well got in an accident

hey guys, not having the best day here.  i got into an accident today.  girl in front of the guy in front of me slammed on her brakes, he slammed on the brakes, i slammmed on the brakes.  he hit her and then i hit him.  luckilly no one hit me i guess.  my caprice did not do so well.  my roomate who has a 95 impala and multiple caprices says i may aswell change the whole front end.  idk if its that serious, my hood is now not sitting flush because its bent and the driver side headlight assembly smashed to pieces on the inside, ie the plastic that holds the lens assembly in place.  hood latch bracket is bent and bracket that the grill screws to is bent.  ill post more pics in the am when i have more light, but thoughts?  cold i get away with just changing the hood, latch assembly, and headlight assembly? core support looks mostly straight and the fenders look ok, the bumper is a bit bent up but i could live with it for awhile.  i dont really have the money to change the whole front end at the moment and the car runs and drives fine.  i can replace most of the things with my roomate so labor wont be an issue.  im sorry this is kinda a big un on, im just lookingto get some opinions on where to start.  

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'Tis but a flesh wound.

Replace the headlight and grill and bend the parts back and you should be done.

$35 and you are done. Careful, your insurance will want to total out the car due to unavailability of parts. (they will take the bent parts into consideration)

I agree, miinimal cosmetic issues from the pics posted. Honestly, paint was on the rough side anyway. So take a trip to your local used parts emporium (junk yard) and it's a done deal.

Cue The Six Million Dollar Man theme music...You can rebuild it...make it stronger,faster than before! Sorry...got carried away. Too much caffeine this morning.  

well it poured rain here most of the day so i didnt make it to pick n pull but here are some more pics, plus what ive done in the mean time to make it drivable/ somewhat better. the hood really wont sit flush so i think i will have to replace that. [img][/img][img][/img][img][/img]

Cool! That's the same way they repair NASCAR stock cars in the pits. That ought to be good to at least 190 mph.   

If you did not bend the tip of the driver's side fender, it looks like either a job for the hammer and dolly, or a wrench. The hood has 6 bolts holding it on, the latch/mount about 4 bolts, the grille support is 4 bolts, and the light is 4 bolts, grille 10 screws, vertical bracket 2 bolts. If you go to the yard and get the parts, installing them should take about an hour and a half. The hood will fit in your cargo bay if you put it in sideways. I even replaced the hood on one of my wagons in the parking lot of the yard. I took my old one off, and gave it to them for the core charge (I unbolted it before I went in, and when I came out, I lifted it off, and put the other one on. Total should be about $140 for the hood, latch bracket, vertical bracket, grille, grille support, headlight, headlight bracket, and marker light. You will still need the bumper and bumper support, as well as probably the bumper shocks about another $100.

thx for the advice everyone and thank you fred for the parts list. i managed to get a new headlight assembly with bracket and bulb for 22$ shipped off ebay, and well it bolted right on which was awesome. i even was able to get creative and reuse the corner light for now. the mounting point where it screws on to the bracket was broken on the corner light so i ha to bust out the dremmel to make 2 holes for me to zip tie it on. but hey from 10 feet it dont look too bad. i plan to get the hood next week, along with the latch bracket and grill bracket, then order a new grill offline for 20$ shipped. im gonna save the bumper work till im ready to paint the car which will be towards the end of summer. but im thinking of getting a few cans of plasticdip spray to do the hood i get black for now then ill peel it off before painting the car.
anyway heres how she looks right now. [img][/img]

Much gooder

Is it listing, or are you holding the camera crooked?

It looks like the hood is raised because the latch mount is bent upwards. If you bend the latch mount down to where the latch is vertical, it may bring the hood down. You can adjust the latch to some degree on the mount, as well, to lower the hood. If just the front lip of the hood is bent, you may be able to straighten it with a hammer and dolly.

listing? that pic was taken vey quickly and the camera is crocked indeed. the front of the hood is indeed bent inward. there also seems to be some warping side to side on the hood. i will check the latch tomorrow to see if its perpendicular or not. also im wondering the hood is latched and it seems to not budge when i pull up when its latched, but it does sit up a good amount. should i be concerned about it possibly coming unlatched while im driving. it doesnt shudder or wobble while i drive. as long as it is latching i should be fine for the immediate future? like till next week when im not sick and can make a run to pick n pull. because of the hood not sitting flush i can get a few fingers under the grill and touch the hood release, it wont let me release the hood until i pull the release in the car then the hood can open by pressing the usual part. so im thinking its latching fine because of that. i just dont want it to fly up while im driving and cause another accident.

also fred how would i go about adjusting the latch and bracket?

Listing: when a boat is leaning to one side in the water. 

The bracket is probably bent, and the obvious answer is to return it to its original shape. The bracket makes a square channel shape, if you look at it from the side. The bottom should be level with the ground, and the front should be vertical. It looks like the bottom is bent up, and the front may be vertical, but not at 90 degrees to the bottom.

The latch itself is just bolted to the bracket, and if you loosen the bolts it will slide up and down in the elongated holes.

If the latch is working as you say, it should be save to drive.

The side to side warping is sometimes normal if it is not much. The stops on the sides of the core support are used to level the front of the hood, and can take a little of the warp out of it, as long as it follows the curve of the fenders when even at the front. Since your hood is sitting high, it is not hitting the stops. Do not adjust them until you get the latch sorted out.


If the front of the hood is only bent below the curve of the top lip, you can straighten the lower area that is the mount for attaching the grille. If you hold a narrow dolly just under the edge of the top lip, and hit toward the front of the car on the grille mount area, you can make the area vertical again, and the new grille will bolt up to it.

Side note: that is a seriously wide roll of painter's tape.

Stingroo wrote:

Side note: that is a seriously wide roll of painter's tape.

Ray (Stingroo) is a authority on painters tape considering the time he has spent on his wagon using it!  

Had to do it!

ok thx fred ill take a look at it this afternoon. and lol the tape was in my roomates tool box. he had it to stop his suburban from leaking through the moon roof till we could get parts to fix the motor in it that went bad and change/make new seals.

well i adjusted the latch height and it seemed to make a little difference.  the braket was ever so slightly bent so i bent it back to get a nice square channel.  but overall i think the hood needs to be replaced. i think its got some major twist in it from the accident.   thanx for the advice tho fred you and everyone else have been a big help.


on a side note i found out my parking spot is no where near to level, damn sockets rolling away > so i used my level to check the car port roof and its also no where near level, good ole ground settling at work here in california i guess. building things on alluvium(basically geologist term for earth's pile of crap and rocks that settles in valleys) cant help either.
if u couldnt already tell im a geologist by trade   

The striker in the hood may be bent down, or the area around it may be pulled down. That is a lot harder to fix, but careful hammering could return it to its original shape. The new hood may be an easier option, but you will probably have to paint it. The local paint shop should be able to put it into spray cans if you want to attempt a parking lot paint job. You could do it under a porch or balcony, as long as you mask off the wall behind it. You will have less junk falling on it. You could make a temporary spray booth out of a couple of refrigerator or other large boxes taped together (get them at the local appliance dealer, or Rent-A-Center). Leave one side open for a door. It will keep the dust and bugs off of the paint until it gets a chance to dry.

hood aquired today from the pick n pull. its white, but im gonna go with my plan of using the flexidip to paint it black until i get the car repainted eventually. im waiting till i can get some help to put it on. but hey 60$ for the hood, grill bracket, and a hood ornament. that was after tax and core charge. so eh not to shabby, but its hella dirty. so gonna clean it up then put it on then use a makeshift paint booth in my friends garage to paint it with the flexidip while its on the car and i see that it fits right.

Spray it while it's off the car.

Trust me.

Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt.

Stingroo wrote:

Spray it while it's off the car.

Trust me.

Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt.

well ive decided i will spray it before i put it on. im just hoping it will line up fine and sit well. idk if i can bring it back to pick n pull and exchange it if i paint it.

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on another note i finally did a mod ive been meaning to do for awhile
subtle but i think it looks great !!!

well today i painted the hood. its drying now. gonna let it set over night then put the hood on the car tomorrow evening is the plan.

well life got in the way but the hood is finally on, fits pretty damn good, way better than the old one. but it was too dark to take any pictures, brand new grill and painted hood ornament shown above are also on. pics to follow tomorrow after i have some daylight.

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here are the pics i think it came out pretty good. i love the black bowtie hood ornament i put on. new grill is super shiny too. ill leave it like this for awhile, drive it, but ill replace the bumper and i have a fender on the passenger side to replace but that will only happen before i paint the whole car, which will probably be awhile.

I think the subtle trick you did with the hood ornament will pop better once that hood is painted.

Andebe wrote:

I think the subtle trick you did with the hood ornament will pop better once that hood is painted.

i totally agree