I crashed my car, need advice

[penders94SHO]

I crashed my car into a pole . I have asked my friends what to do and they tell me to fix it my self and not report the accident to the insurce company. I was told to go to a junk yard and get a new bumber and front quater panel. Would putting on a new bumber and front quater panel something some nOOb could do with NO experince working on cars at all do? All of my friends who how to work on cars are at college for months and i need to fix the problem right now Should i try to fix with no idea of how to fix it or even were a junk yard it...pay a body shop 2000$+, which i dont have...or report it to insurce, which i couldn't do becuase i couldn't afford insurce after a clam. Please help!!! Any minnesota sho owners in the twin cities want to give me advice/help me fix it Any body...

<small>[ May 04, 2003, 10:47 PM: Message edited by: Bizzy ]</small>

 

[Jaxon]

What all happened to your SHO in the crash? I crashed mine a little bit back and from your pics mine was alot worse. If you want to see pics of mine e-mail me. I sent my SHO to my dad's co-worker and it cost me $1428 to get it running and that was with a merc sable bumper and hood. Get a few better pics and e-mail them to me at [email protected]. I might beable to help out a little in prices for crap cause I had to do same thing but more...

Jason

 

[SHODOGG]

Wow dude, Im really sorry to hear that. If I was anywhere near ya Id help you fix it but unfortunately Im in Chicago. Id say try taking the front bumper off yourself and see how hard you think it is before you decide to take on the entire thing yourself. The biggest problem that I see is that you might have some mounting points that have been bent by the accident that would need to be bent back into place or possibly some brackets that need to be either replaced or re-bent. Good luck man!

P.S. Damn don't you just hate insurance companies? You pay em all this money and the second you want some back, they screw you. Bastards.

 

[Mark W]

I've crashed a couple myself. Bottom line is, you lose, no matter what. The insurance companies give it to you deep in the shorts (trying to break it off in you - and I actually have a pretty good insurance company). If they total the car, they'll nickel and dime you for every dent and ding you had prior to the wreck, so a $5,000 car that you know you could get $5K for becomes a $3,700 car, after deductible and $200 each for five dings that you could repair in an afternoon.

Bastards.

I know this doesn't answer your question. Bottom line, you won't be able to fix it yourself entirely. It's a lose / lose situation, unfortunately.

 

[ohioshodude]

i'd fix it myself. if you can find the parts it is easy to fix. problem is.. it's gona be damn near impossible to find a blue front bumper cover. if you do expect that to be around $250 from a junk yard. fender in good condition probably 100-150. something that minor i would not report (unless covered and they will not rape you).

 

[BenBrausen]

Try givin' CertiFit a call and seein' if they carry the front bumper. I know they carry the fenders. When I hit a deer, my uncle sent me to them to get the black plastic piece that spans the front (where the headlights hook into). I looked at a brand new hood through them for only $125! Their located right here in Minnesota and so am I. If you need any help with it, feel free to contact me. mailto:[email protected][email protected]</a>

 

[Detenator]

Alright, from that picture, i don't see much dammage to the fender. I bashed my bumper a few months ago and it isn't imposible to replace. If you want, get one from a junk yard for 100 or 150 bucks. if you find a blue one then great if not... im not sure how to go about painting it. anyway, First, disconnect the fog lamps. Then, there are 2 things that connect the bumper to the frame rails, each has 4 bolts on it, remove those. The old one should slide right off, forward. Next to put the new one on, there are these 2 bolts with rather large heads on the car that slide into slots in the bumper. They are just forward of the wheels. Put one side on, then the other. It actually is possible to do without a seccone person to help you, then slide the entire thing forward, untill you allign the front up... After that, put in the 8 front bolts. Don't tighten them until you alligned all of them perfectly. You don't want to have to back one out just because the rest don't fit.

 

[andrea]

am I the only one not missing the obvious? That car is green....

 

[SHOTerror]

Locate the parts using http://www.used-car-parts-exchange.com/ or http://www.car-parts.com . Once you receive you will be able to look them over and figure out how they are mounted and how everything goes to gether, from there disassemble the parts and install the new. Should be too difficult, to replace just those 2 parts I would like would only cost you what the parts costs you plus maybe 2-3 hours labor max at a body shop.

 

[SHOTerror]

Infact, http://www.autobodypartsonline.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/body_parts.html?catid=789&sid=77CBJv0lgFB1Dvc-56103471423.de

That should have all the parts you need and those are new.

 

[ACV1081]

I'm in NE Iowa and I have a front bumper cover I'll sell you for $125 and even meet ya half way... it's red, but hey it's at least a start. Let me know and if there's anything I can offer to help let me know since I'm remotely close... [email protected] thumbup