Front end collision damage

[ChemMan]

My luck is horrible lately. Last night I was involved in a collision with my 1995 Buick and another car, and his bumper struck me in the headlights. No damage was done mechanically, and even the radiator held, despite being bent up nicely. My biggest concern in regards to repairing the car is the upper cross member that the radiator mounts to. It has been badly bent, enough that the radiator fans just barely clear the exhaust header on the engine. Is it practical to replace this piece? I'm hoping that once I pull the fenders, I can figure a way to do so without cutting and welding. I'm not that hopeful, but someone here should know what they're doing.

Thanks for your help, and as a side note, no one was injured.

[maxwedge]

Upper radiator support tie bar, should be replaced, but the attaching points at the corners may need some pulling/realigning, can't tell from here of course. Have a body man look at this for you.

[Blue Bowtie]

If it isn't heavily creased, you should be able to straighten it. It is not an appearance piece, so a perfect finish won't be necessary. It will be more important to clean and paint it to prevent corrosion. The alignment is pretty critical, however, since it holds the corners of the inner fenders, and therefore, the plastic fender skins.

Before you go banging around on it, make sure the SIR is disabled and the DERM is disconnected, so you don't inadvertently deploy the air bag while working or as soon as you turn on the ignition.

[ChemMan]

Thanks for the input. I was looking at the car a little more closely today and now I see that the cross member looks spot welded to the rest of the body, which means I'll have to have straightened. I'll take some pictures in a bit and get a hold of a few places, and post here.

And I'm still amazed that the airbags didn't deploy!

[ChemMan]

Here's the damage. I've removed the lights and their mounting brackets. With all that off, it doesn't look too bad.?

[spinne1]

If you have a friend that owns a body shop, they could pull out that center piece no problem and probably rig up a way to hold the headlights properly in place. However, if you have to pay for the job it would be too expensive to be worthwhile. If you are fully insured you are likely looking at a totaled car. If so, let them give you the value of the car and then keep it. Either fix it yourself and have it look ugly or sell it to someone willing to repair it (maybe you could get $500 for it), or sell it for parts or part it out. To fix it yourself you are looking at:

Straightening the center radiator support.
Replacing the radiator.
Fixing the area where the headlights mount.
Buying new headlight assemblies from a junk yard (yours are busted, right?).
Replacing your left fender (maybe the right--can't see it).
Replacing the hood.
Replacing any other turn signal/light/reflectors that were damaged.
Replacing the center black metal piece that helps support the grill area.
Replacing the grill and grill support.

Even at junk yard prices at a pick it yourself you are looking at up to $300 for parts, not including the $120-$150 or so for a new radiator. It will be much more at other types of salvage yards. Then you will have the issue of miscolored panels to worry about. (Do you repaint or drive ugly?)

All in all it could be a fairly expensive fix. If it were me I'd seriously consider cutting my losses.

PS I'm not positive but I think the air bag sensors are in the bumper area which looks undamaged on your car. Maybe that's why they did not go off.

[ChemMan]

Unfortunately, I'm not going to get anything for the car. My idea was to get a body shop just to straighten the metal, nothing else, and then replace the rest of the parts. You pretty much nailed what I have to replace, except for the condenser. The headlights mount on brackets, which have been removed in the pictures. If I get replacements for those I don't believe the headlights will be a problem. There's a u-pull-it here where I can get most of the parts. Right now I'm just trying to gauge how much $ versus $5,000 to $8,000 for a comparable reliable replacement vehicle.

[Blue Bowtie]

Given the photos you provided, it appears that everything in the grille/fascia area can be straightened and aligned easily.

Considering you will need a hood, lights, and maybe a few loose odd pieces, I'd repair it. With only 60-some thousand miles on the car, it's worth it if everything else is in working order.

This is what it should look like:



With the pinches in the front of the hood, replacement would be easier and probably cheaper than repair. Park Aves and LeSabres could each be donors. The fender can be repaired with 3M epoxy filler made just for the purpose. With a pint of DBU paint, you should be able to color the hood, fender, and probably that faded roof panel. Fresh clear on the paint and a buff for the rest, and you have a $3500 retail ride, probably $2500 auction.

[ChemMan]

Thanks for the before pic, I never thought to take one of those! I've got my fingers crossed.

[zzyzzx2]

It really doesn't look that bad to me either. I'd replace the bolt on pieces (the vertical part in the middle of the radiator support) and just bend the rest back. I've done that with much worse damage and still continued to drive the car (for almost a year now).

[HotZ28]

Originally Posted by zzyzzx2

It really doesn't look that bad to me either. I'd replace the bolt on pieces (the vertical part in the middle of the radiator support) and just bend the rest back. I've done that with much worse damage and still continued to drive the car (for almost a year now).

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