Could I fix this bent bumper myself?

[C@lvin]

hmmm........I don't really see any damage to the rear panel. It appears to me that the impact was 90% from above, pushing down on the bumper. It doesn't appear that the wheels or frame or anything frontward from the bumper was impacted or affected except for the bumper itself. As you can see, the bumper was not deformed as it would be had it been impacted straight on. But I am no body or frame expert - that's why I am asking for advice.

As far as the price, we are stil negotiating........

[jblackburn]

You can find something to reinforce that frame at Home Depot I'm sure. As long as the car frame itself is intact, the one little part doesn't matter so much.

I'd say a new set of wheels and some TLC is definitely in the works for that car, if you can get it cheap.

What happened to the turbo you were looking at?

[JDS60R]

Had to pull up the body section in VADIS. I see it now. The rear body panel is set further in and the bumper doesn't bolt through it. Should be fine as you suggest. The picture of the rear frame rail damage looked like it had a rear body panel next to the mount. I can see now its just the bumper.

Good luck on your purchase.

[FlyingVolvo]

Thanks for your replies.

You can then pry those brackets up to correct much of the sagging, assuming there isn't any serious damage.

How exactly did you pry the brackets and with what level of force/effort? Did you just do it manually with a pry bar or did you use a jack under it, maybe a come-along, or something else?

In my case since the sag was only an inch or so, I actually just used a large adjustable wrench. I went along the edges of it pulling up a little each time. It really wasn't too hard to move as the metal is probably only 20mm thick.

For the car pictured, I imagine the metal will be quite bent and you'll probably want something that can bend it all up at once nice and smoothly.

[C@lvin]

I'd say a new set of wheels and some TLC is definitely in the works for that car, if you can get it cheap.

I've already pounced on a set of alloys off of a 2000 V70 that would look real nice on it. If I don't end up purchasing the car, I don't think I'll have any trouble unloading the wheels. And I've got a lot of pent up Volvo type TLC just waiting to be unloaded on the lucky vehicle that I eventually end up acquiring.

What happened to the turbo you were looking at?

The turbo was a disappointment. It was a 94 Turbo advertised at $2400 and in really good condition with only 165K. But when I went to see it found that the odometer is broken, it needs rear tires, a timing belt, spring seats, and PCV big time (lots of oil on the bottom too). The brakes were mushy and warped even though the rotors were hardly worn. It also had a wire soldered directly from the fuse box to the rad fan so it runs all the time - makes one wonder why? There was also a whisp of exhaust smoke coming from the general area underneath the intake manifold at start up and a engine RPM dependant hissing type noise somewhere in the serpentine belt region. After a 5 mile run down the interstate I turned off the engine and had trouble getting it re-started. When the guy sensed my lack of enthusiasm he offered to sell it for $2000. As I was walking (running?) away, he said, "make me an offer".

[C@lvin]

Thanks for all the input from everyone. Feel free to offer more information and suggestions. If I do purchase it I will post back with pictures of my attempts to correct the bumper problem.