Passenger Side Mangled. Help with what to do!!!

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Aleaf.CRX

Well-Known Member
K, so like I said in the TN thread, my passenger side is kinda fucked from running into that rail. I don't have pics right now, but I'll describe it again.
NOTE: All of this is from the front of the passenger side to the rear, nothing on the driver's side, k?

1. Corner light totally busted and crumpled into the car.
2. Fender crumpled in, but was popped out somewhat, so now it's just a wavy mess of metal.
3. The trim halfway up the door is torn off completely. I still have the piece, but it was just hanging there, so I took it all the way off. *Because of where the dents are, the door won't open all the way unless you push real hard.
4. There's a hardcore scrap/dent from the end of the door into the quarter panel.
5. The part of the quarter panel where the rear bumper meets it is totally caved in. Like to the point where it'll almost hit the tire if my car had been lowered. That's the messiest part back there.

Anyway, I just wanted to know if anyone knew where to start, had some good ideas, or maybe had a deal on some replacement parts. Anything welcome.
If you guys need more detail, feel free to ask.
 
get a new door and fender. you can probably have the rear popped out and bondo'd.

i would just replace everthing when you get the money. find a crx shell and replace. might be looking at $800 to fix.

then i would get a maaco paint job. i've had 2 on my civics. if you ride them, they will do a good job.
 
I don't think there's anyway to pop the back. It ripped clean from the where the rear bumper attaches to it. It's like seriously punched in.... I'll see if I can find a comparative picture to give you an idea.
 
+1 on the Maaco thing. They can do good work, or they can do poor work. They'll never do fantastic work though.

But if you play your cards right and save up, say $1000 you can have a real painter do the job. The fender is a new item, at $60 and the light is also less than $100 (Factory parts). The door is going to be a j-yard thing, but you live outside of the rust belt now so you'll have nothing but good luck there.

Then, and this is important, your front suspension DID take a hit. If your door took a hit, then your bearings, axle and bushings / steering stuff took a hit too. You'll need to take the wheel off and inspect for mechanical damage as well. Guardrails are shaped like that to catch wheels, and keep them straight without bouncing them off and back into traffic. It's meant to trap you on the rail like a fly on flypaper.
 
you might want to just part it out and try to find a new crx. you should be able to find one for $1500 if you search around.
 
If your door jamb is bent, you're looking at the biggest headache at all time. Consider if you really want the car at this point.

At my shop we had a welder that would weld the dent puller to the metal, and allow us to pull it out little by little. We would make up the rest of the shape with steel and fabricate the new contours. After my 10th car I got good enough to actually do it. MAACO built their entire dent fill out of bondo on my old Supra.
 
not to be an ass, but i think i remember posting on your blog about road trip maintenence. about checking all your fluids, mechanical parts, and especially tires. i hope you take a good learning experience from this and that you are lucky to be alive.
 
Actually, nick is right on the whole parting out and getting another thing. You're going to be at LEAST $2000 in repairs, even if you do it yourself.

And you're not in the rust belt anymore, so you should find good examples of them.
 
I did check my fluids, and checked everything after the crash. Everything works. The part on the door that's dented is almost exactly halfway down on the edge of he fender, next to the door. It's dented inward and the door is dented out a tiny bit in the same place, so it's hard to open all the way. It still works fine besides that.

And I love my CRX..... they're hard to find, at least for me and I'm never gonna have the money for it lol. Unless it's like $500. Shit, I dunno.... I also wanna learn how to do body work. I'm an artist so it seems like a good career choice if animation doesn't work out.

Do you guys really think I should part it out????
 
did you find a job yet? is the car drivable and SAFE?

if it's drivable and safe and you don't have a job, don't worry about it. drive it as a junker. there are a lot of crx's out there. they are a dime a dozen. just get a job and save some money. you'll be fine. i would just consider parting this one out. find a new car that might have some damage for a couple hundred and use this one to rebuild it.
 
Yeah, it works perfectly.The exhaust system is lying on the axle pretty much but I just gotta pop that back in and it's good as new. It's the just the cosmetics..... Plus, I was gonna check the suspension sometime, but I guess it's a definite yes now and soon. I haven't driven the rex since I got here lol.
 
quarter panels are the biggest bitc to fix..
IMO part the car and get a new one...
but ill have a definate aswer once you post pix..
 
Well, I'll be happy to get a new one if anyone can find a decent one for cheap. The problem is money. I'm broke, no job yet, and my car still works fine and I like it. I don't think I'm gonna sell it.
Besides I saw some replacement quarter panels, they look just like new fenders. I just don't know where to get them mainstream. Besides, I'm not afraid of some work. I love that car and it's only on side that's fucked. Seems like kind of a waste to just part it out when everything works fine......
 
I had a decent CRX shell(needed new core support though); but noone wanted it so I had it crushed. :D
 
I'm just saying, across the border there's quite a few CRX's, not as rare as you think(probably more in TN, but I wouldn't know). It's possible to find one for $500; but you'll most likely need to swap the engine out or something. Hell, just saw an ad of someone selling a 89 CRX shell for $300; needs interior and motor.

Also, can you get pictures of the damage? If it's just body, it shouldn't be a problem. You should also have it checked at a body shop that does frame work.
 
Yeah, I was gonna post pics, but the only way I can do that is with my cell, which is prepaid and I don't have the money to post pics online with it right now lol. The best I can do is describe it. I'm not worried about anything but the quarter panel. That's gonna be the bitch, I can fix the other minor cosmetics easily enough, at least compared to this.

I'm really looking for a replacement quarter panel, but if I can't find one, I'll need to weld some steel and shit in there.

If you want I can give you detailed description of what the quarter panel turned out like?
 
if your rex looks like this, yer fookt :D (sorry i couldn't help picturing this reading your post):




 
i say sell it and get another crx, by the time you paint and repair it you could have done so
 
It's not worth fixing a car that old.

Don't worry, you'll find another Honda you fall in love with. I went through almost the same thing you did. Only I had close to two grand in audio in the car. (teflon coated silver plated copper wire isn't cheap, and it's not worth it in a car, live and learn.)
 
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