Saving Silver (Right Front Corner Structure Repair), Sequel to Rescuing Ruby

[Fleetw00d]

It figures. I got Ruby (http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=180806) put back together; now I get to use my newly learned body work skills again - thanks to a quick snow storm and slow traffic just over the rise on a steep two lane road lined by trees. Wife and son were unhurt






Deev, I know it will buff out!

[Alex13mod]

I'm looking forward to this Take pics on the head light Frame I want to replace my driver side cause it rusted out the hole where the Hood Support Rod stays in place.

[Fleetw00d]

Just got it home. She wound up in a ditch off the side of the road; if the car had stopped a few feet earlier, it woundn't have hit the tree (on the other hand, it may have gone further had it not hit the tree). I'm supposed to get Ruby's new rear cover back from the paint shop this evening. I can put that back on, then put this one inside and start disassembly. If anyone finds a good Seattle Silver front end within a few hours of Cincinnati, let me know. Good thing I hadn't returned the 220 volt extension cord yet.

[Jarrett]

That's awesome to hear about your family. You have tons of CBs already and purchasing more is as simple as writing a small check. Family is not so replaceable. As much as I like CBs it's nice to hear when one protects its passengers.

[PakaloloHonda]

Pullin a chair up. Can I watch too?


If this is anything like RR .. this is going to be very educational.
Glad the family's ok ..

[5sp5drCB]

I did a quick search on car-part and Parsons Auto Parts up in Columbus has a 92 EX sedan that they listed as Grey. Apparently they have the front cover assembly, R fender and hood from the same vehicle...maybe it's your color.

http://www.parsonautoparts.com/

[Fleetw00d]

First "cut" at disassembly. Had to use my new sawzall to cut the right end of the bumper off because the accident pushed the bracket over the bolt heads. Just cut the fender to get the mangled end out of the way; I'll take the rest of it off today. It doesn't look like any major damage to the box frame portion. I'll have to do some patching of the wire harness, the wires to the corner light were pinched off. Impact with the tree actually jammed some wood between the tire and wheel.




Had the tire removed from the wheel this morning; the wheel is still straight.

[JonnyD]

That sucks!! It's good to hear nobody was hurt. Years ago I drove my 90 ex into a huge tree at 35 mph and there wasnt a heck of alot of the right front corner of the car left. It also buckled the a piller and the windsheild cracked. But I got out and walked away without a scratch on me. I know 35 doesnt seem that fast but it's a heck of an impact! Hopefully that frame isnt bent

[Fleetw00d]

Removed the remainder of the fender and liner. Cut the spot welds and removed the right side of the bulkhead (radiator support). Removed the sheet metal on the right side of the frame rail. Started working to remove the remainder of the forward portion of the wheel housing. I'll probably have to remove the whole wheelhouse upper member (structural piece under the top of the fender from door pillar forward,#11 in "bulkhead" section, this piece is no longer available from Honda so I'll cut it out of another car - another chance to use my sawzall!).









Note the chunk of wood under the trouble light, it was stuck up in the suspension.

2/17/2013:
Another casualty - the pins on the top of the radiator for the brackets are broken off.

Took off most of the rest of the forward wheel housing piece. I'm going to talk with my body guy about the best way to deal with the upper beam, full or partial replacement. I can't get to the back side of all the spot welds.



02/18/2013:
I'll go with partial replacement. I will leave the major portion of it connected to the spring tower so I don't disturb that structure back to the door pillar, then cut one from another car and use the forward section to overlap a few inches; weld the top and bottom seams and put a layer of adhesive between. Just have to make sure there is enough room for the extra layer under the top of the fender.

[Accrdwgnguy]

Are you going to get the car on a frame machine at some point to check for straightness? It would be a good idea if not.

[Fleetw00d]

I'll see how much measuring I can do versus the dimensions in the service manual and comparing to my other CBs, but you're right, a frame machine is a good idea. It looks like the tree stayed to the right of the frame box and just sheared the forward part of the wheel housing (under the battery) off. I ordered the wheel house and bulkhead pieces from Majestic; cut the top frame piece from a car at the JY this afternoon. Currently taking a break from cutting welds.

Update:
Got the frame piece separated from the chunk I cut from the car - about 6 -7 inches of overlap as shown in the picture (just clamped in place for the moment).

[Fleetw00d]

Received new right bulkhead (radiator support) and forward wheel house peices today. I should be able to get the welding done this weekend.



3/3/2013:
Bad news. Compared a number of measurements from my intact Accords to this one. It appears that the right spring tower is pushed inward some and the right front frame box is pushed in and up some. The radiator opening is no longer square, the radiator contacts the side of the opening at the upper left corner. The condenser is also skewed; no longer rectangular. Looks like a frame rack is a must.

On the plus side, I may have talked my way into a free hood and fender!

3/5/2013:
Used a tow dolly to get it to the body shop this afternoon. Should be on the frame rack tomorrow.

3/6/2013:
Didn't get on the rack today, but they think the right front suspension is bent as well. Tomorrow is another day.

3/13/2013:
Got it back yesterday. Front end was pushed left 19 mm, right front corner was 6 mm up, left front corner was 2 mm down. I'll put together some jigs based on my intact Accords to set the diagonal measurements to the joint between the right bulkhead (radiator support) piece and the forward portion of the wheelhouse. Still haven't found a silver hood or fender; it may be just as easy to have a new (aftermarket) hood, fender, and bumper cover painted to match. I haven't heard back from the JY that was going to give me a hood and fender for making suggestions (to the CEO and COO) to improve their operation and website.

[Fleetw00d]

Tried fitting the new sheet metal to the body. Made some jigs (1x2 with wood dowels) to set the distance from existing holes in the body to a hole in the top right radiator support piece. The holes for the bumper brackets didn't line up well; for better or worse, I used my van jack and a 4x4 to push the top of the right frame box over a little to match the holes. Have to do a little more persuading with hammer and dolly to get the wheel housing seams to match up better. I would like to use both adhesive and welding at most of the joints (supposed to be able to weld through the adhesive while wet). I may just put adhesive around where I intend to weld so I have metal to metal, but the adhesive winds up serving as joint sealer.





After pushing the top of the frame box. The hole for the top bumper bracket stud used to be about a half diameter to the right.


Everything kind of in place:


03/26/2013:

Right bulkhead piece attached. 3M indicates you can weld through the uncured adhesive; I tried it with this piece, not as easy as it sounds. It seems to take a while to melt the metal and winds up igniting the adhesive. I'll just do straight welding on the forward wheelhouse piece, then maybe use a bead of adhesive as the seam sealer.

[Fleetw00d]

Finally got back to this over the weekend. Got forward wheel house welded in a while ago.



Used 3M adhesive where the extension overlaps, then welded the seams top and bottom.





Painted with Eastwood Rust Encapsulator


Put new (used) hood on, doesn't quite line up. I'll have to adjust the location of the hinges on the body (not enough range in the hood to hinge joint). I couldn't reach all the way to the corner of the inner wheel housing with my spot welder; I'll take it to the body shop that worked on Ruby to complete the welding before undercoating the inside of the wheel housing and painting the engine compartment.

[Quashish]

looks like its coming along pretty good man keep it up