97maxrob

iTrader: (2)

My '97max was handed down to my stepson who got into an accident a couple days ago, rear ended someone. Luckily the airbags didn't deploy since he tried to avoid the collision and swerved, but still managed to hit more on the driver's side front corner. Front bumper came off, drivers front fender is destroyed, bumper reinforcement is destroyed, drivers headlight needs replaced, hood opens and closes no problem - just a little mangled on the drivers side and slightly buckled, but he'll have to live with that for now. Seems like I can put it back together for maybe around $300 with ebay/junkyard parts and won't be too difficult. Too keep within that budget I can hold off on the hood. The top rad support looks like may be able to be bent back into shape since it's just bent just a little.

The only area that doesn't seem as easy to repair is the front part of the hood ledge which is bent up a bit and pushed in and this area for me is where I'm not sure how to proceed. If it's not a big deal and maybe it can be somewhat re-shaped and still have the fender and bumper line up almost normal?

Not that the accident was a good thing, but now at least I can very easily address the leak from the power steering hoses in front of the radiator that have been leaking for a while!

ChrisMan287

iTrader: (34)

An auto body shop can most likely reshape the hood.

pmohr

iTrader: (26)

What do you mean by hood 'ledge'? Since you mentioned replacing the hood at a later time, it appears that you're not talking about anything on the hood itself.

ChrisMan287

iTrader: (34)

I think he's talking about the corner of the hood that sits above where the corner light and headlight meet.

TLMNICK

iTrader: (1)

Post some pics if you can....both with the hood opened, and closed....that'll help in pointing you in the right direction.

97maxrob

iTrader: (2)

Yeah, but I can get a hood from a junk yard for $85, don't really care what color it may be and I'm not paying a body shop to do anything!

Hood ledge is what it's called on the parts diagram at courtesynissan.com. Guess it's basically the area where the fender is bolted to in front of the where the struts are.

I'll go out in a few and post a pic or 2.

97maxrob

iTrader: (2)

pmohr

iTrader: (26)

I don't see that easily being reshaped, honestly.

You could replace it with new parts, but that's going to prohibitively expensive in parts cost alone, much less labor:
64101-40U30, $277.88 each at Courtesy
64181-40U00, $104.58 each at Courtesy

Then again, the labor might be cheaper than trying to form it back into the proper shape.

ChrisMan287

iTrader: (34)

97maxrob

iTrader: (2)

Yeah, those parts do seem very expensive for what they are!. The fender should be able to be put on straight and I'm hoping I can rig up some sort of bracket or something in the front part to attach it if need be.. The car has 228,000 miles on it and as long as the parts can be attached, and look ok on the outside and are safely and securely attached, that's fine, it doesn't have to look pretty underneath.

97maxrob

iTrader: (2)

Just went to the junkyard to see what condition their "gray" fender was in. As we were walking out to the car ,it turns out the car wasn't gray and was Pebble Beige Metallic! So I was able to get the same color hood and fender for ony $150, fender is perfect, just a different pinstripe and the hood wasn't bad at all, probably a little better than mine was before the accident.

Now if I could only find a cheap headlight, corner light and bumper lights... The kid did want some headlights he saw on ebay and I can get both drivers and passenger side headlights and the all bumper lights together for about $170 shipped. Compared to the cheapest I have found for just one regular headlight, corner light and bumper lights for around $120 total, it's not a bad deal. If I do go that route, I'll have a passenger headlight and corner light to sell.

Oldmanrwa

iTrader: (4)

That's not a bad price if the parts are OEM. I am parting out my 98 and I am charging more than that.