Front End Fender Bender - What Did I Break?

[jbird60]

So I got into a minor front-end collision in some stop-and-go traffic a couple days ago in my 2016 GT Performance Pack. Probably 10 MPH or less and the hit was on the passenger side of the front bumper. Luckily enough, the car drove perfectly fine and straight afterwards, so my assumption here is that the frame is ok.

After getting the bumper cover and impact bar off, I found a couple things:

1. Expected: bent flanges on the top of the frame rail end, visible in the second image. The two bottom bolts and the top right bolt appear to be properly square and aligned with the rest of the car and the bumper bar shape, so only the top left bolt hole is out of whack. My thought here was to try and bend the flanges back with some vise grips and some heat.
2. Unexpected: some kind of pierced bracket or sheet metal just above the frame rail (circled in red). I have no idea what this is and this is what causes me worry. Any word from the community what this might be and if that section is replaceable?

A bit of extra context since I'm sure it'll come up: yes the car is insured, but due to a miscommunication between myself and my insurance agent, the car didn't have collision coverage re-added when I brought it out of storage, so I'm on the hook for repairs. I'm trying to see what I can do on my own, but I"m ready to throw in the towel if we get into the realm of proper metal fabrication work or the kind of stuff that only a body/frame shop could take care of.

Edit: the passenger headlight did suffer some damage too, only visible after taking the bumper cover off. There's a small hole in the bottom of the lens and the headlight assembly apparently got yanked downwards and fractured the top mount. Comparing this to the headlight assembly mounting instructions from the dealer service guide, I'm starting to think this is just the metal 'outcropping' or bracket that locates the lower inner headlight mount. The only unfortunate thing here is that it ties into the frame rail, but I may try to just bend this back into shape.

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[SHOdaddy68]

So I got into a minor front-end collision in some stop-and-go traffic a couple days ago in my 2016 GT Performance Pack. Probably 10 MPH or less and the hit was on the passenger side of the front bumper. Luckily enough, the car drove perfectly fine and straight afterwards, so my assumption here is that the frame is ok.

After getting the bumper cover and impact bar off, I found a couple things:

1. Expected: bent flanges on the top of the frame rail end, visible in the second image. The two bottom bolts and the top right bolt appear to be properly square and aligned with the rest of the car and the bumper bar shape, so only the top left bolt hole is out of whack. My thought here was to try and bend the flanges back with some vise grips and some heat.
2. Unexpected: some kind of pierced bracket or sheet metal just above the frame rail (circled in red). I have no idea what this is and this is what causes me worry. Any word from the community what this might be and if that section is replaceable?

A bit of extra context since I'm sure it'll come up: yes the car is insured, but due to a miscommunication between myself and my insurance agent, the car didn't have collision coverage re-added when I brought it out of storage, so I'm on the hook for repairs. I'm trying to see what I can do on my own, but I"m ready to throw in the towel if we get into the realm of proper metal fabrication work or the kind of stuff that only a body/frame shop could take care of.

Edit: the passenger headlight did suffer some damage too, only visible after taking the bumper cover off. There's a small hole in the bottom of the lens and the headlight assembly apparently got yanked downwards and fractured the top mount. Comparing this to the headlight assembly mounting instructions from the dealer service guide, I'm starting to think this is just the metal 'outcropping' or bracket that locates the lower inner headlight mount. The only unfortunate thing here is that it ties into the frame rail, but I may try to just bend this back into shape.

Sorry bro. That sucks big time.
You have structural damage. If you don't know what you're doing you can and likely will make it worse. You can not use ANY heat on these modern structural components because you can easily ruin the temper of the high strength steel alloy. Don't cheap-out when it comes to the safety of yourself and anyone else in your vehicle. Best to find a good reputable body shop that has the proper equipment and training to fix it right.

 

[jbird60]

Sorry bro. That sucks big time.
You have structural damage. If you don't know what you're doing you can and likely will make it worse. You can not use ANY heat on these modern structural components because you can easily ruin the temper of the high strength steel alloy. Don't cheap-out when it comes to the safety of yourself and anyone else in your vehicle. Best to find a good reputable body shop that has the proper equipment and training to fix it right.

Ah crap I knew it. I appreciate this look-through, thank you! I'd spent some time poring over what dealer repair stuff I could muster up and I didn't put together that the upper tie bar is what took the brunt of it. I guess that explains how it still drives straight, but duly noted that this is indeed structural.

The car's going to a shop tomorrow afternoon, hopefully the quote on the work doesn't completely break the bank. For what it's worth, I'm hoping that restricting the repair to just the broken pieces keeps the cost low; my intent is to get the Triple 7 Mach 1 conversion bumper cover, and that's an undertaking I intend to carry out in my garage.

 

[MAGS1]

my intent is to get the Triple 7 Mach 1 conversion bumper cover

Good choice, I did the Steeda Mach 1 style bumper on my car after I got hit. Wouldn’t surprise me if it’s the same manufacturer, just different brand.

 

[S550HPP]

no serious structural just getba shop to pull and use shims as you repair the rest yourself.

 

[NGOT8R]

Depending on what the body shop says, I wonder if this would be a good time to cut off the factory frame rails and install one of these? Of course it will require some welding. Perhaps you can handle cutting off the necessary parts and prep work before calling out a mobile welder to handle the welding work for you, unless of course, you are skilled enough and have the means to weld it yourself.

https://barnbiltspeedandfab.com/shop/ols/products/s550-tube-front-kit

https://onedrive.live.com/personal/...6167f-1856-433d-b2fa-215f51b23862&_SRM=0:G:60

 

[S550HPP]

Do not install tgose tubes on a road car if you rear end anyone they will likely pass trough fire wall and trough your or passenger vody.

 

[jbird60]

Depending on what the body shop says, I wonder if this would be a good time to cut off the factory frame rails and install one of these? Of course it will require some welding. Perhaps you can handle cutting off the necessary parts and prep work before calling out a mobile welder to handle the welding work for you, unless of course, you are skilled enough and have the means to weld it yourself.

https://barnbiltspeedandfab.com/shop/ols/products/s550-tube-front-kit

https://onedrive.live.com/personal/d0b61fad3c43f22d/_layouts/15/Doc.aspx?sourcedoc={3c43f22d-1fad-20b6-80d0-ab0300000000}&action=default&redeem=aHR0cHM6Ly8xZHJ2Lm1zL3cvcyFBaTN5UXp5dEg3YlFoeXNlYml5MHF6TzBHY0ZxP2U9WjFLYzhI&slrid=829bb6a1-00f4-9000-a2cc-4775b7c38cd8&originalPath=aHR0cHM6Ly8xZHJ2Lm1zL3cvYy9kMGI2MWZhZDNjNDNmMjJkL1FTM3lRenl0SDdZZ2dOQ3JBd0FBQUFBQUhtNHN0S3N6dEJuQmFnP3J0aW1lPTRTTGpxdEhPM1Vn&CID=5c96167f-1856-433d-b2fa-215f51b23862&_SRM=0:G:60

Not quite what I'm looking to do with the car. It'll still be an occasional summer street car, so I'll need it to have proper roadworthy crash safety.

 

[jbird60]

Update for anyone interested, and a question for anyone who can chime in.

I ended up sending the car off to a local body shop, @SHOdaddy68 you were pretty much spot on with your assessment. The one area they were able to bend back into shape was the flange at the end of the frame rail; the car measured square even before they started the repair work, so they figured it wasn't worth the hassle to replace that bit. Probably looking at just a shade under $2k all-in on that part of the repair, so I'll take that as a small win.

Rather than get an OEM bumper, I decided to use this as an opportunity to start chipping away at getting the car into SCCA Time Attack shape (I'm debating whether to go for Tuner 2 or Max 3 classification), so I ordered a Mach 1 conversion bumper cover from Triple Seven to take advantage of its extra brake cooling provisions. I might also take advantage of this time with the bumper off to start tracing out my own splitter, just in case I decide to the aero route (and thus Max 3 class).

As for the question - the passenger side headlight got a bit busted in the accident; there's a small hole in the lens and the top inner mounting bracket broke. Getting a new headlamp assembly is proving to be a bit of a head-scratcher. An OEM replacement is well over $1k per unit, and even junkyards via car-part.com are asking $500+ for single units that may still have damage. Meanwhile, I found this at CJ Pony Parts and this at LMR. I imagine the significantly lower price on these comes with a commensurate drop in quality, but does anyone have experience with them?

Edit: for the headlights, I'll be reusing the bulbs, ballasts, etc. Those are still in working order from the original assembly.

 

[MAGS1]

Be careful of some of the aftermarket headlights. There have been folks here that have had issues with condensation building inside the headlights after a certain amount of time. Sometimes within the warranty period, sometimes not. OEM headlights aren’t cheap, but they’re well made and last.

 

[jbird60]

Be careful of some of the aftermarket headlights. There have been folks here that have had issues with condensation building inside the headlights after a certain amount of time. Sometimes within the warranty period, sometimes not. OEM headlights aren’t cheap, but they’re well made and last.

Good to know the specifics of how they failed. Honestly not surprising. Probably going to revisit the junkyard route or used on eBay; the latter seems slightly promising in that I can maybe score an OEM assembly for under $350 with some light scratches (which I'd be totally ok with).

 

[jbird60]

Figured I'd post another update in case it helps someone else down the road.

Items that got replaced:

• Impact bar (no surprise here)
• Upper tie bar
• RT Front bracket
• RT Support bracket

Items that got repaired (just needed some bending apparently):

• RT Upper reinforcement
• RT Front reinforcement
• RT Lower rail

I did end up getting that Triple Seven Mach 1 bumper as well for which my shop did some painting and light repairing (the latter for a bit of shipping scuffing).

As for the replacement headlight, I was able to score an OEM unit off eBay for just under $300. It 'supposedly' has some light wear - I haven't been able to check as it arrived at my house while I'm on vacation, so we'll see how it all turned out when I get back.

 

[jbird60]

Alright, final update: it's all fixed up and back on the road!

Assembling the bumper as per Triple Seven's instructions isn't too bad, there are a few snap-in and fitment issues that require some forcing and a healthy dollop of JB Weld in some places.

As for getting the bumper on the car, managing the interface with the belly pan is a challenge. My car is a Performance Pack unit, so I had to get the base GT belly pan to make it all work; this is documented, but you still have to figure out which holes and fasteners to use on your own. On top of that, the bumper ships with several adapter pieces that aren't documented, so there's a healthy bit of improvisation required.

Nonetheless I'd say it looks pretty good and the car is now streetable at the very least. Next things to work on will be brake ducting and possibly doing a custom undertray to circumvent some of the adapter issues and prepare for possible front downforce.

Good choice, I did the Steeda Mach 1 style bumper on my car after I got hit. Wouldn’t surprise me if it’s the same manufacturer, just different brand.

Yeah, they all come from American Muscle Performance Products, their stampings are all over every part. I think each brand that sells the bumper kit provides their own supporting hardware and instructions. It's a Chinese aftermarket company so not much of an easily accessible online presence, but here's a brochure they've circulated at trade shows: https://exhibitorsearch.messefrankf...0007202401/379871/1721809548621_369544866.pdf

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