Hello folks. I've lurked here for years, but never written, mostly. I write today because two days ago, I was involved in an auto collision which took out the drivers side quarter panel and driver's side front bumper of my car. I apologize if this is the wrong sub board. I'm not sure where something like this would go. Needless to say, for reasons I'd rather not get into, it's going to be up to me to fix this mess. I'm not master mechanic, but I've worked on cars long enough in my past to confidently replace all these busted sections and parts, as cash flow allows.

Here are my questions, and I'd like to say up front I am extreme grateful to anyone who has the knowledge to at least hazard educated guesses before I begin the process of getting my girl to my regular mechanic (he's on holiday, and won't be back for several days). Basically, I'm preparing myself for the worst.

Here are some actual photos of the damage. As you can see, it's mostly superficial. It's the frame I am concerned with, and will get to that in a bit.




This is before I removed the bent and mutilated headlight assemble. This is after:




The quick and dirty version of what happened in that some idiot veered in front of me on the highway and slammed on his breaks. Very deliberate. We were doing about 70 MPH in FL rush hour traffic. I slammed on mine, but the back end fished tailed, sensing the driver side front into the left lane. I had ALMOST regained control when a Highlander t-boned the front side, which you can see (and thank Odin it wasn't the door or the tire itself). I was actually able to drive the car home, although the alignment is shot all to hell. Could go above 30MPH without tire squeal. There was no shaking of the car as I drove, no real pull to one side, just (so far) tires that are pointed inward, against one another a bit too close.

I mentioned frame damage. Here are the things that have me concerned about it. The alignment of the hood and the passenger side quarter panel are now off.







Would anyone know if this is a main frame issue, or a subframe/structure issue? I am aware I will need to have it looked at by a pro. For now, I'm trying to put my mind at ease about this entire mess, because it's stressing me out to no end (yes, I'm grateful to still be alive...but now that I am, I need to worry about this)

Granted, I am making a HUGE and uneducated assumption about the alignment situation based on how the car drove and felt after the accident. I am no pro. Fixing cars since I was a lad has always either been a hobby or out of necessity (how I miss Chilton's manuals)

My next question is, based on those first two photos, what kind of replacement parts will I need, generally? I see, obviously, the need for a new front bumper, drive side quarter panel, the piece that goes under the quarter panel (not sure what that is called), new headlight assembly (possibly new turn signal and fog lamp (the old one still works and is in one piece), or if those are included with a new front end bumper (not sure). The hood has some scratches and chips, but it's a low priority item since it's technically still in one solid piece and not bent all out of shape (got lucky there too). I'm happy to take more detailed photos if anyone believes it will be more helpful to them. Again, no opinions will be taken as gospel or professional advise. I'm attempting to get ahead of this thing so I can get my baby back on the road...IF I can get her back on the road.

Again, any thoughts, guesses, opinions, insights, experiences are MOST welcome.

Thank you.

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays

Kevin Provance

 

I thank you're frame is ok. Of course that's just my guess. But I think when you wrecked the hood jammed the passenger side fender out of wack. The frame is strong but from what I've seen the body panels are mostly held on by small 10mm? bolts and washers. I would strip off everything you know is damaged then have a body shop take a look at it. You might be able to readjust the fender once the damaged parts are removed.

 

So Sorry !!!!

 

Ouch, that sucks.

Well, first thing I'd want to check-out is the frame so try to find a close by shop with a frame rack to check it out. Check the frame, the engine cradle and the left front suspension for damage.

You've basically covered most of the other parts. Bumper cover, fender, light assembly, filler panels under the bumper cover. These are all bolt-on so not terribly difficult to replace. But, the big issue I see is that the inner fender is broken off at the front. It's one piece and bonded onto the car. So, you're either looking at patchwork grafting the end onto it or cutting the old one off and installing a new one. It's not an impossible job but it takes some work to cut off and clean up the old adhesive. Then you need panel bonding adhesive and the gun to apply it. Mostly do a bunch of measurements in different directions on the existing part and then glue the new one on as close as possible to the same location.

Check some of the Corvette recycles for parts. Try Vettenuts to start. He could probably set you up with a package deal of parts pulled from a car including hardware and such so you're got everything you need.

You could also try to find a place that would cut a partially stripped car off at the firewall so you get all the body from the firewall forward (fenders, hood, frame rails etc). I've seen guys get a cut-off from the rear of the door frame for $1200 so you might be able to find a deal like that for a front cut.

 

Don't know where you live but go to a body shop and get a free estimate and go from there. Rather then us guessing without seeing.

 

The way you describe it driving after the impact seems to indicate that if your frame is OK, you have bent control arms too. Possibly a bent spindle, but less likely.

 

Oh man, I feel your pain. Put my car into a curb about 12 years ago. Frame was OK but it was painful on my pride and wallet. Sounds like this won't be an insurance claim. In any case- sounds like something is definitely bent. The first priority is to get everything aligned. As others have mentioned, carefully look at the frame- look for bends, stress cracks etc. Then, address the suspension this means- replacing control arms (upper and lower), inner and outer tie rods, possibly the knuckle and spindle. Then, get a good quality alignment- not a Mr. Tire special but someone who has experience in caster, camber and toe adjustment. If something is really bent the shop won't be able to properly align the car.

Lionelnutz mentioned the inner fender liner (aka wheel house). This thing is a royal PITA if you're doing it yourself. A few tips- DO NOT throw away the old wheel house yet. The glue determines the thickness and acts as a shim to the frame. This in turn, adjusts the positioning of the fender. If you get this wrong, the fender will never line up. Don't ask me how I know Also it's really expensive, like $500. Also, before removing it- try to outline on the car exactly how it is- that way when you replace it, it can be easier to put on. It's a special type of epoxy. I drove around on a slightly misaligned fender for years simply because I gave up on trying to align it. Then, someone backed into me with a pick up truck hitting me on the same fender- so by the stroke of luck I was able to claim it under their insurance and had a body shop do it professionally. That alone (fender and wheel house) repair job was over $3000 and that involved no hood or suspension work.

Good luck, I wish you well in this project.

 

Sorry to see, and hear about the accident. Hopefully the frame is not bent, but a good shop would be needed to tell you that for sure. Good luck - hope it is not as expensive to repair as I would think.

 

I agree that it doesn't appear that there is frame damage. If you were experiencing tire squeal at such a low speed then there is likely damage to either the steering rack or some part of the front sub-frame that holds all of that together. I would inspect (or have it inspected) before you begin cosmetics.

I'm going to echo the above posts regarding the fender liner. What you are seeing cosmetically is consequence of damage to the inner front fender liner. Basically the extreme damage to the leading edge of the inner fender liner is what is causing everything to look "off". The fender liners are a single constructed fiberglass-like piece that is "glued" to the car. They're not flexible and in multiple pieces like on other cars.

You extreme front fender damage is resultant of compression against that fender liner. It's typical damage for a C5 that results from any sort of pressing of the fender against the inner liner. Something has to give, and unfortunately it's quite often both fender & liner that crack & bend up. The problem with this is, again, the fender liners play a very important role in how everything lines up once it all goes back together so it absolutely has to be installed correctly and they're a real PITA if you get it wrong.

C5 front body panels are still readily available. Sourcing used will obviously be the cheapest way to go. If you decide to go the new route you can still find many front end cosmetic parts from GM suppliers. The fender liners can be sourced new - they run in the neighborhood of $550-$800 each depending on vendor. Unpainted fenders can run roughly half a grand and lower. Front fascias too in that neighborhood. Ultimately you're not going to know what you really need until you start taking things apart. I would also echo the post on trying to find a part-out that has everything you need. At the most you may have to deal with a color change and a paint blend, but modern paint work is pretty amazing if you take it to someone that knows what they're doing.

 

Sorry to see anyone get involved in an accident, and YES - we all know it hurts even more when an object you care about is damaged. Fortunately you are OK - that is truly the most important thing....

OK - As far as the way the car was handling on the way home - I'd say the odds are decent that you have a toe in / toe out issue. Start the car up - and while stationary - move the steering wheel from center to lock one way - then the other way - does it feel smooth - or are there "tougher spots" / or areas that seem to require a bit more steering effort ? If it's smooth both ways - it's probably a bent tie rod end - they tend to bend pretty easily when accidents occur. If you take the car to a place that does front end alignments they can check the alignment for you - and if it's a toe in / toe out issue - they should be able to make a correction pretty easily. If the toe is significantly out - you'll eventually want to replace the tie rod end (or maybe you can get the shop to do it for you while they have the car on the alignment rack) - but if it's a toe in / toe out issue it's pretty easy to fix, and you now have a car that you can drive.

Find a reputable collision repair shop in your area with a frame rack. Get the car to them, and they can check to see if the frame is bent. Basically they put the car on a rack (similar to an alignment rack) - and take a number of measurements from certain reference points that are on the frame - and compare these measurements to the factory specs. It's going to cost you a few hours of labor to get the frame checked - but you need to know if it's bent (it probably isn't) and if its bent - if it's fixable... You can't expect to do any body repairs till you know the frame is OK.

If you are feeling adventurous - you can check several of the front end alignment angles (namely your camber and your toe in) in your driveway (you can check camber as well - but it's a bit more difficult). Checking camber requires a decent quality digital level and a flat piece of pavement. Checking toe can be done a number of ways - I'd google "toe plates" - that set up is what I normally use, and while this technique is not as accurate as a $10,000 alignment rack - I can tell you this is more or less what's used in the garages by many professional road race teams, and it works pretty darn well.... If you're hearing tire squealing at 30 MPH - the odds are high that your toe is out by a BUNCH. If you do the check in your driveway and find the toe spec is significantly out - I would probably just buy a replacement tie rod end, and install it - then set the toe rather than trying to set the toe with the old tie rod end.

GOOD LUCK !!!

 

Feel your pain, I put my car sideways into a wall while tracking, but it's back on the road with the repairs done by myself. I would get it up on jackstands and remove the front bumper and drivers fender to see whats going on. The frame on these cars are pretty stout. These cars are very friendly in the way they come apart, mostly hex screws.I had my whole front end appart in less than two hours, bagged and marked all the screws. Check out you tube, and google, lots of instructions out there. I was able to get used parts, a door, mirror, drivers rear qtr. panel and inner fender all in oem matching color, so no painting was involved. My friends can't believe it matched so well, navy blue metallic. Some vendors that are out there; Vettenuts, AES Auto Parts, Corvette Salvage, Dino's Corvette Salvage, Corvette Recycling. I drove up 5 hrs to pick up at AES, so I can inspect the parts, but they will ship. If the front inner fender is messed up, they are available and can be replaced. Mine had some cracks but no breaks, glued them up. Front end parts are harder to find since most cars are wrecked in the front, but keep looking. I'm still in the need of a front drivers fender to make it mint again (glued mine untill I find one). My whole front bumper was shifted to the passenger side due to the skid plate being bent up, installed an aftermarket one , over half the price of oem. The panel alignment are all over the place on these cars, I looked at all original cars that friends owned and at car shows, none are perfect.Don't get discouraged and post up if you have questions or issues, this forum is a wealth of knowledge.

 

Woww sorry about that i know how it feels.....What part Of florida You are? I ask You This cause If you are in Miami I can Give You some numbers Of a very Nice body shop that fix and sell parts For c5 ...they are two brothers...just let me know Where You are located...