Rear end collission! Repair advice needed.

[abscate]

If a car is not a house, and not a hula hoop, are some hula hoops grilled cheese sandwiches?

Do hula hoops weigh the same as ducks, therefore they are witches?

[abscate]

Ok, back on track

Here is what we need to restore to.

[wizechatmgr]

If a car is not a house, and not a hula hoop, are some hula hoops grilled cheese sandwiches?

Do hula hoops weigh the same as ducks, therefore they are witches?

You writing common core math books now?

[FireFox31]

Thanks, those pictures are really helpful. That last picture of the bumper mount shows my biggest problem. I want to cut that bracket off a donor car, but I don't think the body shop will weld it in place. They may insist that I replace the whole frame rail, even though mine looks fine. I'll see what the shop and the junk yard say.

[abscate]

A welder will do that for you. We can use the bumper as a template to locate the bracket, or my parts car one if yours is banged up. If you just get some metal there on plane , you can through bolt the bumper bracket, doesn’t have to be OEM.

[volvolugnut]

Try a muffler shop for the welding. Make sure the battery is disconnected before welding.

volvolugnut

[JimBee]

Junk yards come in handy for piecing back together bang-ups like this. Tail lights in Minnesota JY's $18 each piece, so $36 for those IF the metal tail light seat isn't bent much, or at all, just scratched up.

Junk yard lift gate: maybe $45 complete. Wheel looks okay, new tire needed. So if the corner frame isn't bent and if the lift gate will open and close and latch replace that, replace the bumper with new brackets and back in action. The side rear window looks intact, so there can't be much bent there—even a little bending would've shattered it. You might have to get used to a dent in the quarter panel, but that's an adjustment you might be able to make to keep it going for another 100k.

[abscate]

I’m going to convince Firefox to use my stone black tailgate and then save the paint for the Spring or when he decides to cut in/ weld metal in to the quarter panel. Have to get that rusty Benz back in the garage where it belongs. Even better, use the black one until the 417 Nautic Blue turns up.

[scot850]

Check the bumper/frame rail under the car. These are designed to crumple and absorb impact. The actual bumper mount does not look too bad and should be able to be straightened sufficiently to re-use. Check the frame rail between the rear panel and the rear wheel for crumple areas.

Neil.

[FireFox31]

I finally got my lovely Columba wheel checked at a wheel repair shop. They showed me how it's 20/1000" out of round at the impact site, only on the inside of the wheel. They said I wouldn't feel it while driving, so shouldn't bother to fix it. Now I can get a new tire put on and drive to the body shop.

Junk yard lift gate: maybe $45 complete.

Junk yards in the north east are at least twice that expensive. I'm surprised by that because there are plenty of 1998-2000 V70's in junk yards around me. I'm going to see one later this week and probably get many of the parts that I need.

I’m going to convince Firefox to use my stone black tailgate

What I could use from your car is that bumper bracket on the frame rail. I'll have the body shop look at mine and see if it can be bent back into place. If they can't fix mine, let me know how much you want to cut yours off the car and mail it to NH. The last photo you posted above is what I need. But let me ask the body shop first.

Check the bumper/frame rail under the car. These are designed to crumple and absorb impact.

My frame rails appear to have angles in them, ready to be crumpled upon impact. I think those angles are by design, not from the impact. I'd love to see other people's pictures of this view to compare and see if mine is crumpled.