Went for a drive today...

[Thalass]

Took a wrong turn, and decided that the grass track between two sections of the road (Here) was an easy shortcut. Turns out the steel bollard in the middle of the track wasn't removed, just bent down a bit and covered in grass! I didn't see it until too late, and had nowhere to go, ended up riding up over it.


Here's the damage from afar.


A closer look from below.


And another.


And the view from above.


The radiator doesn't seem to be damaged, no leaks that I have seen so far, but I'm going to check the garage floor again after posting this. So I'm going to need a new bumper, and a new metal cross bar thing, but hopefully not a radiator. The AC fan rattles against something so I've turned that off for now. The bonnet won't close, it seems like the latch (and probably the whole radiator) has lifted up a bit, but I hope that's easy to fix.

Does anyone know how much it'll cost to fix? Paul? Is it even possible to replace that bar without dismantling the whole front end?

I feel like such a dickhead. Should have forked out for a lift kit when I got the car! haha Come to think of it, this could be an opportunity to get a better, off-road friendlier bumper.

[D3V1L]

goddam!!!! thats not a pretty sight at all

sometimes it happens though...ive done it too and ended up with a broken tie rod and bent cross member on my old subi.

hope its not too expensive to fix

dave

[wrxer]

thats 1500 in a panel shop, prob 2g on insurance.
nasty

[GOD]

Bugger. That would have hurt.

I know where there's a front bumper and reo available. Thing is I've got a feeling the colour is slightly different (off a Gen3 series 2 Outback). PM me if interested.

Dane.

[AlpineRaven]

ouch... not good..
If you were in Vic I wouldve helped out.. Go slower than fast thats a little advice..
Cheers
AP

[Thalass]

haha I was being cautious, just not cautious enough I guess. I wasn't going more than 20km/h, I think.

More pics!


This is where the AC fan is rubbing - on the radiator hose, but it has extra protection there, so I'm not too concerned about it. At least its not rubbing on the radiator!


A view from below - up is forwards.


From behind looking up and forwards.


Another angle.


Lucky I wasn't going faster! The plastic 'bash plate' would not have protected the sump or anything else, and if I'd gone all the way over the bollard reversing would have ended up with the cross member and possibly the radiator being torn off!

[AndrewT]

Damn that's some bad luck.
Yeah I'd say about 2g's worth at minimum at a panel shop. But really, you could get away with "fixing" it quite easily I think. Nothing really majorly damaged.
To get the bonnet to close you may be able to loosen the bolts that hold the catch on and wiggle it down slightly and tighten again, that might be enough to get it to close properly again. Otherwise lean on the crossbar the catch is attached to and try to coax (bend) it back downwards by the right amount.
A replacement bumper will most likely hide all the bent stuff underneath so you may not even need to unbend it.
Maybe shave a tiny bit off the a/c thermo fan blades to stop it rubbing on that hose protector.
These are obviously not the best options but perhaps "good enough" and basically free. At least so the car doesn't "look" completely munted anymore!

If your keen you could try using a ratchet and cable up to the lower radiator support, other end around a nearby lamppost base for example. Gradually winch it out abit. Those bottom radiator supports are surprisingly weak so this might work, but probably won't get it back into perfect shape, just maybe abit closer back to original position.

[Thalass]

I may end up doing that. The radiator is sitting on top of that support, and the whole thing has gone up, taking the upper cross-bar-support-thing with it, which is why the bonnet is sitting high. It's a pity it's welded in. It looks simple to replace, if it was bolted together!

[Bumpty]

Still got your spotties