Replacing the Front Clip On Your Car

The easiest way I know on how to change the front clip on your car is to run into a deer and let your insurance company pay a body shop to do it.

That may not be the best advice you'll ever receive but it does work. Just ask any insurance agent.

My sons are into truck building, they generally have 5 or 6 trucks for parts. They'll take the front clip off one, the cab off another, interior out of another, and so forth. What they end up with is a classic FordChevyDodge multicolored vehicle. How they keep the titles and registrations in order is beyond me. There are just somethings a mother does not want to know.

Prior to my boys deciding they wanted to dismantle every vehicle they could get my hands on, I thought that changing a front clip meant popping the front part of a car off and putting on a new one. Sounded pretty simple.

I have to admit, knowing how to change a front clip is not high on my list of priorities.
I mean, why would you want to? Isn't that like asking for a root canal when it's not necessary?

For arguments say, let's assume there is damage to the front clip but the rest of the car is in mint condition. First consider the cost, is it worth it? Most cars go down in value so quickly that unless the car is 2 years old or less, it might not be worth the trouble of finding the right clip, installing it and then painting it to match the car. In most cases, it is best to paint the whole car, not just parts of it.

I know this because my Jeep has one fender that is slightly darker than the rest of the car and in bright sunlight, it sticks out like a sore thumb. Thanks to a suicidal deer, my left fender had to be replaced.

Replacing the front clip sounds like it is replacing one big part. Well, it's not. The front clip includes both right and left fenders, hood, bumper,turn signal and headlight assemblies.

My advice is that if you have a vehicle with only damage to the front clip, part out the rest of the car. There is a fortune to be made in parting out cars! Especially if the car is an older Camaro, Mustang, or any of the other hot rods from the 70's. I once sold a counsel for a 66 Chevy II for $300 on eBay. Yes, that little hunk of plastic that goes between the seats.
It's unreal what old car parts sell for, especially front clips.

Learn more about this author, Trisha Orlando.
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