rear end damage repaired

[treed2 at wsu.edu (T. Reed)]

Things have taken a turn for the slightly better today, as I was able to 
repair the damage caused by the second accident myself.

As I said before, the damage was confined to rear bumper. After pulling it 
off, I discovered the following:

- the driver side rear (metal) bumper arm was quite kinked

- the screw holding the driver side of the plastic bumper cover on was no
   longer functioning, because the plastic it screwed in to had cracked and
   become an "island". Pulling on the plastic cover caused it to move out
   almost an inch from the metal bumper.

- the "tracks" on the end of the driver side of the bumper cover had the
   staples holding them together ripped out

- about 4 of the plastic clips holding the rear section of the plastic
   cover on were broken off

- the retaining end-clip for one of the slide on trim pieces had broken
   off


I managed to straighten the bumper arm with clever placement of steel 
slabs and about 20 minutes with the hydraulic press. I wanted to get a 
replacement arm instead, but it's just so much of a PITA since there's 
really only one or two junkyards here in Seattle that have any sizable 
number of 'dubs.

The screw was supplemented with a large washer to help it clamp the 
plastic cover in place, which should be sufficient.

The staples were easy to pop back in place and re-crimp with pliers

The missing plastic clips didn't seem to affect much since some on the 
passenger side were still intact, and the repaired screw was doing most of 
the work anyway.

I attached the retaining clip with a small brass screw so that it would 
not get lost over a bump.

In the end, when I re-installed the bumper, I was reasonably pleased with 
the result. Only about 1 - 5% of the damage is visible now, and only if 
you know about the accident and look really hard.

Granted, it would be better to replace the whole bumper, get paint for the 
cover, etc... But given that the guy was unlicensed and uninsured, I think 
this is one of the best possible outcomes (something I can repair myself) 
because I just don't need to deal with any other B.S. at the moment.

For before/after pics of the repair, see:

http://www.wsu.edu/~treed2/rear-end-before-and-after.jpg

The accident looks relatively minor (and it was), but at the scene it sure 
didn't feel that way. I expected the bumper C-channel to be seriously 
bent, and possibly damage to the chassis from the bumper pushing against 
it.

Anyway, just wanted to update the list on my situation.

Thanks for your comments on my previous posts; I haven't been sending 
individual replies like I probably should..

-Toby