Yeah, finding a IQ Bumper Cover is hard these days....

A brand new bumper from Nissan is about 340 before shipping, and it's rarely avail locally.....

If you got hit hard enough to damage the radiator support then you'd need the re-bar, brackets and foam which is easily avail used IQ so lets say $200 shipped for that... So you're @ 540 before you even TOUCH the car, labor is gonna run near about $500 for dismount, mounting and painting a bumper... Then you have the lower rad support which on our cars is welded in correct? Yeah add some hours for cutting+welding... And you're near 1.5k IF you can even source these parts... Then you have radiator, condensor, fans, AC hoses and the added labor of that... The insurance company is easily north 2k probably even near 3k because shops do NOT give breaks for Insurance companies because we're all on non-negotiable terms when it comes to parts and labor for an Insurance job.

Then on top of that, you would have to have an Auto 5th gen worth atleast 6.5k.....

 

but that'd be a good thing for me

 

Addition to previous post... You'd need an AE Auto 5th gen with around 60k miles so it won't be totaled with a front end collision that needs Bumper, Rebar, Bracket, Foam, Lower Rad, Radiator, Condenser, A/C Rechard, Radiator Flush, ECM Fans replaced/fixed.....

Yeahhhh.......

 

Nice save on that front lip

 

Nice find Carson. The color looks oddly familiar.

S

 

I miss my AE. :'(

 

Great progress Carson. Nice color and with the DEK, at least you have the option of FI, at least, it'll be an easier job.

 

Love that color on the AE. Wish mine was that color. Can't wait to see it when you're done!

 

+1 I thought my pearl white was the ultimate color on the AE but magestic blue wins hands down !

 

Good Find, Ride looks real good...

 

I got a quote back from the body shop today. They quoted me for welding in the new parts that I need (I provide the parts), they would also be painting the hood and uppper radiator support to match the car. $785. I think it's okay but no ground breaking deal like I was hoping for. I ordered all of the support peices I need from the Nissan dealership on Thursday. I just need to decide if I want to move forward with this body shop quote or if I should get another quote. With this quote I would still need to install the bumper myself, along with all of the lights.

 

Congrats with that beautiful color AE!!!
Good seeing it coming back to life )))

mine took a bit worse hit, but is almost back in business)Good luck!

 

I'll check the pick-a-part that's right next to my place tomorrow. I checked their online inventory and they have 2 maximas (at least that's what the computer says).

 

Jonni ( I forget how you spell your name), I will PM you my number. Call me tomorrow morning. I am planning on hitting a yard in Stafford tomorrow, and I will be driving right though Fredericksburg. What is the name of the yard you are going to?

 

My camera battery died last night, but I dropped the car off at the body shop this morning. Hopefully I will have it back by the first of next week. I have removed the air bags, air bag module, and anything that would come off the front end/radiator support area.

 

Love that color! Bring her back strong!!!

 

nice man cant wait to see it done

 

Seems about right... My wife just put her nose under a spare tire on an suv and the hood work and repainting was $650 ish.

 

need more pictures

 

^^^ I know. Like I said I was going to take a few Tuesday night before the car went to the body shop but my camera died after the first pic. Once I get the car back I am sure I will take a buch more.

 

Here is the only pic I managed to get before my camera died before the car went to the body shop



I stopped by the body shop today to check on the progress.

Light blue hood with damage marked


Looking across the front from the right


from the left

 

biggest problem with the hood. Had a spot of rust on one of the front corners, so it has been sanded down waiting on repair.




just another shot with the hood up, damage has been marked.

 

cant wait to see this car finished. i know you're paying outta the pocket but can you find a better hood?

 

Not OEM anywhere close to me, I looked ever since I had the car, and this is the best one I can find. I could have gotten an aftermarket hood but the one I looked at seemed to thin/cheaply made compared to the stock hood. I would rather have a little body filler in a stock hood than have an aftermarket hood, just my opinion.

 

OEM is indeed superior to aftermarket.

 

Consider doing 5.5 gen front grill. It looks way sexier than 5 gen IMO.

 

that is true but 5.5 grill is part of the bumper and if he does swap bumpers then he wouldnt be able to put on the AE front lip. kinda ruins the classic look of an AE.

 

There is a thread about this, its doable on a 5 gen bumper with 5.5 gen grill. Its just you will have to jump through some hoops to make it happen.
Search the forums. Its here somewhere.

 

I've seen it done.

 

I'm not going to do that right now.

this is what I am thinking too.

 

I ordered another hood yesterday. I talked to the body shop and it was going to cost more to repair this hood than just getting another one. That's the only update I have right now. The hood is supposed to be delivered to the body shop tomorrow.

 

Just had the car towed home this moring It's now in the garage waiting for me to finish putting the front end back together.

Also last night I drilled the new bumper to accept the AE kit. Pics coming in the next few days.

 

Nice, glad you almost finish fixing her up. So how much money have you spend fixing her?

 

^^not sure at this point. I need to put a spreadsheet together.

*edit*
Did a quick spreadsheet. I have about 3511 into the car. If I was not planning on a 5.5 headlight conversion then you could probably knock a few hundred off of that. This cost is only labor (only body shop, not my labor and parts, this does not include tax/title/tags, or having the car towed.

There are a few mods that I plan on doing that are not included in that cost.

 

Thats not bad at all for the price. The final product is priceless for sure, can't wait for the pictures.

 

yeah, I wanted to put it back on the road for around $3k so I am a little over that, but that was assuming it would be straight stock. I feel good about where I am in the car, I don't know how much it will be worth on paper since it has a salvage title, but whatever it is, it's worth more than that to me.

*oh yeah, add another $70 to that number above, I fogot I had to put a battery in the car.

 

5.5 headlight conversion is the way to go on AEs. I love the way it looks on mine!

 

The other night I drilled the bumper to fit the AE lip.


I ran out of mounting tape so I did not get much further than test fitting it

Then I hit another snag when I was going to put in the new (used but new to me) a/c condenser, some of the aluminum ripped where the pressure switch is mounted....so now I am waiting on another condenser from from rock auto (decided to go new this time)

OC Newby (don't remember if that's exactly how he spells his name or not) came though with the rest of the parts I needed for the interior so I got that done this weekend. Air bags/ air bag module/ seat belts.

Mt. Dew helping me hold the console up while putting in the new module.


Putting stuff back in.


Everything back in.


Also just a little side project. I am working on the headlights before they go back on the car.


Next order of business is replacing one front wheel stud, one of them was messed up when I got the car. Then getting the AE lip fitted to the front bumper. Once that is done I will be waiting on the a/c condenser to get here so I can finish putting the front end back together.

*Does anyone know if you need to replace the air bag sensor on the front of the car after the air bags have deployed?*

 

i hope you keep the amber!

 

I am. The only thing I am doing is putting angel eyes in.