I own a 2002 V6 Mustang. My Mustang got hit in November on it's front and rear bumper.
The damage that was done to the front bumper was a crease in the top part of the bumper located just next to the grill and some deep gouges in the plastic next to the license plate. The top of the front bumper was also pushed in about 1" to 2" inches just underneath the hood in the area just next to the grill. The damage to the rear bumper was just a minor scratch. I ended up paying to get both bumpers fixed in December just before Christmas without involving my insurance company because the damage was caused by a hit and run and also because the total amount to fix the damage was $142 over my deductible.
Anyways, the bodyshop took off both bumpers to do all the repairs correctly. They repaired the crease on the top front part of the bumper by using heat and filler on it. They also used filler to repair the deep gouges that were present next to the license plate area. Then I think they sanded down the bumper and repainted it. The rear bumper was also sanded down and repainted also.
The bodyshop also had to straighten out one of the shock absorbers that's located behind the front bumper bar because when my car was hit, the top front part of the bumper just under the hood next to the grill area was pushed in a little bit about 1" inch to 2" inches. The radiator support and the frame were NOT bent, pushed in or damaged in any way. ONLY the bumper's shock absorber on the passenger side was pushed in a few inches and the bodyshop straightened it out again.
When the bodyshop finished the work and put everything back together again, there was a problem. The passenger side headlight unit had a gap between the front pointed part of the front fender and the top part of the headlight unit. The gap was not there at the time when I took my Mustang to be fixed at the bodyshop and the bodyshop knows this.
The bodyshop did their best and tried to make adjustments to fix this gap, but they were unsuccessful. No matter what they did to adjust the headlight unit, the gap was still present. I think that the gap was caused by the pulling adjustment that the bodyshop made to pull out the passenger side bumper's shock absorber. This might be the reason why there was a gap between the headlight unit and the front pointed part of the front fender. Maybe something is out of wack causing the gap. The bodyshop told me that they measured everything correctly when they pulled out the bumper's shock absorber. If this is so, then WHY is the gap present? The bodyshop did the pulling adjustment measurements with a tape measure by hand. They are a small bodyshop and they do not have the huge laser frame machines that the larger bodyshops have. Their frame machine looks like a hydraulic lift jack which you chain to the floor of the bodyshop for support and then connect another chain from the jack to the frame of the car. The long steel lever on the hydraulic jack is pulled by hand to straighten out the frame on a car. The bodyshop owner told me that the frame on my car was not bent or damaged in any way to begin with. Because of this, the frame of my Mustang didn't need to be straightened out. I am not 100% sure about this, but I think that they only used the frame machine to pull out the bumper's shock absorber on the passenger side because it was pushed in about 2" inches from the hit and run accident.
Anyways, while the bodyshop tried to fix the gap, they ended up scratching the top of the bumper just in front of the passenger headlight unit while they tried to pull out the headlight unit. When this happened, the bodyshop had to repaint part of the front bumper again. They didn't want to take off the bumper to do this repair because it was too time consuming. They said that it was not necessary to take off the front bumper to repaint a small area. So instead, they taped off the area around the passenger headlight and they repainted/resprayed over again the small scratched area on the top part of the bumper located in front of the headlight unit and also a small area on the front part of the bumper and the entire bottom part of the air dam and around and inside the 2 fog light sockets. After the repaint/respray, there was no overspray present, but there was a lot of orange peel located around and inside the air dam and also inside and around the fog light sockets on the bottom part of the bumper. The bodyshop used a wet sander and buffer to get the orange peel off. The orange peel came off ONLY wherever the wet sander and buffer could reach. The wet sander and buffer couldn't get into the tight areas inside the air dam and inside the fog light sockets. Because of this, there is still orange peel inside of the air dam and on the inside of the fog light sockets. You can see the orange peel only when you stand close to the front bumper only when the sun directly hits the front bumper.
I would like to know if there is any way to get the orange peel off in these tight areas? The bodyshop told me that it's not very noticeable and that I should leave it alone. They also told me that a wet sander and a buffer cannot reach inside the tight areas inside the air dam and the fog light sockets to wet sand and buff out the orange peel. It's been almost 2 months now since the bodywork was done. The orange peel on my Mustang doesn't look that bad, but it is noticeable inside the air dam and inside both fog light sockets when the sun shines directly on the area of the orange peel. Should I have any concern or worry about the orange peel? Or should I just leave it alone? The paintwork on the front bumper looks very nice other than me noticing that there is orange peel on the bottom part of the bumper when the sun shines on it. Do you think that I should leave the bumper alone with the orange peel on it?
And what about the gap between the top part of the passenger side headlight unit and the front pointed part of the front fender? The gap is about a few millimeters wide and no more than 3 inches in length and it's only noticeable when you are standing within a few feet in front of the car. The bodyshop told me that there is nothing more that they can do to fix the gap problem and that I need to live with it. They don't know what caused the gap and how to fix it.
Do you think that I should just take it easy and not worry about the orange peel and the gap problem and that I should just enjoy and drive my Mustang? I currently don't have the money to sink into this car in order to take it to a bodyshop and have them take off the front bumper and do a complete repaint on the bumper. I beleive that this will be only a waste of money. It's kind of hard for me to get used to the fact that my Mustang has a gap between one of the headlight units and the fender and that it also has orange peel inside the air dam and inside the fog light sockets. Especially after getting my car repaired from a reputable bodyshop. I want to try to learn to accept these "flaws" that currently exist on my Mustang, but I am having a hard time doing so.
Should I just leave the orange peel alone and accept the headlight unit/fender gap problem?
The damage that was done to the front bumper was a crease in the top part of the bumper located just next to the grill and some deep gouges in the plastic next to the license plate. The top of the front bumper was also pushed in about 1" to 2" inches just underneath the hood in the area just next to the grill. The damage to the rear bumper was just a minor scratch. I ended up paying to get both bumpers fixed in December just before Christmas without involving my insurance company because the damage was caused by a hit and run and also because the total amount to fix the damage was $142 over my deductible.
Anyways, the bodyshop took off both bumpers to do all the repairs correctly. They repaired the crease on the top front part of the bumper by using heat and filler on it. They also used filler to repair the deep gouges that were present next to the license plate area. Then I think they sanded down the bumper and repainted it. The rear bumper was also sanded down and repainted also.
The bodyshop also had to straighten out one of the shock absorbers that's located behind the front bumper bar because when my car was hit, the top front part of the bumper just under the hood next to the grill area was pushed in a little bit about 1" inch to 2" inches. The radiator support and the frame were NOT bent, pushed in or damaged in any way. ONLY the bumper's shock absorber on the passenger side was pushed in a few inches and the bodyshop straightened it out again.
When the bodyshop finished the work and put everything back together again, there was a problem. The passenger side headlight unit had a gap between the front pointed part of the front fender and the top part of the headlight unit. The gap was not there at the time when I took my Mustang to be fixed at the bodyshop and the bodyshop knows this.
The bodyshop did their best and tried to make adjustments to fix this gap, but they were unsuccessful. No matter what they did to adjust the headlight unit, the gap was still present. I think that the gap was caused by the pulling adjustment that the bodyshop made to pull out the passenger side bumper's shock absorber. This might be the reason why there was a gap between the headlight unit and the front pointed part of the front fender. Maybe something is out of wack causing the gap. The bodyshop told me that they measured everything correctly when they pulled out the bumper's shock absorber. If this is so, then WHY is the gap present? The bodyshop did the pulling adjustment measurements with a tape measure by hand. They are a small bodyshop and they do not have the huge laser frame machines that the larger bodyshops have. Their frame machine looks like a hydraulic lift jack which you chain to the floor of the bodyshop for support and then connect another chain from the jack to the frame of the car. The long steel lever on the hydraulic jack is pulled by hand to straighten out the frame on a car. The bodyshop owner told me that the frame on my car was not bent or damaged in any way to begin with. Because of this, the frame of my Mustang didn't need to be straightened out. I am not 100% sure about this, but I think that they only used the frame machine to pull out the bumper's shock absorber on the passenger side because it was pushed in about 2" inches from the hit and run accident.
Anyways, while the bodyshop tried to fix the gap, they ended up scratching the top of the bumper just in front of the passenger headlight unit while they tried to pull out the headlight unit. When this happened, the bodyshop had to repaint part of the front bumper again. They didn't want to take off the bumper to do this repair because it was too time consuming. They said that it was not necessary to take off the front bumper to repaint a small area. So instead, they taped off the area around the passenger headlight and they repainted/resprayed over again the small scratched area on the top part of the bumper located in front of the headlight unit and also a small area on the front part of the bumper and the entire bottom part of the air dam and around and inside the 2 fog light sockets. After the repaint/respray, there was no overspray present, but there was a lot of orange peel located around and inside the air dam and also inside and around the fog light sockets on the bottom part of the bumper. The bodyshop used a wet sander and buffer to get the orange peel off. The orange peel came off ONLY wherever the wet sander and buffer could reach. The wet sander and buffer couldn't get into the tight areas inside the air dam and inside the fog light sockets. Because of this, there is still orange peel inside of the air dam and on the inside of the fog light sockets. You can see the orange peel only when you stand close to the front bumper only when the sun directly hits the front bumper.
I would like to know if there is any way to get the orange peel off in these tight areas? The bodyshop told me that it's not very noticeable and that I should leave it alone. They also told me that a wet sander and a buffer cannot reach inside the tight areas inside the air dam and the fog light sockets to wet sand and buff out the orange peel. It's been almost 2 months now since the bodywork was done. The orange peel on my Mustang doesn't look that bad, but it is noticeable inside the air dam and inside both fog light sockets when the sun shines directly on the area of the orange peel. Should I have any concern or worry about the orange peel? Or should I just leave it alone? The paintwork on the front bumper looks very nice other than me noticing that there is orange peel on the bottom part of the bumper when the sun shines on it. Do you think that I should leave the bumper alone with the orange peel on it?
And what about the gap between the top part of the passenger side headlight unit and the front pointed part of the front fender? The gap is about a few millimeters wide and no more than 3 inches in length and it's only noticeable when you are standing within a few feet in front of the car. The bodyshop told me that there is nothing more that they can do to fix the gap problem and that I need to live with it. They don't know what caused the gap and how to fix it.
Do you think that I should just take it easy and not worry about the orange peel and the gap problem and that I should just enjoy and drive my Mustang? I currently don't have the money to sink into this car in order to take it to a bodyshop and have them take off the front bumper and do a complete repaint on the bumper. I beleive that this will be only a waste of money. It's kind of hard for me to get used to the fact that my Mustang has a gap between one of the headlight units and the fender and that it also has orange peel inside the air dam and inside the fog light sockets. Especially after getting my car repaired from a reputable bodyshop. I want to try to learn to accept these "flaws" that currently exist on my Mustang, but I am having a hard time doing so.
Should I just leave the orange peel alone and accept the headlight unit/fender gap problem?
Oh no! Not this thread AGAIN!?! :crapola:
