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So I hit a curb. The front bumper is dinted. The bumper is pushed in. The brake intake cover is ripped out. The radiator support frame is busted.
I had wanted to fix it myself. I imagine I'll have to replace the front bumper, the crush pad behind the bumper, and the radiator support frame, and whatever else I find once I start removing things. The reason I was wanting to fix it myself instead of make an insurance claim is that I had a couple accidents a couple years ago and am trying to avoid the insurance company from dropping me and having to pay more than triple insurance with another company...🤔
How'ver, what worries me is that the rivot nut that holds the radiator support frame to the car's frame appears pulled out. I'm not sure I can fix that myself. I don't have a way of cutting the frame or welding another piece of metal in the hole to attach another rivot nut. Has anyone ever had this issue and have a good way to resolve it? I'll post all the pictures of the damage, but the close up of the rivot nut is the one in question.
Close up of the rivot nut. Full view of broken radiator support frame. The piece of the radiator support frame that busted off. Bumper is raised due to it being pushed in. Bumper is raised due to it being pushed in. The light no longer lines up. View of the dinted bumper.
And I was mad that I nicked some wires during my back up camera install. I’m sure you had a few choice cuss words after that happened. I would definitely start by taking that front bumper off. Hopefully it’s fixable as others suggested oem parts for our cars can be impossible to locate.
It may not be as bad as it looks. I would start by pulling everything off. I would definitely replace the radiator support and everything else that is dented or bent beyond repair, Once the bumper cover is off I would suggest to take it to a good body shop and see if it is possible to repair and paint. There are plenty of videos on youtube that show how to take the front bumper cover off. I would not worry about the gap at the top of the bumper to fender. You just need to replace the clips, they break easily and often. SInce you have everything off it may be time to upgrade your headlights. Now a days labor costs are worse than parts costs! So if your handy you can save money and have a nice repair.
I damaged the radiator support on my C5. The structure is the same. I had to remove the front bumper cover to replace it, including remove the radiator and fan assembly.
rad supports are around 100 bucks, use a rivnut tool and reinsert the riv-nuts (had to do this myself). get an oem bumper and send it for paint. I would not bother making an insurance claim for this. This would not be worth my insurance going up for years to me.
hell you may even be able to pop that dent out of the bumper and have THAT ONE repainted.
rad supports are around 100 bucks, use a rivnut tool and reinsert the riv-nuts (had to do this myself). get an oem bumper and send it for paint. I would not bother making an insurance claim for this. This would not be worth my insurance going up for years to me.
hell you may even be able to pop that dent out of the bumper and have THAT ONE repainted.
I agree with this... Heat up the bumper with a heat gun, work it with your hands, and it should easily pop back into place. Then you just have to worry about the paint.
Unfortuneately, there is a good chance his insurance co would total the car. Depends on year model, millage, etc.That could easily be a $20k+ estimate.
Possible but I think I would at least ask, as you do not know what ya do not know. I had a problem with my 66 (insured with Grunty (so is our Corvette), chrome trim blew off the car - windshield had to come out to replace all the chrome retaining clips. I asked if I could fix if they would pay for parts, they agreed, I still have 66 and Grundy rates never went up!
Removing the front bumper is not a difficult job, plenty of videos on it. Google it or search on this site. As suggested, good time to upgrade the headlights or replace the lenses. Agree that dent might pop out with a little heat. If not there are shops around that specialize in repairing plastic bumpers since just about everything on the road has them. Rest of the project is nuts and bolts.
03-08-2024, 06:54 PM
Radiator Support Frame Busted
I’d suggest pulling the bumper off, and seeing if you can pop it back out from the back side.
