Rear ended, trying to fix myself... needed suggestions!!

dodgeneonzl · Post by **dodgeneonzl** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 1:35 am

hey guys, it's been a while since i've been on here because of school and financial problems which kept me from modding my car all that much.

Anyway, i just got rear ended by a ford F15 pick up truck last night, and got an estimate for $2000 worth of damage. I wanted to fix it myself and hopefully be able to do it myself, so from what i've saw after taking the rear apart was that the trunk lid was dented, so i'm gonna get a replacement on that, the rear bumper was gone for good... so i needed to get a replacement on that too...

ok, here's the big problem... seems like the rear trunk (part with the loop where the trunk lid latch onto was pushed inward. Is there anyway i can pull it out? Right now i'm using a hammer from the inside and manage to get it out to where the loop would match up with the trunk lid latch so that i can at least close the trunk.
For those professionals out there... what do you guys use to pull a large piece of body metal out? Something like a dent puller but at a larger scale??

So, that's just for the body structure. For the bumper... if i ordered one, do you think i should let Macco do it? They're charging me $150 to get the bumper painted with base and clearcoat. I asked them if it would be factory quality, and they said it would, but i've heard horror stories about them (but most of them have the whole car painted) so do you think they do a decent job with just painting a bumper for 150? I live in lawrence, so if anyone have any experience with macco in kansas city or overland park let me know!

Well, i think that's it for now, so i'm hoping i can get a used silver trunk for about 150, and bumper and paint for hopefully around 300... and for the trunk either i'll keep hammering it out from the inside (inside would be covered with carpet so i'm not worried how it looks from the inside, and outside would be covered with bumper so that should be fine too), or if someone else could tell me how you guys do it that would be great! Thanks!

Update: Here's some pictures

darthroush · Post by **darthroush** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 1:44 am

I'd think for something bigger it would be a sliding hammer.

dodgeneonzl · Post by **dodgeneonzl** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 1:51 am

Updated with pictures

A sliding hammer? Is it like those dent puller type? Because the trunk seems to have two or 3 layers of metal together and it seems like i'm having a hard time just banging it out with a extra large hammer from inside with all my strength though...

darthroush · Post by **darthroush** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 3:48 am

To use it, you tack weld little spikes(?), or say like very small diameter metal rod around the area, put the sliding hammer on, and hammer them out that way. It works reverse of a regular hammer if you are catching my drift. Essentially you are pulling the dent out, but on a much bigger scale.

Something like this:

You attach one end to the rod that's welded to the dent, then slide the "hammer" back and pull it out.

dodgeneonzl · Post by **dodgeneonzl** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 4:04 am

yeah, i have one of those, i'm gonna give it a show tomorrow... it's just that i wasn't able to get it to buldge much with a hammer, so i'm not how much this would work because it seems so much lighter... but i'll let ya know how it goes tomorrow. Thanks!

dodgeneonzl · Post by **dodgeneonzl** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 4:48 am

Oh one more thing, anyone knows where i can get a decent paint job for cheap? i know macco is a hit or miss... but all i wanted is for it to look factory... and hopefully at or below 200 for a bumper... think that's possible?

bigbird · Post by **bigbird** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 6:47 am

I'm sorry for your accident! If you were rear-ended though, the driver (or his insurance) of the F150 should be paying for the repairs right?

r/tguy02 · Post by **r/tguy02** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 8:28 am

to help give you an idea on price. I just got done repainting my front and rear bumpers with ps2 silver (what you have) in total it cost me almost 200 for the base, clearcoat, reducer, and hardener from ppg. cut that in half thats about 100 for 1 bumper. so the price maaco gave you is pretty good considering they only are charging 50 for labor. I doubt unless you do it yourself, that you'll find a better deal. as for quality, i wouldnt sweat it too much its just a bumper. the only thing maaco wont do probably is do a good wetsanding before the final clearcoat to give it a nice shine and even out the highs and lows.
hope that helps!

*edit, thats only taking into account the bumper, if you have to repaint the decklid as well it will be more.

Pocahontas · Post by **Pocahontas** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 9:11 am

Sorry about your accident. Keep us updated on your progress

excon · Post by **excon** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 9:13 am

you have a PM.

Post by **occasional demons** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 9:47 am

bigbird wrote:I'm sorry for your accident! If you were rear-ended though, the driver (or his insurance) of the F150 should be paying for the repairs right?

But then we may not know the whole story.

Unless the latch part is shoved in, I wouldn't even bother trying to pull that out. Mine is almost as bad. (Ford Ranger) The bumper cover hides it all. I just repainted the metal and let it go.

Certifit is the cheapest source for a cover, but it won't have the outline around the cutouts.

The problem is they don't ship. so you would need to see how close one is to you. But the price is around $40. So it may be worth driving for.

Maddog · Post by **Maddog** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 11:09 am

Personally, I would have let a body shop do the repairs, just for piece of mind. That way, if something isn't right, you can take it back at no charge. I'm just really particular about the appearance.

But, that's just me...

Post by **occasional demons** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 12:22 pm

Mine is a salvage title, so it will never be worth the $ put into it. And you will only know the damage is there, if the bumper cover is removed. It didn't contact the inner panel.

dodgeneonzl · Post by **dodgeneonzl** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 12:29 pm

hey guys, thanks for all the replies... Yeah that guy's insurance is gonna pay for it... and they're gave me a quote of 2,000 for everything fix. So as you know, me being a cheapskate... it would be nice to get it done myself and make a little cash in the process

...

Anyway, the damage isn't too bad actually. the trunk lid wouldn't open at first but i went through the back seat and unbolted the latch and it opened right up. So apparently the rear trunk body was pushed in a bit, maybe .5 to an inch... and i've been hammering it and so now the latch matches up and closes... but the only thing i'm worried about is the 4 screw holes which holds the bumper on was pushed inward a bit...

so i'm thinking either i can 1) bang it out and try to get it into position, or 2) go ahead and redrill a new hole to hold the bumper in place. I don't care about the shape of the trunk because it'll be covered by the bumper cover outside so it'll look as good as new as long as everything is pushed back close enough to the original position. The inside would be covered by trunk carpet so i guess i can hammer on it all i want and maybe put on a layer of paint to prevent rust.

So what do you guys think? I think i can get the trunk replaced with one from junkyard around here. But the bumper seems to be the hardest finding one without having to repaint it.
Oh and i saw certifit's bumper, it's 31 for the front and 120+ for the rear... and i can pick it up at the one in kansas city, but 120 for bumper and another probably 150 - 300 for paint kinda just adds up, especially if someone have a nice used bumper for 200 that would be nice... and i don't need to worry about bumper paint quality too. Thanks for all the help guys! I'll get pictures and keep you all updated!

dodgeneonzl · Post by **dodgeneonzl** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 2:22 pm

dodgeneonzl wrote:hey guys, it's been a while since i've been on here because of school and financial problems which kept me from modding my car all that much.

Anyway, i just got rear ended by a ford F15 pick up truck last night, and got an estimate for $2000 worth of damage. I wanted to fix it myself and hopefully be able to do it myself, so from what i've saw after taking the rear apart was that the trunk lid was dented, so i'm gonna get a replacement on that, the rear bumper was gone for good... so i needed to get a replacement on that too...

ok, here's the big problem... seems like the rear trunk (part with the loop where the trunk lid latch onto was pushed inward. Is there anyway i can pull it out? Right now i'm using a hammer from the inside and manage to get it out to where the loop would match up with the trunk lid latch so that i can at least close the trunk.
For those professionals out there... what do you guys use to pull a large piece of body metal out? Something like a dent puller but at a larger scale??

So, that's just for the body structure. For the bumper... if i ordered one, do you think i should let Macco do it? They're charging me $150 to get the bumper painted with base and clearcoat. I asked them if it would be factory quality, and they said it would, but i've heard horror stories about them (but most of them have the whole car painted) so do you think they do a decent job with just painting a bumper for 150? I live in lawrence, so if anyone have any experience with macco in kansas city or overland park let me know!

Well, i think that's it for now, so i'm hoping i can get a used silver trunk for about 150, and bumper and paint for hopefully around 300... and for the trunk either i'll keep hammering it out from the inside (inside would be covered with carpet so i'm not worried how it looks from the inside, and outside would be covered with bumper so that should be fine too), or if someone else could tell me how you guys do it that would be great! Thanks!

Update: Here's some pictures

Donkeypuncher · Post by **Donkeypuncher** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 4:06 pm

I would check around to see how much just to pull the trunk part back, can't cost too much. The paint and body parts are where they jack up the price, so just an hour or 2 of labor should be pretty cheap.

You could even take it to a high school body shop to get it done dirt cheap. We did a few when I was in high school, most were way worse than that.

dodgeneonzl · Post by **dodgeneonzl** » Sun Aug 09, 2009 6:42 pm

Sorry about the late reply, been busy with work and all... but yeah, i think it all worked out with a heavy duty hammer, anyway, does anyone know of a good place in lawrence or kansas city to get an alignment and wheel balance?

Broken Glass · Post by **Broken Glass** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 7:08 pm

it needs to be put on a frame machine to straighten that out, and yes its expensive. if your doing it cheap, get a sledge and do it.

Hudson_Neon · Post by **Hudson_Neon** » Sat Aug 29, 2009 11:39 pm

Broken Glass wrote:it needs to be put on a frame machine to straighten that out, and yes its expensive. if your doing it cheap, get a sledge and do it.

i hope to God you're joking. no frame rack needed for that minor damage! from what i can tell it's the bumper cover and the deck lid. not that big of a deal. the biggest money issue is blending the paint after cause of the parts all touching.

2GN.ORG

Rear ended, trying to fix myself... needed suggestions!!

Rear ended, trying to fix myself... needed suggestions!!

Re: Rear ended, trying to fix myself... needed suggestions!!