s13 hit in front, replace front driver side?

[AndAnotherOne]

Ok guys heres my dilemma. I got this car from my my aunt who wrecked it into a guard rail during the winter a year or so ago. I didnt pay anything at all for this car, and its got 115000 miles on it and its pretty damn clean besides the obvious damage to the front drivers side.

I was thinking about just buying a whole jdm front clip with the fenders, hood, bumper, sr20 motor/tranny, and rhd firewall/dash plus a perfect windshield.

I would like to swap everything over into this car, I just dont know exactly how to surgically transplant the good frame onto the smashed into frame.

I'm a welder, and can fabricate pretty much anything, but I am by no means a body man.

My question is, does anyone know of a build that someone has repaired something like this that has pictures? I would really like to get a general idea of the process before I dive into it, or before I buy this clip for 3500.

Heres a pic:
http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/l496/Will_Mack/photo-6.jpg

[AndAnotherOne]

no help? :-/

[erik05v]

if the actual frame rail isnt bent or completely smashed no need to repalce it take to a shop have them staighten it out if necessary and you just replace the damages apron and core support not that diffcult of a job if you know to to cut and weld

[AndAnotherOne]

pretty much the part of the unibody that the fenders bolt to is bent bad, but the inner frame rails appear to be ok (as ok as its gonna be after it was wrecked i guess) and there are smaller bends all the way back to the firewall, the shock tower is pushed back a little as well.

The rad support would be a piece of cake, but as far as the frame that fender bolts too, thats pretty damaged.

[AndAnotherOne]

i'm just gonna have a body guy look at it, explain my plans if i decide to keep it and let him make a decision on it.

[Croustibat]

Before deciding anything, check that body for rust ... if it has been driven in every weather condition and not taken care of, it may be already rusted to death, meaning not much to salvage, except spare parts.

[AndAnotherOne]

Besides being dirty the rest of the car is pretty damn clean, there isn't much rust on it at all besides where it was wrecked at. Even the undercarriage is fairly clean which is why I'm trying to salvage it. Beyond that its a clean title so I wouldn't have any problem registering it once I fix it.

[MamangSorbetero]

Imo, it's a lot of money and work to fix something that might not even look good in the end. If anything, all the current parts on it -if you part it out- can net you money towards a better used shell. Just the suspension components alone would cost quite an amount to replace.

But anything is possible with enough time, funds and dedication. From what you have described and what I can see it looks repairable if you do get a front clip. Hopefully nothing else is damaged, (drivetrain/exhaust system/actual frame). It might actually be pretty cheap to buy a shell with all the panels from a yard and just use that to transfer. A fender is $20 and a hood is $70?

[AndAnotherOne]

Yea I've really been debating what to do, I planned on getting a JDM clip for my next project anyways, and this is all the more reason to. sr20det drivetrain, wiring harness, ecu, dash, windshield and the hood, bumper and fenders.

Like I said I weld for a living, and have some experience with fabrication, but this would be my first time ever attempting anything like this on a vehicle.

[Vatche]

I am replacing my strut tower piece after a long story and 10 years with this coupe.

I decided a few days ago that I want to just replace the entire front of the car including the rails.

Luckily I have donor parts cars to work with.
It seems easier to just replace the front end at the firewall then to replace the strut tower piece alone. Mainly because my framerail is bent. I would like everything to line up in the end too. And it wont be as ugly I guess. But my car has been through alot, your car might just need some simple fixes.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Ra23q-Bh7Uo/ULNO7VnxFkI/AAAAAAAAIlM/DATq8Y1Nr2c/s800/IMG_20121126_020544.jpg
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-y6UiJGJXwCE/ULNO7ZzT9pI/AAAAAAAAIlM/R_-dXMKfc4Q/s800/IMG_20121126_021851.jpg
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-qXOG3qNB-5o/ULNO7cXjDtI/AAAAAAAAIlM/GKPYCdVMGwQ/s800/IMG_20121126_023622.jpg
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-nFCc6kK_E4Q/ULRJr711G8I/AAAAAAAAIpk/JXUEd9TQ2xk/s800/IMG_20121126_210107.jpg

In this picture you can see that my framerail has a crinkle in it
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-DGDpNbnu6yg/UIdSe0lCALI/AAAAAAAAGyY/e8TmS9mdOXU/s800/IMG_20121023_192857.jpg

This was the donor car
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-21Mo9kgLS-M/T2Wge4ha1OI/AAAAAAAABRk/c-3BQ-x4JF8/s800/101_3962.JPG
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-7MJnj5Ox9M4/T2WgaIR0yaI/AAAAAAAABRk/xxdHiry0ISo/s800/101_3961.JPG
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-PSUrUSZLO2A/T2WgaGErHJI/AAAAAAAABRk/k1hn1FV9mBQ/s800/101_3960.JPG

Drilling the spot welds
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-6jnehk2WC-k/T2WgUaiy9jI/AAAAAAAABRk/eVSs0xQfoeA/s800/101_3956.JPG

[AndAnotherOne]

Those pics are worth their weight in gold to me! Very helpful man thanks!

[Vatche]

glad my car could be of service :D