Front End Rebuild - Advice?
 

Hey all,

I've been using this forum for a long time (10+ years) and it's been really useful to find solutions for a ton of issues. I'll make this as brief as possible.

April 28th, 2018, I had a front end wreck in my '99 Maxima SE. I only had liability insurance, so I towed the car back to my house and left it there. I haven't touched it until about 2 weeks ago. I haven't been in a financial position to fix it, and I'm still not, but I love the car too much to let it waste away. Obviously it's a large task ahead of me, so I wanted to get some opinions and advice from you more knowledgeable folks.

Here's what I'm up against: In the wreck, the hood was pushed back, damaging the upper part of the radiator support and the entire front grille/headlight section. The side panels are fine, but the radiator and fans are trashed. I'm not sure what else is damaged - when the wreck happened the coolant drained out of the cracked radiator, so the car was turned off and never started again.

About two weeks ago I began taking the front end apart in my spare time after work. I'm not a mechanic by any means, but I know enough about it to at least start the project. I took the bumper cover off, removed what was left of the headlights, and worked to bend the radiator support back enough to at least remove the radiator and fan so I could replace them and see if I could at least get the car to start. As I dug more into what all was needed to complete the job, I'm realizing that no matter what, I'll have to have the radiator support replaced. It's too bent to save. Unfortunately, I won't be able to get the radiator and fan out until the support is fixed. It's too wedged in. I don't know how to weld, and I don't have the tools to cut welds, so I'm at an impasse.

Here's where you come in... first, would a body shop replace just the parts I want them to replace? Has anyone done something like this before?
Second, there will obviously be mechanical issues in a car that hasn't been started for 2+ years... What are some things I should watch out for when I'm working on the mechanical parts? Obviously I'd probably want to drain and replace the gas and change the oil... what else should I be aware of?

I appreciate any advice or encouragement you guys may have. I'm hopeful that one day my beloved "Emma" will drive again and I can enjoy that Bose sound system doing 70mph down the highway with the sunroof open. This was my first car when I got it 15 years ago and I'm determined it'll be a car my kids can drive one day.

I've attached some photos of the car on the day it was wrecked, and some photos of what it looks like now, including the engine compartment.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/maxima....30647702ce.jpg
Day of the wreck
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/maxima....b5417c76bc.jpg
Day of the wreck
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/maxima....3945470bd7.jpg
Day of the wreck
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/maxima....ffa874719b.jpg
What it looked like before I began
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/maxima....d7823957ce.jpg
What it looks like now

That is fixable, I’ve seen cars come back from much worse. You can have a body shop install a new lower and upper rad support and you can replace the rest on your own if you like. What kind of shape is the rest of the car in? Mileage, suspension components, engine, transmission, rust? Looks like you have a valve cover or intake manifold leak, how did the car run before the accident?

Those are the things I would consider before fixing the car because 4th gen Maximas are cheap, you might find one in better shape than yours for a decent price. If you decide to fix, I’d drain the old oil and gas, check spark plugs, check belts for any cracks and fire it up.

The rest of the car is in fairly good shape. I'd done regular service on all the other components. Mileage was around 275k, but the engine was running strong. The only issue I was having was an overheating issue, which I think I had tracked down to the radiator itself. No rust. Transmission was in great shape to my knowledge. Always shifted cleanly and quickly.

Yeah, I'm hoping to get this one up and going again. I'm a bit of a sentimental person, ya know? Haha. Appreciate the advice. I'll do all of those things.

For the money you are going to put into this, it might be wiser to find a lower mileage car in good shape. They are out there. My 98 I30 has only 173,000 miles on it... 100,000 less miles than yours. They sell here in California for around $2,000. You will spend that much in time and money fixing yours. Sometimes, sentimentality can bankrupt you.

As others have said, it would be easier and cheaper to just buy another 4th Gen Maxima with lower mileage.

I see good ones here in Portland for 1500 or so.

Most have lower mileage than yours.

It's a mass produced car. No need to be sentemental. Buy one of its brothers or cousin instead.

Since you're in Fort Worth, there is a junkyard in Dallas off Loop 12 with a great selection of fourth gen Maximas where you can probably get all your front end parts for a good price. I have gone back there several times for various pieces. I recently picked up a pristine fuel door to replace mine that has a permanent dent that won't pop out. It's Awesome Auto Salvage. I never realized until just now that it technically has a Grand Prairie address. 3913 E Jefferson St, Grand Prairie, TX 75051. They do charge a $1 entry fee, but I have never left there disappointed.

I recognize that others may be right about getting another Maxima for cheaper, but I sympathize with your desire to keep this Maxima. I bought mine (in Fort Worth of all places) 12 years ago. I had a minor collision some years back that pushed in the front passenger side a little bit. I plan to keep mine, fix all the dents and dings myself, and eventually repaint it and make it look new again. My interior is still in near perfect condition, despite 302,000 miles on the dash, so I'd rather fix up my car than start over with a different one.

As for a body shop, I would ask around for a local independent place that is more likely to work with you on your budget than a big name corporate place. There is a Dallas Nissan Facebook group. It doesn't seem popular on this forum for some reason, but it looks to be a good group of people helping each other keep their Nissans going. I'm not very active in it myself, but there are always posts from people looking for a shop to help with something specific and lots of helpful recommendations from other members.

I'm not sure about Texas but I believe in most states if there's any damage to the rad support a shop will require you to replace it. As you've probably read, aftermarket lower rad supports are poorly made and will rip apart. Replace with OEM only.

The cheap and dangerous way to fix it is to pull it out with a slide hammer and/or ratchet straps. I had a front-ender about half as bad as yours, no condensor/rad damage but the hood took the hinge with it on an impact. 10 mins with a slide hammer and it was close enough for a +200k rust belt car.

Man, you rock. I really appreciate the advice and understanding. I've been to Awesome Auto Salvage with my brother before, working on his old Ford truck. I'll probably head there to grab some of the parts I need. I'll check out that FB group too. Thank you!

With the mileage 275k, look of engine bay, wrecked front end, no mods, paint issues..completely stock. I understand where your coming from but If you really want a 4th gen again, I'd highly advise finding a lower mileage, a good condition that doesn't need a whole lot of work to start with.

If you did that, you could spend the money on better things for the vehicle. It takes a lot of money to rebuild a vehicle with high mileage.

I saw a very clean Automatic White pearl SE fully loaded stock, 120kish miles, clean paint for $4000 the other week. It looked like it came from the showroom floor. Great 4th gen to start off with.

Another one I remember seeing is a fully loaded 5-speed 4th gen a week ago or so with 110k miles equipped with Stillen parts under the hood (Supercharger etc...), Stillen body kit, wheels, lots of mods in beige for $10k. I don't know if that would be a reasonable price but It had to be one of the old members car on here. Link is here: https://www.autoblog.com/cars-for-sa...an-Maxima-1997

I appreciate the reply man... I have a daily driver, so I'm not looking to buy another car really. I really just want to get this one running again, thus the post. I know I could find another one for a decent price, but this particular car isn't really out there that I've found.

I've got a call in to a local body shop who's going to give me a quote on a repair. I'm grabbing most of the parts I need from a junkyard, and they're going to help install them. We'll see where it goes from there. I was able to test the radio, electronics, and A/C yesterday and all of those are working flawlessly, so that was a positive sign.

It's paid for, so I would fix it, New hood and radiator core support (carparts.com) or a junkyard items could fix all that for less than $500 and some elbow grease! For example a new radiator support is $28.31...Good luck I have 450K on my 98 Maxima which was a free car back in 2011!