Hi, I just thought I'd post here what I'm learning as I'm fixing up a Convertible 2016 Stang that was in a rear accident. Was hit by a truck at low speed mostly above the rear bumper, crushed the trunk, broke the tail lights, scarred the rear bumper cover, destroyed the center panel between the tail lights, and placed a dent in the rear passenger quarter. Ended up eventually figuring out the metal between the tail lights was pushed in about 3 inches. I have taken the car back from insurance as a salvage, they were saying 12K in damage, I'm trying to fix myself for about 1K. Keep in mind the car really isn't that bad, just minimal rear damage.
1. The tail lights are really not serviceable BUT if you CAREFULLY use two flathead screwdrivers, you can pop apart the welded outer and inner covers. You can see where they are ultrasonically welded by the small "dots". Once you get inside, you can access the internal circuit board and the LEDS. I have bought three used tail lights so far and two of three have bad circuit boards, so BEWARE buying used tail lights. The circuit boards and LEDs are side specific, you can't swap right to left parts unfortunately.
2. I found a place in Hayward, CA; D&S Bumper, that perfectly fixed my pretty tortured rear bumper cover. Came back in primer, but they fixed holes and pretty bad distortion without using much filler at all. Cost was $250.
3. I painted my bumper cover outside using spray cans of all things. I didn't have access to a paint shop and thought I'd try. I used SEM brand YZ white spray cans and urethane clear that you push the bottom of the can to activate catalyst. Once activated you have three days to use, but can extend time by placing in a fridge. It came out pretty good, a little hard to get good flow on the clear but fine for a bumper. The paint seems more fragile than my usual painting in a booth. The white isn't perfect match, going to paint my trunk in a booth using more conventional approach.
4. While putting the bumper back on, I finally realized the rear metal structure between the tail lights was pushed in about three inches. Harder to tell than you would think because the trunk lid was equally crushed in. After a lot of thought and experimentation, I ended up using lumber to build a brace in the trunk, a T shaped brace that extended across the trunk at the braces behind the seat, and then down to the inside of the well for the trunk tire. I placed some lumber inside the trunk where the trunk latches too. I then used the mustang jack to push out from my wood braces. Thankfully it moved back pretty easily once I had it really well built rig set-up. I was able to push it back to where it should be. One positive side affect was that most the dent on the rear passenger quarter fixed itself once I pushed this panel back into place. I did learn that a lot of hydraulic jacks don't work sideways or upside down, the simple screw driven jack that comes with the mustang was perfect for the job.
Will add pictures when I get a chance, next step is getting a trunk, painting it, installing, and then going through whatever salvage title hoops California has for me...
I hope this info might help folks out that are trying to fix their 2015-2018 mustangs on their own from a mild rear end accident.
1. The tail lights are really not serviceable BUT if you CAREFULLY use two flathead screwdrivers, you can pop apart the welded outer and inner covers. You can see where they are ultrasonically welded by the small "dots". Once you get inside, you can access the internal circuit board and the LEDS. I have bought three used tail lights so far and two of three have bad circuit boards, so BEWARE buying used tail lights. The circuit boards and LEDs are side specific, you can't swap right to left parts unfortunately.
2. I found a place in Hayward, CA; D&S Bumper, that perfectly fixed my pretty tortured rear bumper cover. Came back in primer, but they fixed holes and pretty bad distortion without using much filler at all. Cost was $250.
3. I painted my bumper cover outside using spray cans of all things. I didn't have access to a paint shop and thought I'd try. I used SEM brand YZ white spray cans and urethane clear that you push the bottom of the can to activate catalyst. Once activated you have three days to use, but can extend time by placing in a fridge. It came out pretty good, a little hard to get good flow on the clear but fine for a bumper. The paint seems more fragile than my usual painting in a booth. The white isn't perfect match, going to paint my trunk in a booth using more conventional approach.
4. While putting the bumper back on, I finally realized the rear metal structure between the tail lights was pushed in about three inches. Harder to tell than you would think because the trunk lid was equally crushed in. After a lot of thought and experimentation, I ended up using lumber to build a brace in the trunk, a T shaped brace that extended across the trunk at the braces behind the seat, and then down to the inside of the well for the trunk tire. I placed some lumber inside the trunk where the trunk latches too. I then used the mustang jack to push out from my wood braces. Thankfully it moved back pretty easily once I had it really well built rig set-up. I was able to push it back to where it should be. One positive side affect was that most the dent on the rear passenger quarter fixed itself once I pushed this panel back into place. I did learn that a lot of hydraulic jacks don't work sideways or upside down, the simple screw driven jack that comes with the mustang was perfect for the job.
Will add pictures when I get a chance, next step is getting a trunk, painting it, installing, and then going through whatever salvage title hoops California has for me...
I hope this info might help folks out that are trying to fix their 2015-2018 mustangs on their own from a mild rear end accident.
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