Well after 5 years of driving the Camaro I finally made an oops and hit a concrete pillar head on at about 25mph. I had removed the bumper support and metal brace over the summer to shed some weight and it appears that doing that saved me major structural damage. It appears the only frame damage is the upper and lower radiator supports which will need replaced. I can get new units from my local gm dealer for a fair price. My main concern is how hard it will be to unwell the old and weld in the new bracing. Does anyone have any experience with something like this? Is it a pain? The rest of the front end is destroyed, hood, bumper, lights, plastic stuff, and the radiator but other than that it appears I escaped quite well. I am just trying to decide if I should turn it into insurance or fix it on my own in my spare time. My rates will go up $600 bucks annually if I turn it in so I would like to avoid that if possible.

 

If it's spot welded on there, you just drill out the spot welds. (they have a special bit for this purpose.) Knock the old stuff off and re-weld it back in place making sure to line up everything perfectly striaght and square.

That's what I think from my knowledge from "Trucks Tv" anyway

But I would talk to a frame/body guy in your area and see what he thinks.

 

If you've got some basic skills, you can probably do it yourself. It won't be fun or easly though. You'll need to drill out the welds, then need an air chisel to cut the support off.
When putting on the new support, you'll need to make absolutely sure that you've got everything square.
I wrecked my 96 SS, and was going slower than 25mph and I knocked my frame rails off center.
I took mine through a shop, (cause I work there) just to be safe.
And honestly, if you trashed your front end as bad as you say, the cost of parts will justify going through insurance.

your call...

 

But being a 94 it might get totalled by the insurance then he'd be screwed.

 

true. didnt think about that. You could get the shop to find used parts. That would cut down on cost, and then you wouldnt have to worry about crappy *** aftermarket parts.
If the shop estimate is not outrageously expensive, a shop will try to find ways to keep it under bieng a total loss. (without sacrificing the quality.)

A body shop can "clip" a car ( buying the complete front end from a salvage yard) which is considerably less expensive than buying new parts.

 

check my pics in sig...

i bought a wrecked form junkyard with identical damage...rebuilt it over the summer, id be happy to answer any questions and im sure the pics will hlep

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main thing is to check the frame see if shes straight... if not a shop needs to straighten.. .other than that best bet would be hunt down an entire front clip to use as a donor.. cut the old one out weld new one in place... not tooo much work.. that will give you all the parts u need as well..

i lucked out and bought one off this board for 300 shipped... only prob was radiator support was tweaked.. ordered a new one for 100$, then with some welding cutting (frame straightneing) i was good.. got new radiator and ac(good time to ditch if you want) and went from there..

bought new bumper cover off ebay for 60$ and hood from FFI for 350-

all and all id say to replace what you need (with some thrifty shopping and this boards help) your looking at 1400 without paint for parts... then if frame needs straightening price goes up. and this is all assuming you are doing the work.

as for insurance..... it prob be a wreck... mine was considered a wreck even with good fenders and all however the airbags went off... them with the windshield brought cost to 8500 in repairs _ i did my entire project with some upgrades (headers, intake, SS hood, paint, dash,) for 3700

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hope that helps

ohh ya she looked like this when i got her... didnt think would be as bad as it turned out

 

There are a few complete front clips on ebay right now both include all the parts you need. one is kinda expensive but one is pretty cheap. Do a search for Camaro Clip and see if there is anything you may want.

Good luck!!

 

Thanks for all the advice guys! Tomorrow the car will be getting stripped up front so I can see how bad everything is or isn't. I was thinking about building a tubular front end and going with a simple pin on hood. Depends on how things look. Might also look into a complete front clip. I will post some pics tomorrow. Thanks again!

 

good luck ohh heres some diagrams may help

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and if you want color pics of my rebuild

gotta love shoebox's site

 

Alright, got the car all torn apart today and the frame rails look striaght, sigh! Here is my plan: I am gonna cut out the upper section of the radiator support that is bent and weld in a channel piece of steel. Same on the bottom. Mount a griffen radiator vertical. Gonna go for a 98+ front bumper and headlights mounted in a fashion that dopefedz did on ls1tech. Pin on fiberglass hood and few other tidbits and call it a day! I have seen pics of Harlans radiator which is almost exactly how I will do mine. How does this sound?

Harlans radiator: http://hauln.net/LS1Tech/members/Har...s/DSC01129.htm

Pic of the front bumper setup (ultra lighweight and simple)

http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=267559
scroll down to dopefedz's post

and finally here are pics of the wrecked camaro from today:
http://www.sounddomain.com/memberpage/190991/5

 

If you decide to rebuild yourself I have a hood for sale, take a look http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/655039/1, I got a new ram air hood and have no use for it, I could let it go for $150 + shipping.

 

wow... ur lucky was dead center on car... little to either side and goodbye to your frame rails.