Julianftw

This is what happens when you hit a pillar. I'm probably the crappiest driver ever, lol. I was in a car wash and while I was busy backing up and trying to avoid the pillar on the right, the one on the left popped out of nowhere! So, I called around for parts. My fender was obviously ruined, I was told I could go to a good body person but I wanted to do it myself. My front bumper's fine, the little bracket holder welded on my frame got bent though so I gotta bend it back somehow. I'm 18, and I love this truck to death. It's my first vehicle, and I take good care of it aside from my crappy driving. Anyways, here's my replacement fender.

It's not OEM, it's just OE style. I wasn't trying to be cheap, I just needed it asap. The fender was causing that plastic thing to rub on my tire, so I had to get it off. I scored the fender for 80 bucks, amazing!

There goes the grill! Those pins are a pain to get out, I was so close to just breaking it, haha.

BYE BYE FENDER! My dream career is to go to tech school for collision and body work, hence why I did it myself. Doing this though makes me feel bad for mechanics, they're so unappreciated sometimes! It's some hard *** work. That fuse box was kiiiilling me, aside from all those hidden bolts!

The front bumper was by far the easiest thing ever, It took a total of ten bolts before I could slide it off.

TADAAAAA! Grandpa Morris helped me mount it on. It was terrible, trying to get it fitted correctly for all the bolts. But, with time and patience I got everything into place. I left it black because I couldn't afford it painted. I got a good price for just the maroon, but my truck just HAD to have tan on the bottom. That hood was a bitch to take off, too.

This is what got bent under my truck. The sun went down too fast for me to do it so I left my front bumper off for the night.




How my truck sits now. That hood was killing me, I was having so much trouble putting it back on. And I ended up screwing the spring for the hood in the wrong hole on the fender, so it was crooked, haha! Why are there so many uneccesary holes!? I haven't gotten a hold of a blowtorch to bend the fram thing back, or maybe I don't need one? Any suggestions as to how I should bend it back? I'll keep you all updated, thanks for checking out my thread!

Julianftw

Turns out my front bumper is actually bent a bit. I mounted it and it appeared bent still, but not as much. Maybe I can bend it back, I don't feel like waiting a week for a new one. I'll update tomorrow.

Julianftw

I'm late when it comes to posts, haha. Anyways, here it is getting torched! :P It went well, it came out straight. Like I said previous post though, I mounted it and it appeared bent still so no luck.
I have a new bumper on order, but I still want to fix this one because it'll bug me if I don't find out what's keeping it crooked. It looks straight and all, so I've no clue. I found a bracket to be slightly bent, but not to where it'd stick out. I'm gonna take it to a press machine to see if that does the trick. I'll update tomorrow.
Here's a picture of me on a hill. I like having no bumper, I can't drag and mess up my valence cover.

Julianftw

Here's my follow up.


Man, I should've really looked into my front bumper. Turns out, my bumper isn't EVEN bent.

here's the sadness.

Good news is the brackets on the right side are straight so I have something to go by so I don't torch and hammer them crooked or anything.
EVEN GREATER NEWS! I purchased a braaaand spankin' new set of Continental tires for 150 dollars, haha. I had some 6 lug Chevy Trailblazer rims and tires for sale and he sold me the set for cheap plus the Trailblazer's wheels. I've heard nothing but good things about these tires, I can't wait to mount them.


These were the Trailblazer's tires.

I'll update tomorrow about the status of my bumper, see 'ya!

Julianftw

So, I'm still at it. I'm sure you're all bored and wondering why the hell I haven't finished this damn thing, but I work full time and it's hard for me to get time.
Anyways, after a couple bashes to the brackets, this is what I got.


Nothing. It's straightened slightly, but not fully. Hopefully I get it done before 3 tomorrow, I'm going with grandpa to see the races. AHRA is in Midland, TX and we're not too far, it's exciting. I'll post tomorrow!

ERT-Jeffrey

Looks like your doing a great job, keep it up.

Julianftw

Thanks, I appreciate it.




So at last, I finally got it on! It was a little crooked because the bumper was a bit bent downward, but I didn't have a whole lot of time before we had to leave on our trip so I dealt with it. You can tell it isn't bad, just needs to be pushed upwards. It was great success for me, I was proud of myself, haha.

The results of a good day, and yes, my other fender is rolled a bit. I hit a huge pothole, lol.

Thanks to everyone that checked out my thread, I appreciate it a lot. Any comments/questions will be appreciated. And if you want to check out my pictures of the drag races in Texas, here's the link. See 'ya!
https://chevroletforum.com/forum/lounge-5/my-trip-drag-races-32970/

gotstylez

a little advice.. avoid potholes and pillers LOL.. nice thread tho..nice that u got it all back together too