Bumper repair

[phatgeezer]

My daughter and I were out for a spin in her recently purchased 96 Sunfire, when she dropped a tire into a soft shoulder and we went for a wild ride. We ended up sliding down into the grassy median and hit the nose on the upslope on the other side. We and the car are all fine except for the Pontiac's front bumper. It's not too noticable at the "walking by it in the parking lot" level of paying attention, but the left corner of the front bumper is bent slightly upwards, enough that it deforms the plastic headlight surround slightly, and the hood doesn't lie completely flat when latched--it's up off the fender about 1/4 inch. I think if the bumper were repaired everything else would return to its proper place, Does this sound like something that will require a professional frame-straightener to solve (perhaps to bend the bumper mounting rail back down into place), or is it something a backyard mechanic could tackle? It's a $2000 car, not worth dropping a grand in body repairs into, but I'd like it to look as nice as possible. I'm handy with a wrench, however I've never done body work before. Opinions?

[GTP Dad]

This sounds more like some sheet metal damage. I would check a local wrecking yard for a new cover in the same color and you should be able to get a fender from the same place relatively inexpensively. You can also try car-part.com for wrecking yards in your area. I found several fenders in Ill. for less than $100. You can even find them on e-bay. Bumper covers are another issue. Body work is not hard as long as you don't have any major damage but the only way to find out would be to remove the bumper cover and check to see what is actually damaged. If you are handy with a wrench you shouldn't have any problems. Good Luck and Welcome to AF!!!

[movin2stereo]

You might have bent your bumper brackets,which by the way are welded on.Could be just the fender brackets also.You need to take the bumper cover off to see what damage is done.