Josue's Collision Repair Thread.
- Thread starter JosueLT
- Start date
- Nov 20, 2011
- 315
T-Beezy first....
THIS is why it needs a new hood!
Junk A/M parts...
Case and point. A/M companies can't mold the Chevy logo into their grills, so this rediculousness is what you get...
Bent bracket...decided to repair it this time.
Test fitting the parts...
Dent on the support. They wrote to replace the support because of this! It pays 13hrs, but holy SHIT is it one of the worst supports to do. I told them to take it off the estimate, and just pay me to repair it since there was barely anything wrong with it...
Purple roloc disc, does a good job of getting the rust off....light rust that is.
Over in paint now. They hit the owner up on a new hood, still waiting to hear back from him. I guess the insurance company will pay to fix the dent, but he'll need to make up the difference for a new hood.
THIS is why it needs a new hood!
Junk A/M parts...
Case and point. A/M companies can't mold the Chevy logo into their grills, so this rediculousness is what you get...
Bent bracket...decided to repair it this time.
Test fitting the parts...
Dent on the support. They wrote to replace the support because of this! It pays 13hrs, but holy SHIT is it one of the worst supports to do. I told them to take it off the estimate, and just pay me to repair it since there was barely anything wrong with it...
Purple roloc disc, does a good job of getting the rust off....light rust that is.
Over in paint now. They hit the owner up on a new hood, still waiting to hear back from him. I guess the insurance company will pay to fix the dent, but he'll need to make up the difference for a new hood.
- Nov 20, 2011
- 315
LS460....
Got the rocker work done up on the frame rack so it'd be up in the air. Then I took it down so I could take the dash out and do the repairs to the upper apron pieces.
Had to cut layers off in order to access the piece to replace.
Pulling back the carpet, wiring, and sound deadening material so as to not set the car on fire.
New hotness...
Inner post...
Must've forgotten to take pics of the outer welded back on? You can notice it in upcoming pics though.
On the ground.
About 4pm yesterday, I tore into the dash. This is how far I got before 5...
Freakin STACK of parts already, and I was only half way there. LOL
Finished it up this morning...
LOOK AT ALL THE PARTS NOW!!!!
Why the dash needed to be removed. This shows what the inside looks like when welding....and that sound deadening material lays RIGHT up against the metal, so it would've lit up like the 4th of July in NO time!
Also, every corner has these big foam blocks stuffed in there...
Wiper assembly removed as well.
Top plate thingy removed to access the piece I need to replace.
All damaged pieces removed...
Hoping to have this job wrapped up by next Friday. The wife and I are taking a babymoon to Chicago on the 11th, and I'm going to miss Monday and Tuesday of the week after.
Got the rocker work done up on the frame rack so it'd be up in the air. Then I took it down so I could take the dash out and do the repairs to the upper apron pieces.
Had to cut layers off in order to access the piece to replace.
Pulling back the carpet, wiring, and sound deadening material so as to not set the car on fire.
New hotness...
Inner post...
Must've forgotten to take pics of the outer welded back on? You can notice it in upcoming pics though.
On the ground.
About 4pm yesterday, I tore into the dash. This is how far I got before 5...
Freakin STACK of parts already, and I was only half way there. LOL
Finished it up this morning...
LOOK AT ALL THE PARTS NOW!!!!
Why the dash needed to be removed. This shows what the inside looks like when welding....and that sound deadening material lays RIGHT up against the metal, so it would've lit up like the 4th of July in NO time!
Also, every corner has these big foam blocks stuffed in there...
Wiper assembly removed as well.
Top plate thingy removed to access the piece I need to replace.
All damaged pieces removed...
Hoping to have this job wrapped up by next Friday. The wife and I are taking a babymoon to Chicago on the 11th, and I'm going to miss Monday and Tuesday of the week after.
Mark20
Member
- Dec 6, 2011
- 1,630
Was talking once with an auto body guy and he said Mercedes has the entire under hood harness as one assembly. So if you have to just replace the segment for a head light you got to do the whole thing. He cuts off the part he needs and splices it in.
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Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk
- Nov 20, 2011
- 315
Mark20 said:
Oh yea....been there, done that, gotten the T-Shirt! 03 Benz C230...
ALL this, took everything out of the engine bay short of pulling the engine itself, and pulled the carpet (surprisingly, there's a section that comes out of the driver side footwell, like a big molded floor mat) and lower dash out to get to a ton of plugs behind there, just because the fog light and parking light plugs were destroyed.
Not sure why I didn't just splice the plugs I needed, but I remember there being a specific reason why I HAD to install the whole harness. It payed well though, and I know I made money on it...
07ChevyTruck
Member
- Dec 5, 2011
- 774
trailblazer075
Member
07ChevyTruck
Member
- Dec 5, 2011
- 774
The Audi looks great. 
Then again after looking at all the photos in this thread I wouldn't expect anything else than great job.
Then again after looking at all the photos in this thread I wouldn't expect anything else than great job.
- Nov 20, 2011
- 315
Busy week on the LS460...
Primer.
Seam sealer...
Masked again for paint.
Paint!
Assembly...finally.
Dash in...
Look at this flippin owners manual!!
Door on and assembled.
New oil pan and filer. Thing took NINE quarts of 0W-20 Synthetic!!
Done!! Still needs an alignment, and some underbody shields installed, but they got me the wrong clips and I'm off on Monday and Tuesday, so someone else will have to put them on once the clips come in. lol
Why did I even do all that work?! It gets covered up anyway!!
Primer.
Seam sealer...
Masked again for paint.
Paint!
Assembly...finally.
Dash in...
Look at this flippin owners manual!!
Door on and assembled.
New oil pan and filer. Thing took NINE quarts of 0W-20 Synthetic!!
Done!! Still needs an alignment, and some underbody shields installed, but they got me the wrong clips and I'm off on Monday and Tuesday, so someone else will have to put them on once the clips come in. lol
Why did I even do all that work?! It gets covered up anyway!!
Sparky
Member
- Dec 4, 2011
- 12,927
I wouldn't accept that crossbar on the Trailblazer, I'd argue with the insurance company until they paid up for a proper crossbar piece and not a cheapo one.
And if I were the owner I would have paid for a new hood!
What's up with the front driver wheel on the Lexus? It looks like there is a chunk missing out of it. Wouldn't surprise me if it was after that damage on the car but I'm kind of surprised the wheel wasn't replaced.
And if I were the owner I would have paid for a new hood!
What's up with the front driver wheel on the Lexus? It looks like there is a chunk missing out of it. Wouldn't surprise me if it was after that damage on the car but I'm kind of surprised the wheel wasn't replaced.
- Nov 20, 2011
- 315
Sometimes people don't have an option in what parts get used on their cars during the repair process, part of the "fine print" everybody skims over. lol
In any case, the Trailblazer wasn't the nicest one on the road, so I don't think the owner cares about a minor detail like this. I'd put money on him never even noticing. And I don't know why someone wouldn't shell out some money for a hood either...it's such an eye sore!! I know it doesn't grow on trees, and if the guy doesn't have it, then he doesn't have it, but I still would charge it or something. haha
And yea, the LS is getting a new rim, forgot to mention that. lol
In any case, the Trailblazer wasn't the nicest one on the road, so I don't think the owner cares about a minor detail like this. I'd put money on him never even noticing. And I don't know why someone wouldn't shell out some money for a hood either...it's such an eye sore!! I know it doesn't grow on trees, and if the guy doesn't have it, then he doesn't have it, but I still would charge it or something. haha
And yea, the LS is getting a new rim, forgot to mention that. lol
DJones
Member
07ChevyTruck
Member
- Dec 5, 2011
- 774
Great Job On The Lexus!!!! Looks brand new.
What's up with the hood on the TB????
It looks like it has a little ding in very front.
What's up with the hood on the TB????
It looks like it has a little ding in very front. 
Boricua SS
Member
Sparky said:
yea, thats rust that the owner didnt want to shell out the extra doe and buy a new hood... check out the pix at the top of the page with the hood on the TB open.. you can see all the rust better in that pic...
07ChevyTruck
Member
- Dec 5, 2011
- 774
If the owner was shelling out all that cash for the repair I would have had Josue work his magic on that hood.
bigytwotone
Member
- Nov 20, 2011
- 315
I've been meaning to update this thread! There hasn't been a whole lot to be honest, I've really only done a few cars in the past few weeks. Shit's been pissing me off too! They give me these larger jobs that have been sitting around forever, then they need them done OMGASAPOMGASAP, so they don't give me any other work until I get the big jobs done. Paychecks suffer that way for sure...
I had that LS460 before I left for a short vacation, then I got back and had to do this '07 Subaru Forester, now I have a Volvo S40. I was taking pics of the Subaru though! Here they are.
No before shots though, this is after I got a good chunk of the bad metal cut off.
The firewall area behind the strut tower was buckled pretty good. I thought I was going to have to replace it, but I wound up being able to straighten it.
Top of the rail is kicked over...pulled it straight with the frame machine.
In preparation of replacing that firewall piece, I completely gutted the dash, dash bar, heater box, wiring...but again, I didn't have to replace that piece. It wasn't all for nothing though, I still had to do some welding on the firewall, and it would've caught fire if I left all this in.
Used clip...
Mocking up...
Skeleton. lol
Finishing up the welding...
Ready for cut in...
Wiring harness was ridiculous. There was no break in it, but behind the dash. So, I had to unhook it from the driver side, pull it through the driver side apron, pull it through the passenger side apron, and tie it out of the way. Reverse to install....ghey.
Timing stuff, all hidden behind covers. A few of the covers got broken, so I had to order a new timing tensioner (one time use only) so I could take off the pulleys and replace the covers behind them.
Fin!
NO I didn't put the steering wheel on upside down, the wheels are turned!!! lol
I also did all the suspension on the left side. New strut, knuckle, bearing, lower control arm, and axle. But, after trying to align it, they said we needed a cradle too. So I had to do that after the fact...
All good now!
Oh....and got a new (to me) tool box, for FREE!!!!
My buddy at work was saving this for his home garage, when he bought a house, but he can't lay off the hooch, and he's going back to jail for his second felony aggravated vehicular assault charge (this time for MUCH longer than his first stint of only a year) so he just gave it to me.
I had that LS460 before I left for a short vacation, then I got back and had to do this '07 Subaru Forester, now I have a Volvo S40. I was taking pics of the Subaru though! Here they are.
No before shots though, this is after I got a good chunk of the bad metal cut off.
The firewall area behind the strut tower was buckled pretty good. I thought I was going to have to replace it, but I wound up being able to straighten it.
Top of the rail is kicked over...pulled it straight with the frame machine.
In preparation of replacing that firewall piece, I completely gutted the dash, dash bar, heater box, wiring...but again, I didn't have to replace that piece. It wasn't all for nothing though, I still had to do some welding on the firewall, and it would've caught fire if I left all this in.
Used clip...
Mocking up...
Skeleton. lol
Finishing up the welding...
Ready for cut in...
Wiring harness was ridiculous. There was no break in it, but behind the dash. So, I had to unhook it from the driver side, pull it through the driver side apron, pull it through the passenger side apron, and tie it out of the way. Reverse to install....ghey.
Timing stuff, all hidden behind covers. A few of the covers got broken, so I had to order a new timing tensioner (one time use only) so I could take off the pulleys and replace the covers behind them.
Fin!
NO I didn't put the steering wheel on upside down, the wheels are turned!!! lol
I also did all the suspension on the left side. New strut, knuckle, bearing, lower control arm, and axle. But, after trying to align it, they said we needed a cradle too. So I had to do that after the fact...
All good now!
Oh....and got a new (to me) tool box, for FREE!!!!
My buddy at work was saving this for his home garage, when he bought a house, but he can't lay off the hooch, and he's going back to jail for his second felony aggravated vehicular assault charge (this time for MUCH longer than his first stint of only a year) so he just gave it to me.
bigytwotone
Member
That is cool i wish i got a huge tool chest like that for free lol so jelly it is so nice to see your work. got a dumb question what would you charge to repaint my truck???i know i live far away but i am just wondering i got a quote here and i fell over(I seriously fell over) when the guy told me the price for just one side of my truck
07ChevyTruck
Member
- Dec 5, 2011
- 774
In one way it's good folks don't need your service, but I can clearly see how lack of work can drive one crazy.
bigytwotone
Member
i would like the whole truck repainted but there is nothing wrong with the truck no rust any where there is just some scuffs and a couple scratches on it and you know door dings. no dents and no rust just need to fix scratches
- Nov 20, 2011
- 315
I would probably want around $2000 to fix it all, primer it, and prep it for paint, including complete disassembly and reassembly. Materials, and paintwork (would have to take it somewhere, I can't paint at home) would be extra. Probably around $4000 by the time it's all said and done.
07ChevyTruck
Member
- Dec 5, 2011
- 774
- Nov 20, 2011
- 315
This weeks projects...
Bad ASS Infinity! Thing sounds throaty as hell. The convertible hardtop is a total pain in the ass though. I had to fix a few dents right there, and I'll have to remove the weather stripping around those pieces for the painters to be able to properly paint it.
And another damn AUDI!!! Just like the green one I did at the start of this thread, this one is freakin' crunched though. Crazy how it missed most of the wheel like this! A hit that hard, you figure would have the wheel/suspension bent sideways! haha
Bad ASS Infinity! Thing sounds throaty as hell. The convertible hardtop is a total pain in the ass though. I had to fix a few dents right there, and I'll have to remove the weather stripping around those pieces for the painters to be able to properly paint it.
And another damn AUDI!!! Just like the green one I did at the start of this thread, this one is freakin' crunched though. Crazy how it missed most of the wheel like this! A hit that hard, you figure would have the wheel/suspension bent sideways! haha
Boricua SS
Member
that Audi reminds me of the days of people putting 13" Daytons on there cars that stick out past the fender wells (remember Josh Case's delta88 with the "fatty's" on them 
)
)
07ChevyTruck
Member
- Dec 5, 2011
- 774
