaswsg/6bf18734/

 

lol that's nothing not even frame damage looks like minor rad support bend...

 

That's good to hear, rad supports have to be welded on, correct?

 

you can pull that straight(by hand) it's just the top part, the fenders can be slid in/out same with the hood not more then a few cm's at the most. But there's still wiggle room trust me trying to get the perfect fit for my old jdm front teg was not easy.

 

Should I try my hand at it with a rubber mallet maybe? Also, on the corner that got hit, the hood clips over the headlight. Should I just bend the headlight into a "normal" position after I do everything else?

 

Some body shops dont charge alot to straighten a frame, IV seen quotes for $500 to bring it into spec for "minor frame damage".

the one and only deciding factor is if the damage will cost more to repair than a new shell.

if its a Ferrari F40, Toyota GT2000 etc obviously it will be better to fix it no matter how bad it is.

if its a Honda civic, yeah, no.

 

I suggest bringing it into a good alignment or body shop to have em measure to look for frame damage. If there's no frame damage, try reversing the bends or replacing the rad supports.

also, "rubber mallet" I have a feeling you will need a decent hammer and a 2x4 to prevent hammer marks

 

or just a decent sized wooden block, yeah?

 

Wild suggestions for something we don't even know what it looks like....right.....heck why not.


OP take a plasma to it and cut the front frame off and spot weld the new radiator support to the fender and then you should be fine.

 

Same thing happend to my civic somebody clipped my passenger side. My light housing sticks in a lil more than my driver side

 

yeah, something that won't absorb too much energy but also will prevent the hammer from putting its own dents into the metal. Thats just a cosmetic thing tho if you're not worried about that just beat on it with whatever you've got, mallet hammer piece of lead pipe etc

 

No.

 

he posted pics

 

I work at a body shop and looking at your pics looks like u just need a little work with a slide hammer to pull that back in. once you get that where it needs to be your gaps for your fender to hood should line up better and a better headlight fit too. The rad support in also your headlight mounting panel. No frame damage from the looks its too high of a hit with not much damage