The-Taco-Bear

I'm not a body shop guy or a mechanic, but I think that I can make this work.
I have a wrecked '04 with fair amount of damage to the front end.
Going to try and find the parts and replace what I can.

Engine still runs fine and there was no damage past the radiator support.
Any leads on parts or advice is welcome!!

Thank You!!





Progress so Far.....

monchie

Your fault or did you buy it salvage?

ThatNewGuy

iTrader: (2)

X2. I'd like to see the progress on this. And offer any help along the way that I can.

Grimm0ne

iTrader: (3)

this stuff i love to do, should be easy, and i would check on ebay, as i've been snooping around there to get ideas for a rebuild that i found.... keep us updated.

rx8hitman

wow hahaha i also live in el paso

SayNoToPistons

iTrader: (8)

If it was a salvage, I assume the wrecked plate wouldnt be there.

ZumnRx8

I've been there, $3.5-4k

ZumnRx8

I still have the list of parts from the body shop collision catalog.

mazdaverx7

iTrader: (6)

thats not horrible. should be a pretty straight forward fix. if you are doing it yourself, make sure you get a body measurement chart that shows distances between certain points on the car. this will help make sure nothing is still tweaked when you are ready to paint and assemble. how twisted is the core support?

ZumnRx8

^ price was with labor fyi

bse50

I don't remember if they sell the front end as a replacement.
If they don't you need a jig to put it straight.
I'd bring it to a body shop, to avoid doing a hack job.

ken-x8

Body shop to straighten anything that's bent that will be staying on the car. That's just not DIY stuff.

I did something like this back in the 60s with a VW Beetle. Front end damage that looked a lot like this. I had replacement sheet metal from a donor car. The unit body was bent in the front. I took it to a body shop to get that straightened, then just bolted everything else on.

Body shop guy was cool. Part of the deal was that I could do my assembly in a corner of his lot, and I could ask questions if I had any problems.

Ken

monchie

If you work in a body shop or have experience doing this before, maybe. If not, i'll just pay the body shop and just relax in the couch with your remote control watching the speed channel or something.

DocBeech

iTrader: (1)

Ken unless your on a military base these days are over. Just like you guys painting the black lines on the road with your oil leaking out of those old engines, and them keeping oil at the gas pump because you had to fill up your oil before your gas :P

ken-x8

Yes - the 60s are over. Whether you remember them or not.

The VW project was fun. Official repair estimate from a good body shop was over $500, a lot of money in those days. I paid Preston (body shop guy) $50 for the straightening and coaching. He and his crew dropped everything else for $50 cash.

I put maybe another $50 into the project. Gave the car back to my brother, which saved my family the cost of coming up with the money to buy him a new car.

Three best parts were:

1. Driving the VW to Preson's shop with no front sheet metal or gas tank, fueling it from a coffee can.
2. The fixed car was red, and the donor car was green.
3. Got rid of the remains of the donor by dragging it to the street and setting it out with the garbage.

This kind of project can be fun or character building...maybe even both.

Ken

DocBeech

iTrader: (1)

Thats because those things only had what a 7 gallon gas tank on them? You could go forever on that 1.2L 60hp engine.

boizart1

I work with my dad at his shop part time...This is not a garage project. Frame needs to be restore back to the way it left the factory. Body work,Prep, paint and finish is something people work their whole lives to become good at. By all means, do yourself a favor and take it to the shop. On the other hand, working on cars is alot of fun.

boizart1

I threw away 3/4 of a front end after I was done fixing mine...looked for somewhere to sell it but no one needed it back then. I see a couple of people doing projects on here now.

The-Taco-Bear

I hope It's a lil cheaper. Did you do the work, or did the body shop?

The-Taco-Bear

Thanks! Yes, I did find the link the Bodyshop Manual on this wonderful site.
My driver side post is a bit tweaked at the very front, but not too bad. The Passenger side appears to not be bent at all, believe it or not.
I may have to take it to a shop and get a frame straightener to pull driver side straight, maybe.

The-Taco-Bear

This poor car has actually had damage to it before!
Dumb old hag ran a stoplight and took the front end off (in front of the radiator), so her insurance had to pay to have it fixed once.
This one is on me.... I still have the list that Service King charged the first time=@9k!!!!

I dont want to scrap the car, It still runs perfectly, purrs like a kitten...hate to let it go, ya know???

The hardest thing is that the rest of the car is in GREAT condition!!! it's just the front end here!!!

I'm going to see if some shop will do the frame parts for me, and the rest is just bolt on like it came off...hell I might even do a tune up on it!!

The-Taco-Bear

Thank you to everyone for the advice, It is definitely all being considered!

I guess my main goal is to get it fixed without getting taken to the cleaners.

Anyone know of a good shop with frame jig in the DFW area let me know!!

DocBeech

iTrader: (1)

pro tuning performance might. Call and ask. Also mazda mckinney, and town north mazda are pretty good to us.

ptp is arlington i believe i know its out west.

The-Taco-Bear

Thanks Doc!
Definitely looking for the right shop to help me out with the hard stuff.