06' V70 Front End Damage Repair

[BlackBart]

Ah, I see.

I could take a tape measure to mine for width dimensions, but it doesn't look like that was affected.

[850 LPT]

Ah, I see.

I could take a tape measure to mine for width dimensions, but it doesn't look like that was affected.

Thank you! But I got a measurement from Abscate already. Right now I am still busy trying to locate a hood and a bumper cover. Erie Vovo has hoods, but they are pricey and 3+ hours away.

Dirk

[850 LPT]

And the adventure begins.
I spend some serious money and ordered a bunch of parts to fix this car. The new used hood in Willow Green is arriving from Erie tomorrow. I was trying to avoid this route because they are pricey but I couldn't find another decent one in the area. Hopefully bolting it on and polishing it will be all that's required.
We found a bumper cover in MA, which will be picked up next Tuesday. It's white, so I am going to have the paint job quoted.
Also ordered a bunch of parts such as radiator, AC condenser, upper rad hose, PS feed hose and more form FCP, and a air cleaner housing with snorkel from Tasca.
We took the hood off and brought it in the garage.

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[850 LPT]

This past weekend I made some progress with disassembly mostly. What surprised me is that both hood hinges were bent. The passenger side one was visually off. The pivot point was pushed to the outside, and because the fender is screwed to the hinge right by the windshield it got pushed out too. This is a side by side of the pass side hinge, the bent one on the top:

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This photo shows how much the sheet metal supports will have to be bent back and put back into shape. That will be my project for next weekend. This will require some sheet metal magic:

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It looks like the front between the outer most point of the fenders is off by about 1/8" compared to the measurement Abscate provided. That should be ok.

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New used hood from Erie installed, but needs fine adjustment of course when everything else back in place. The plan is to install the rad support and bumper too, and then check gaps everywhere. The hood is very nice, but needs some serious detailing. The color is ever so slightly off, but I'm overall happy with it.

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[BlackBart]

I'll bet those hood hinges are intentional. They bend easily but don't shear or push back on the cowling, the hood folds up, it's all part of the crumple zone.

[abscate]

I'll bet those hood hinges are intentional. They bend easily but don't shear or push back on the cowling, the hood folds up, it's all part of the crumple zone.

I tested this on Friday and confirmed this is true

[BlackBart]

Sadly, my son got a taste of that Monday evening in Colorado. We gave him our old Audi wagon for winter commuting. He was just on the way home after spending $500 on suspension and alignment, when a guy shot through a red light and shoved him and the grey truck into the opposite direction lanes. Three cars totaled, no one hurt. It's just as well to get rid of this thing now. He learned to drive a manual with this car when he was 16.

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[vtl]

That's the reason why we keep fixing our old cars: kid will get it for college and of course ruin it in the first couple of weeks. Maybe I buy them old Toyotas to wreck first.

[scot850]

Hopefully he is ok and no injuries! Looks like my wife's 1999 A4 after a car ran a red light and pushed a Chev 1/4 ton next to her into her. It ran up and over her LH front fender, hood and bumper.

By the time we sold that car there were nearly no panels the same color of white as it was hit by careless drivers 3 times!

Neil.

[850 LPT]

Got more work done on Greta yesterday. The sheet metal is now straightened, cross member/ radiator support is installed, bumper is temporarily installed, just so I could check and adjust gaps. The new radiator is also in the car just to see how things fit. I am happy about how everything is coming together, the gaps look good. This was one of my bigger concerns. I did have to move the fenders in by about 1/8" each side, which tells me the they got pushed out ever so slightly when the accident occurred.

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Next steps are installing the hood locks and see if they still work. If not, I have another set.
Then install all the rest of the parts. I figure one more Saturday and she is driveable again.

Dirk