My sister in need!

The other day my sister stopped at my house early in the morning. She was on her way to a friends house that lived about an hour from where she lives. When she pulled up, I noticed her van was wrecked in the front! She was following a car too close and the car suddenly stopped and she hit them. It did at least $1000 in damage! She has 3 daughters and her husband doesn't know how to to much auto repair, so she asked if I could help her. Naturally, I said "Of course, you are family!" Her radiator cap had been broken off and the radiator, transmission cooler and the A/C condenser had all been sandwiched together and bowed back like a smiley face. It broke her bumper cover ,passenger side headlight and both electric cooling fans were busted and hitting the alternator. Fortunately, it was just pushed against it and didn't hurt the engine at all.

We searched around for parts and found a few used cooling fans from a junkyard for about $100. The other parts were about as cheap new as the used ones, so we got the new ones. The bumper cover and other parts totalled about $700-$800. Several parts came from Ebay and were just like the original parts, which is sometimes the best way to go, unless it is a performance part. But, for a van, it's not needed. Anyways, when all the parts finally arrived, I started putting the pieces of her van back together. Vans are a little harder to work on, because everything is so packed into the front, that makes it very tight on working room. After everything was put back together, the coolant and transmission fluid was added and was tested for leaks while the engine was running. The bumper cover came as a black primer, so I found some cans of spray paint at Advance Auto Parts that matched the original color, which was a goldish color. The paint is actually made for touch ups, but 4-5 of the small cans was enough to finish the bumper cover pretty well. In a day or so, I'll put the clearcoat on to give it the shine. The new headlight still needed a little adjusting to match the old one. They just have a screw usually that moves them up and down. It's easiest to do it at night while the lights are shining on a wall or garage door, that way both headlights are the same level. After all of that, the van was taken to an A/C man to have the A/C recharged and refilled with the oil, which was another $110. She has her van back now and she is glad to have it back. I am glad to be done with it also!! On to my next project, haha!