erixon- '96 RS - Fixing and upgrading

[erixon]

Okay, So here is the start of my project, I have a 96 MX-3, DOHC B6... I was driving it last fall, and it was first snowfall and this guy in a rig rocket SLAMMED on his brakes right infront of me. His hitch hit my hood/top of my bumper at a low speed, but with a hitch you can imagine it doesnt take much to twist some metal. So, Since this happened my car has been parked, and just this week I started in on it... So far in teh past few days I took off the bumper, the headlight, and the rad, and managed to find a hood that I have already put on from the local pick and pull. I am starting to try and pull out the dent, im lucky that the metal is pretty thin in most spots, witha few exceptions. The only part that really wories me is the area where the bumper screws in on the passenger side... it might close the gap once i pull out most of it, but I probably wont be able to tell until I try it. I have pulled a lot of it out already, but some of its going to be a biatch. The headlight is twisted out, but i know by just the way its pulling out that it will turn back to its original place without much of a battle. I dont need it to be perfect, i just want it to be back to its original place, if some of the support is a little rigid, no big deal, just as long as everything is back to where its supposed to be.. If anyone has any tips they might wanna shoot me, that would be great. I know there are probably people here that have done this before... But in any case I would like to avoid cutting and welding. Here is a picture of the damage.... just to kinda show you whats going on... I'll post more later, I'm missing the oiler game! haha

[Savin]

You could always attach a truck with some rope and pull on it, but that might make your front end look like mine

Well good luck on fixing it, I hope to see this progress. Maybe you'll actually fix yours as i cover it up

[erixon]

hahah I actually thought of that for a second, I dont know how well that would work...its pretty ghetto style... but who knows i guess it might be worth a shot. lol

[erixon]

a truck might be a little excessive though.... maybe like a smart car or something. lol..

[erixon]

Alright, so I took some pictures with the rad out, bumper and passenger side headlight off, and my new hood on. I can't quite figure whats the best way to pull this warp out... as you can see here, comparible to the other side, this is whats causing most of the problem:


warped side, as compared to the straight side:


this is hard to fix because its got to get pushed out from the back, or pulled on with pressure on there, and you cant wack it because the motor is in the way. if i could just get this, it would make everyting a lot easier, and I would be on my way... Here is a picture of the car with the new hood:

I found the hood at Pick-n-Pull, with the retarded hood pins in it, painted the grossest orange color...lol, but I picked it up for 25 bucks, so I cant complain too much. I am planning to take out the hood pins, and filling in the holes later. As you can see from the picture, the hood is nice and even with the fender, so I know the fender is not twisted at all, which is good. It still needs to get evened out on both sides, but there isnt any use doing to now while the other stuf is still being straightened out.

So. Does anyone have any good ideas how to get this out.. I am stuck here right now... would be nice to get some input as to what i should do with this, and what the best way to go about it is. After that the hardest part is over...

[Mooneggs]

the damage you have is very similar to the damage I had on my slow car... I am not really sure how it got fixed since my gf's grandpa did most of the reshaping... as far as I know he just used tools to wack it back into shape since the actual frame wasn't damaged just the rad. support, etc...

mine is still not perfect but it's close enough good luck!

[erixon]

Well i took a bar and pryed it a bunch...its not pretty, but if it works that would be super... I put in a headlight as to where it would line up, and measured both sides to the edge of the bumper... its fairly close. now the only thing is if i have to shift it up or down, which i probably wont be able to tell until the hood is properly aligned on the car, and so forth, I just want to get this part overwith.

[erixon]

*update* new radiator purchased...hopefully it gets here in the next week or two!

[Limegreen mx-3]

Pick-N-Pull

i thought they where in san antonio tx.. i could be wrong..

[erixon]

Okay, I am putting on the new headlight/rad surrond that is all dented up in the pictures. I went over and took one off an mx-3, it was jsut bolted/spot welded, so we just drilled it out and took off the piece. I need to know one thing though if you guys can go out of your way for a minute to help me. Can you tell me the distance from the inside of your fender to the first bolt on your headlight bracket?(the two back things on the top side of your headlight). It should be somewhere around 3 inches or so. I just want to know forsure so that when I bolt everything up, my headlights have the same gaps in between body panels, etc. Thanks a bunch... I'll get some pics up shortly of everything I have done so far, its been a lot.

[nsklzemx3]

Ok I grabbed a few pics for you showing the measurement from different points. I am getting rid of the car in the pics very soon, but if you want the piece cut out maybe I could help you. Let me know.






Looks like 2-13/16" from the corner of the fender mounting flange to the center of the first headlight mounting hole:



About 3-5/16" measuring perpendicular from the fender lip:

And 3-1/2" from the tip of the fender "horn" that comes up by the headlight:


Hope that helps. Good luck!

[erixon]

thanks a bunch! this should be helpful