Prepped my car for new front end the easy way
 

last night i decided i was sick of the way my car looked so i drove it into a light pole. anybody know a good air freshener to get the air bag smell out?

ouch man...those light poles are a bitch

And I just got done doing my fender and bumper re-build, hahaha. I think you're gonna need a little more work though.

Any idea on the estimate yet, or if it's totaled?

Gotta watch out for those light poles, they jump out in front of ya!

well its not totalled as far as being able to drive it, i ripped the gas tank open when i jumped the curb but it started and drove until what was in the rails ran out just to move it out of the way. luckily vortech decided to mount the whole assembly on the passenger side or else id be in worse shape, the radiator is done but other than that it needs a fender, bumper, hood, 2 wheels, gas tank, head lights, windshield, some welding and lots of smaller stuff. that billet grille really held up though haha. im getting an estimate tomorrow... i dont have full insurance and even if i did the insurance claim person probably would find a few reasons not to pay me anyways, probably going to have to pay for the pole if i get summons to court but the cop was really cool and didnt write me up or bust my balls at all, and me and my friend walked away without a scratch so i guess it couldve been alot worse.

How hard did you hit it?

I got ran into by a smaller car going about 40mph in the same area as you got damage. This was in my 02 GT and it was declared totaled, but just barely. That estimate is going to be higher than you think.

how many miles you got on it and what year is it?

just to what whitethunder did...get the estimate for the insurance company...take the check and find used parts

70k its an '01, yeah im sure its going to be rediculous to fix but if it still runs fine (which i am assuming it does based on it started up fine and from the looks of it nothing major mechanically is out of place) then its worth maxing out a credit card or two to get it back in shape.

Well mine was a 02 and 50K miles. Truth be told, I bet it's gonna be kinda close between insurance fixing it and declaring it totaled.

i would do that but i only have liability which only covers if you hit another car, it doesnt pay for damage to your car. when the accident report comes out i might be able to try to see if the insurance will cover anything depending on what the police officer said happened in the report but i highly doubt it will get me anywhere.

Ahhh, so then the estimate doesn't really matter if it's gonna be declared totaled or not since your insurance company won't give you any money.

That sucks dude, so you gotta spend your own money to fix it?

haha im not feeling too optimistic anymore

So... What exactly happened? :poke:

yep. well.... visa or mastercards money for now.

+1, glad to see you guys walked away from it ok!

cold tires and cold road, lost traction in 2nd at about 3k and lost it to the right, countersteered too much and couldnt bring it back around.

yeah thanks, thats definitely the lesson i learned. i consider myself very lucky, the car can be fixed.

Well, depending on what the estimate is, you'll definitely be able to save a few thousand by doing it yourself (if you go that way)

Most of the damage you described seemed very minuscule and easy to fix, just time consuming. Grab a bud, do some part research, and have fun doing it.

Like TClark mentioned, I recently did my own very small rebuild. Just have fun doing it and keep an open mind. If you get frustrated, walk away and come back. A lot of those bolts on the front end by the fender are very tight fitting.

I'd be glad to help with any questions as I've already tackled and conquered a similar area of the car.

https://mustangboards.com/the-lounge...bender-re.html

yeah man thanks i might be posting some question this week- i ordered almost all the body parts but theres no way i can straighten out the metal that they fit around so hopefully i can have it cut and welded back in place where it should be... attach the panels and hood myself which i know will be tricky but still worth a shot then get it painted later.

You shoulda checked all local junk yards for parts.

Even if you didn't find the same color for the parts you need, they would already be prepped, cut, and fitted to the car so they would only need to be re-painted.

I got lucky and found my replacement fender already the same color, white. Only paid $175 for it. Perfect shape, fit, and color match.

Also, people told me when I got my bumper painted, the color may not match up right. Well mine's an 01, and the bumper turned out to be a perfect match.

Another point, oemfordparts.com is a good site for all those little smaller parts you may need inside the engine bay, etc. etc.

autopartswarehouse.com new bumper $175... thats without the absorbing foam piece that goes behind it which is another 50.

Yea, but you still have to get it fitted and have it painted which will run around $150

frame rail is ****ed

ya'll need to pull the engine and spot weld a new one in

Im willing to bet your frame is bent, When i crashed my stang it did less damage then your car and my frame got bent, i hit a tree at way slower speeds too, airbags didn't even deploy. Dont worry about that shit though man, glad to see your ok, have fun with the rebuild, slap an aftermarket bumper while your at it too.

ouch that doesnt look good at all

If you didnt have full coverage then your car is paid off so you have no car payment.

Why when you have a car that valuable that is paid for would you not have full coverage insurance. And it does not make sense to max out some credit cards where you will pay 15% interetes for who knows how long to fix a car that is going to depreciate even faster.

Youre better off buying a cheap beater cash and then fixing the stang over time when you can afford to buy whatever part you need.

Deff have to agree on this one. You should of had full coverage to begin with. Good luck meng. Your talking about $2,500-$3,500 in repairs there.

Those Go***mn lightpoles are ALWAYS jumping out into the middle of traffic, with absolutely no regard for anything or anyone. :nunu:

:kekekegay: