Mike'92RS

I got hit on my passenger door, so now my window will go down very slowly and very intermittently (sp??)..... but..... I have no idea who did it and 2 shops have quoted me $800 for putting on a new door. But I can get one out of the junkyard for $100.

I'm gonna replace my scratched up front bumper/grille assembly and put a new hood on. (I hit somebody a couple months ago, pushed the hood in a bit and popped out one of my brights) I have no idea where to start attempting to dissassemble this vehicle.

Is there a how-to somewhere on hood, door, and/or bumper replacement?

Morley

Well, for the door you are going to need help (they are very heavy) either n the form of another person or better is to get your engine hoist and a nylon strap to hold it up while removing/installing it.

bnoon

Those are all bolt on parts, which only take a minute to learn to put onto the car. They're only nuts and bolts... The talent comes from being able to align all of those parts to look good together, which only comes from trial and error until you build up some experience. That's where a LOT more time comes into play...

One tip I can suggest is to take off you hood and front bumper cover, then put on the new hood and align it to the fenders first. Then put your new bumper cover on and align it to the hood. It was a lot easier that way the last time I helped put together a second gen front assembly.

The hood has four bolts to the hinges and the attachment bolts for the hood struts. Some help to lift the hood off is recommended.

The front bumper has studs inside the fender pointing forward that will require you to dig a bit, but the front upper support is rather easy to get to and remove/replace. Other than wiring,that's about it.

HTH

TomP

Yeah, alignment is a total bitch. Put the inner plastic fender on as your very last part. It'll keep the real metal fender from moving around, which will drive you nuts. In fact if you get a plastic inner fender from a junkyard, it might have different holes drilled in it for attaching it to the strut tower. Don't try to re-use those "original" holes in the plastic fender, punch new ones in. If you try to adjust the plastic inner fender to meet the holes in the strut tower, you might inadvertantly move the real metal fender. You'll know what I mean when you start working on it.

Make sure you align the fender to the door first!! Otherwise you won't be able to open the door- and if you swing the door open fast enough, you might bend the fender inwards and dent it.

If the fender won't align to the door, you might have to bend the fender outward by the front of the door... just grab in the middle of the fender and give a little yank.

My alignment sequence (I have a Firebird) was like this:

fender to front of doors
hood to fenders
headlights to hood
bumper

If you manage to get perfect panels from a junkyard and just need to paint them, I just put a message up about painting with color-match spray cans. If it's sunny tomorrow I'll try to take a picture.

Oh and by the way- everything (except the lower rear-of-fender-to-frame bolt and the upper front-bumper-to-fender nuts) is a 10mm screw. Don't use a 3/8"... if you don't have a 10mm socket, go out and buy one.

Rear-of-fender-to-frame (below front of door) bolt = 13mm. This flange is usually bent because people think it's a jacking point when they get a flat tire, and 9 times out of 10, the bolt also bends.

Upper-front-bumper-to-fender nuts = 11mm. These nuts, from 85-up, are "fake" nuts. They're just stamped steel, that "bites into" cast iron stuts for the upper bumper "hanger". So don't overtighten them. When you put them back on, slide the fake nut over the stud, and while applying pressure to the nut with your socket, turn the nut as if you're loosening it. You'll feel a slight "click". This is the original groove that the fake nut had cut into the cast iron stud. Once you feel that "click", tighten the nut on.