MHFontaine

...At least all is right in my world.

Some of you may have seen this in an earlier post, but here’s what happened to me and my 3 week old GS.

I went out for a morning stroll down 85 south, just north of Atlanta. A car in front of me runs over a retread, road gator, piece of tire in the roadway. The retread goes flying through the air and makes contact with the lower right front fascia.

Result: Minor scuff marks I was able to take care of after I pulled over (I always keep some quick detailer and a cloth in the car), a pretty significant scratch on the lower right front by the side marker, and the fog light got knocked out of its housing.





I was near a Chevy dealer, so I stopped by service to ask them to reseat the fog light in its housing. Two hours later (it was a busy Saturday for them I guess), the service tech tells me that because they have to remove the front fascia to access the fog, it would cost me $405 for them to reseat the fog...if the fog housing was damaged, it would be $154 more !!!

Not, I'll take it home and do it myself!

Here’s how I reseated the fog….

Getting prepped at home - lifted the car on my $80 / 6000 lb low profile jack - got it from Wal-Mart a couple years ago:



Can't remember what they're called (pinch clips maybe), but had to remove these and the screws on the front splash guard to access the fog light:


Clips and screws removed, accessing the fog light area:


Reaching in to remove the fog:


Fog looks ok


Area behind the fog


Fog back in place...the only thing I can tell that may be missing are lower screws that keep the fog in place (wonder if they were ever there)


Had a couple of these in my "tool box." If you can call it that


Screws in place


If you ever have to do this, don't forget to make sure the red tabs are reinserted into the cooling duct housing


Quick test before putting everything back together


After some wet sanding, buffing and polishing, the scratch is gone too


And by the way, I am faaaarrrrr from being a mechanic and my tool box is, well, just embarrassing. Here are the tools I used to do this job

1 - A Wal-Mart Jack
2 - A bent Flat-Head screw driver
3 - A 5/64th Allen Wrench
4 - An old tire iron
5 - Precision Philips screw driver (used that on the screws under the fog)



I got all the info I needed to make my repairs right here on the forum

I guess the fix turned out ok; cost me a few hours of work on my own and I get to keep that $405 in my pocket!!!

All is right in my world…(until the next time)

Shrike6

Great job!

brianc6z16

WOW, for someone who calls himself "far from a mechanic" that is a great job!!! Sucks that it happened in the first place, sucks that your dealer would tell you that, but GREAT that you were able to do it all yourself.

brianc6z16

Nice pics too of how you did your job.

AORoads

Well done!!!!

NYC-Style

Very nice...I've never even jacked my car up...so you have my respect!! WAY TO GO!!

snowsnyper

MH Fontain-

A job well done. Thanks enjoyed the write up and pix.

I do have one question. I hear alot about wet sanding all the time.....do you actually use sandpaper? If so what number grit. My G/F Trailblazer has some deep scratches that Ive tried to buff out with "swirl remover" with no luck. Thought I might try wet sanding.

Thanks
Jim

R&L's C6

Not only did you do it yourself and save $$ ,it was done correctly and nothing else got wrecked in the process.

aks801

Well done! I bet NOT scratching out that check felt real good.

I assume/hope that you put bracing under the car once you jacked it up.

Torchsport

Well done, Mr DIY!

NOCRISIS

awesome,,,,

beav626

great Job

LTVN68

I think many of us appreciate a write up like this since it encourages us all. Thanks for taking the time to do it. I learned a lot!

dvilin

Well done.

mikez51c6

Job well done

davidtcpa

The feeling of accomplishment is priceless! Great job!

PatriotZ

airbill2

Great write up. A job well done--thanks for sharing.

su8pack1

VETFEVER

Great write up - but did not see a reference to putting a jack stand under the car - a real no-no