Crunched my fender, avdvice fixing it

[Devedander]

So I went to visit my mom the other day, and forgot in her complex there are wicked poles right next to every other parking spot. I backed up and turned and the pole hit my passenger door and pass fender. Also broke a little off my mirror. The mirror seems to work ok still (it got pushed all the way around the way it's not supposed to rotate, but I just pushed it back) and only has a small piece of plastic broken off near the bottom that I think I can patch pretty easily.

The door is in pretty bad shape, the pole kind of pulled the trim straight foward and bent it in under the fender. Also dented the door panel a little and you can see where the frame held up better than the door. I think I have to take it to a body shop to fix that.

The fender took the brunt of it. It's dented in pretty bad and lots of paint started chipping off (12 year old paint) so I am looking to just get a new fender and put it on, fix the door and spray the whole car with a cheap maco job.

The fender looks easily enough to unbolt, is there anything tricky about that? I was thinking of asking the shops around town that sell aftermarket if any of the people who buy z3 fenders and such might sell off their old ones.

I also would like to replace all the trim on the doors and sides of the car. I assume there is some sort of tool for pulling this stuff off? I am wondering if it possibly damamged the door when the trim got pulled foward (it slid like it was on a track). I have no idea where to buy replacement trim and can't find it on ebay, any pointers on that woule be appreciated also.

So this long winded post is basically to ask considering my position what would you recommend? Baring in mind money is tight.

Thanks for any words of advice and if you know of any websites or shops in the SF and Northbay area that might sell the stock fenders cheap I would love some pointers. Thanks a lot!

[i_a_n112784]

Alot of that body damage will require special tools to fix (like the door), or it will need to be replaced (the fender). With the cheap paint jobs, you get what you pay for, meaning that the prep work isn't done very well, and you get more spots in the paint (in my experience anyhow). Those rubber or plastic (old ones are rubber, dont know when they changed it) trim pieces are meant to be taken out by removing the fasteners from the inside (like you'd have to take off the door panel). You may have to order these from honda, or at least see how much it would cost.

Personally, unless you're good at bodywork, you should take it somewhere. Maybe replace the fender yourself, and do some of the easy parts to save on labor costs.

[Devedander]

That was my plan, it looks like the fender is just bolted on in about 10 places, only 1 of which is really hard to get to. That I would do myself.

I was looking on ebay and the best shipped price I can find for an OEM bumper (that supposedly fits perfectly) is $70 shipped. Does that sound right?

For the door I will take it to a body shop, I am just worried that since the trim was stripped off straight foward it will have torn whatever parts of the door were supposed to hold it in.

I will call honda to see how much for new trim.

If I get the car sprayed should I leave the trim off until it's all done?

And as far as cheap the local ricer boys at Best Buy (I used to work there) all got their rides sprayed at maco, and they all look pretty nice. If the paint falls off in 5 years I do'nt care that much. Maybe if I go over the whole car with dish soap or a light sand it would make the paint take better?

[CraniumDesigns]

just buy new parts. it would be cheaper than having them fixed. i bought a fender for like $50 at majestichonda.com

[i_a_n112784]

For prices for parts, goto http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/ and check for prices. If the paint place in your area does a good job, then go for it, I was just saying that in my experience, cheap painting places do a crappy job. As for the trim being pulled off, I would doubt that it could damage the mounting parts on the door. (metal vs. plastic, which would win?)

[Devedander]

Thanks for the pointers on original parts sites. I can't nail down my fender though, it just seems to say f r fender or f l fender, no model. How do I find the part number for my fender?

also do you really think it's cheaper to replace a door than just patch it up? The frame is only lightly damage and only at the very front edge. I hate the thought of them hanging a new door, plus wiring it all back in, thats gotta cost.

ian I appreciate the warning on cheap paint, but I am not a competition person or anything, and right now it's got scrapes and dents where there is primer showing so it would be hard to make it worse.

I am thinking of bolting on the new fender myself, and paying maaco to do the door and paint. I realize it will probably be a cheap patch job and cheap paint but like I said money is tight and this car doesn't have to be show room quality for sure, just not fugly with a huge bashed in fender.

Any other ideas or comments definitely welcome.

BTW anyone know of a site that shows how to get a fender off and on, or is that somehing I should be buying a helms for?

Thanks again!