Need some advice.

[Shiner1]

My son wrecked his Chevrolet Cavalier this past weekend. Car Vs. tree. He is OK and the damage to the car appreared to be minor until I got it home. Plastic bumper is toast. Crumple zone foam behind bumper will need to be replaced. There is a cross brace in front of the radiator that is bent pretty good and the hood is bent pretty good. There does not appear to be any mecanical damage, just cosmetics. Now here is the delima. He only has liability so I 'm going to have to fix this myself. I think I can replace the body parts OK but I noticed today that the drivers door around the window does not fit right and the door has a slight "hitch" when you close it. How do I fix the door and does this mean that the frame is bent? I'm thinking that when that bent cross brace is fixed it will "re-square" the doors/panels. I'm pretty new to body work so any advice is welcome.

[L8 APEX]

GM usually glues the hinges to the unibody. If it is tweaked you can try to chain the rear to a pole and come along winch or pulls the front back with a truck and chain. I would buy the crash parts from New World on Irving blvd use the Meadlin's account if you want. They are Chinese copy parts but they are cheap and fit good enough for a kids car. I would make it legal and driveable. The rest is up to him...

[dboat]

Since I cant answer your question...

How is the tree?

Dana

[Shiner1]

Tree was OK. Missing a little bark but none the worse for wear. I'm not sure that I understand everything that I know about the accident but it involved a wet road, a u-turn (I'll bet he pulled out in front of somebody) and probably a lack of driving experience. He said he was running late for work and he was calling his boss so I would also add a cell phone to the list. I'm just glad that no one else was involved and he was not hurt too bad. He banged his ribs and they are sore but I don't feel too bad for him. He needs a little pain as a reminder to be more carefull.:evil

The other reminder....Merry Christmas....here's your new bumper instead of that really nice gift that you wanted.

[danielvalles1]

Tree was OK. Missing a little bark but none the worse for wear. I'm not sure that I understand everything that I know about the accident but it involved a wet road, a u-turn (I'll bet he pulled out in front of somebody) and probably a lack of driving experience. He said he was running late for work and he was calling his boss so I would also add a cell phone to the list. I'm just glad that no one else was involved and he was not hurt too bad. He banged his ribs and they are sore but I don't feel too bad for him. He needs a little pain as a reminder to be more carefull.:evil

The other reminder....Merry Christmas....here's your new bumper instead of that really nice gift that you wanted.
Hey a bumper is a nice gift:icon_mrgreen:

[dboat]

Tree was OK. Missing a little bark but none the worse for wear. I'm not sure that I understand everything that I know about the accident but it involved a wet road, a u-turn (I'll bet he pulled out in front of somebody) and probably a lack of driving experience. He said he was running late for work and he was calling his boss so I would also add a cell phone to the list. I'm just glad that no one else was involved and he was not hurt too bad. He banged his ribs and they are sore but I don't feel too bad for him. He needs a little pain as a reminder to be more carefull.:evil

The other reminder....Merry Christmas....here's your new bumper instead of that really nice gift that you wanted.


glad to hear that he wasnt hurt badly... and here's your hood, etc etc..

He is fortunate to have you..


Dana

[danielvalles1]

+1 yeah I'm sure he will very much like the hood. I know i would.

[charlie]

Your kiddo don't know how good he has it.

I went through that with my ex. and her kid. LOL I made her (the kid) pay for the parts. But I fixed it......... 4 times!

Charlie

[my2002lightning]

John,

Good to hear your Son is alright after the crash.


Yes, your Son is fortunate to have you.:tu:

[Shiner1]

Thanks for the kind words guys. Very appreaciated. I was thinking back to when I was first driving and I had a minor fender bender so I can't get to mad at him. We all have them. I'm thankfull that he his not out drinking and smoking dope. He has good, respectfull friends so he is running with a good crowd.........They kind of remind me of Eddie Haskel from Leave it to Beaver.:D