Crunch! goes the Waggy.....

[drlocke]

While I really do wish they did miss her--
They didn't! It's really a pisser,
That my Wag, once pristine,
Now looks not so keen;
She just took a rap in the kisser. :(

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c300/drlocke/grillhooddamage.jpg

While I realise some of you off-roaders--understandably--are going to think I'm being a big baby about this, and others will say "it'll buff out".... this just really evacuates, as that grille and hood were free of dents and dings before.

It would appear that the damage was done by a large truck :eek: or something along that line, as the bumper and grille below this flesh wound are not even scratched.

I'm not going to rant; I must learn to embrace the fact that there have been, are, and will be careless and incompetent drivers on the road and in parking lots, and I have decided to make my peace with it, as I cannot change it.

Meanwhile I am mindful that when parking along a city street while making a service call that there is a chance that something like this can happen--and it did. I am also thankful--bearing in mind the nature of the vehicle that likely did it--that the damage wasn't worse.

So now it is a matter of looking ahead to ways and means to reverse this process if possible. I'm thinking along the lines of a tray of play sand overlaid with a cloth in which to lay the grille face down and use of a shaped hardwood stick with a hammer to bring the grille border back to contour.

The hood may be a more serious matter in some ways (note buckle in upper right corner of pic) but I also realise that body filler would ultimately hide the rumples that the body dolly and hammer can't completely erase.

Ideas are welcome--many TIA. :)

[jaber]

Came out of a restuarant once to find the hood of my GF toyo Carolla folded in half. The other guys bumper pushed the latch to the hinges. The funny part was when I pulled it back into place with my hands. I married her and now she drives a Wag. That was one of a few instances that I keep pointing out to convince her of the safty value.

[Ristow]

dave-with some trim dollys' that grill will clean up to an un-noticeable repair.

the hood 'aint too bad either,easily fived,but matching the paint might be a pain.

yep-it sucks that it happened.

[shimniok]

That sucks bigtime. Even tho I have been collecting dents for several years, each one kind of stings and I can certainly understand the pain of damage on a pristine rig.

Been trying to get into body work lately... probably makes no sense to do body repairs on a trail rig. Oh well.

Anyway...on the hood... can you just get another one and paint to match?

If not... they say in all the body work books that you want to basically releive the stresses that cause the rumples and wahtever. So in other words, you'd want to find a way to pull back the metal from where the dent originated and that 'should' undo the crease (supposedly the crease looks worse than it is). If you try to force the crease down you will have an overworked mess, so I have read.

The grille... how hard to find another one in similar shape? I wonder if body filler or even body solder (would that work on Al???) could be used on it, then take it in and have it chromed?? That wouldn't look original tho. I don't know but it seems like if it is hard to bang steel back into perfectly original condition without needing filler it is going to be darned tough to do that with an aluminum grille. Maybe a replacement for that is in order too.

I doubt I'm actually being helpful here but you have my sympathies fwiw.

Michael

[bigun]

Chicks dig body damage!!! Or so the hard core off roaders believe! My self I try to follow Granville Kings admonishment to "Drive elegantly"

[scantar]

Sorry to see that doink...but think of it as adding character to your Wagon.

At least that's what I tell myself everytime I find a new mark on mine.

:rolleyes:

[Jeepstress]

Awwwww, Dave..... that sucks! :( <sniff sniff> I'm sorry that your baby has a broken nose. If it were me, I'd shed a tear or two, then find the bigest stick that I could swing over my head and go look for the bahstid that did it! :mad:

[bigun]

WE came out of work one day to find my buddies new GMC dually rear fender crunched on top the only thing that could have done was the forklift trying to squeeze between the trucks in the lot! We never could get the fork lift driver to admit he did it though!

[Cherokee01478]

Sorry to hear about your crunch. As Ristow says you should be able to sort out the metal trim with some dollies - that's of the metal working kind - the other would surely only serve as a distraction!:D

[drlocke]

Awwwww, Dave..... that sucks! :( <sniff sniff> I'm sorry that your baby has a broken nose. If it were me, I'd shed a tear or two, then find the bigest stick that I could swing over my head and go look for the bahstid that did it! :mad:

Yeah I thought of that briefly, but then I got a vision of some high school kid in his dad's pickup swiping my grille with a side mirror bracket, and who was probably scared spitless at what he had done. If so he should face up to his responsibility, but I can understand and appreciate at such an age and age-inherent financial means his reluctance to do so.

I've shed the tears, and am going to focus on fixing it. May inspire me to get off the lard-bags here and finish the interior and paintwork afterwards.
:o :D

[JeepBountyHunter]

Now you have an excuse to repaint the whole wag :D..

Seriously though that sux's..I've always felt totalally different about any vehicle I've owned after it got bopped, etc..

Good luck on repairs..
Aaron