So, last weekend, I had the misfortune of meeting a Muntjac deer whilst on my way home from King's Lynn...

 

Damage was (on first inspection) fairly light, and - importantly - didn't seem to need a replacement bumper.

 

So I drove down to Wings Škoda in King's Lynn early this week and had a chat with Andy, the very helpful parts chap. I ordered three new parts - the lower grill, the chrome strip for the lower grill*, and the expanded polystyrene bolster that sits between the front crash bar and the front bumper. Total cost £180ish...

 

My mate Dave and I started work this morning...

 

 

With the front bumper removed, the damage looked awful...

 

 

 

 

But that was mostly the expanded polystyrene pad - once the new one was on, it looked a lot better...

 

 

The bumper - predictably - had several cracks in it (it's the collapsable area of the car, after all). Dave is a motorcycle racer, and has repaired more pieces of broken Tupperware than I have had hot dinners, so he made quick work of the cracks with a combination of locking wire, superglue and cable ties... 😃

 

Soon, the old girl as looking as good as new... 😎

 

 

*footnote from first post - the chrome strip is made from purest unobtainium, fashioned by blind nuns in the Carpathian Mountains. Hence, the retail price of £104...🤦‍♂️

Edited 13 August, 20232 yr by gsmdo

Good job!

How much was the foam packing?

 

My car was written off from a similar impact, it deployed all the airbags and seatbelt pyrotechnic charges blowing a hole in the top of the dashboard (by design) in the process.

 

I didn't even need to do any stitching repairs to the bumper, just flatting, compounding and polishing of scrapes, the inner plastic grille was broken, pretty much the only visible damage to the vehicle.

 

The foam packer was intact, just needed a couple of small pieces gluing back in place, it had transferred all the energy to the crash beam and chassis leg, too much energy, had it shredded like yours it would have been a similar repair.

 

The chassis leg was not compressed but the crash beam twisted, I straightened it 95% on my hydraulic press but had not realised all the panel gaps between headlights, bumper, bonnet and wings are affected by its alignment so I replaced it.

 

All the parts were good value but I reckon the foam packer was expensive hence my reusing the original one.

1 hour ago, J.R. said:

How much was the foam packing?

 

My car was written off from a similar impact, it deployed all the airbags and seatbelt pyrotechnic charges blowing a hole in the top of the dashboard (by design) in the process.

 

I didn't even need to do any stitching repairs to the bumper, just flatting, compounding and polishing of scrapes, the inner plastic grille was broken, pretty much the only visible damage to the vehicle.

 

The foam packer was intact, just needed a couple of small pieces gluing back in place, it had transferred all the energy to the crash beam and chassis leg, too much energy, had it shredded like yours it would have been a similar repair.

 

The chassis leg was not compressed but the crash beam twisted, I straightened it 95% on my hydraulic press but had not realised all the panel gaps between headlights, bumper, bonnet and wings are affected by its alignment so I replaced it.

 

All the parts were good value but I reckon the foam packer was expensive hence my reusing the original one.

 

Sounds like you had a much more substantial impact😬, I was doing 40mph, and had managed to brake some speed off before impact.

 

The "Buffer", as it is called, was £20.51 including VAT...

Previous owner, I bought it from a salvage yard, I can only surmise what the accident was but by how little bumper damage there was I think it would have been at parking speed and hitting something head on like a crash barrier, it could not have been a wall unless it was covered in foam insulation.

 

It will remain one of lifes mysteries.

Just got back from the USA, where my mate Jorge had bought me a "kill tally"... 😆

 

17 hours ago, gsmdo said:

Just got back from the USA, where my mate Jorge had bought me a "kill tally"... 😆

 

Does the aftermarket HUD on the dash work well?

Very well - it’s made by Hudway, and is their third generation device. I’ve been using their stuff since I backed them on Kickstarter, as a start-up.