Fixing a Snow Day Accident

One of the reasons, heck, the main reason I came home earlier than planned was to bring the Honda CR-V home so that Thing Two had transportation.  Thing Two had been driving home work in the 1990 Toyota Pickup, lost traction on snow and hit a tree.

The good news was that Thing Two was unhurt.

It was either that tree or a building near a school, so good choice on Thing Two's part.

Here's some pics sent from the scene from Thing Two's phone:

Not sure how Thing Two managed it but the truck was driven (slowly) home, about 8 miles in crappy weather.  The truck was left in the driveway to await mechanical inspection by yours truly.   

I failed to take pictures of how wedged into the driver side front wheel well the bumper was driven.  Suffice to say I'm not sure how it was driven home at all, the tire must have rubbed on it when making turns!

Here's the main damage area after I pulled the bumper off.

Some judicious hammering/pulling and crowbar action later, I would end up removing the damaged grille and fender in order to assess things.

Over the last week or so, I managed to bend/hammer/force the fender onto the truck.  I used lots of safety wire to cobble together the grille and attach it to the fender and front of the truck:

Then, I decided to hammer/unbend the bumper and mount it back onto the two main supports at the front of the truck.  It hangs pretty secure actually.  Of course, not exactly DOT standard but....

A new bumper costs about $100 but the left side secondary support mount for it was crushed rearward and not usable.

BTW, Thing 2 had caused that dent previously

near the right side headlight.

Although a replacement grille isn't expensive, I'm not sure a new one would be mountable given the underlying damage.  The fender though, was available via Amazon and for less than $100 so I got it.

Right before the new fender was installed.

The fender, after many hours of creative fastening efforts, is on pretty securely.  It came painted in primer black and so it will remain I think.

There's also a metal valance that I could mount under the bumper but not sure it's needed or worth the effort as it was damaged as well.

Let's see, in order to hopefully remedy a slow brake fluid leak, I replaced the master brake cylinder as well.  A messy job but if it fixes the slow leak, I'll be happy.

The truck is drivable now, all the lights work, brakes work and she doesn't pull when driving or coming to a stop so a wheel alignment can wait.

The 22RE Toyota engine, famed for reliability, wasn't damaged and continues to run strong.  

Future work:

Patch holes in the muffler.  Perhaps she'll run quieter once I do this.

Drain/Refill gear oil in the front and rear differentials.

Change Engine Oil and Filter.

Replace air filter, it's filthy.

At 182K, drain/refill transmission fluid.  It was done at 152K Miles by Parker Automotive and they replaced the filter at that time.

Thing Two, in the meantime, has discovered that taking the bus from apartment to work and back is not the travail it was believed to be.  There's no rush to get the truck back apparently.

Still, there's transportation if wanted, so Martha and I can go camping again while towing the Honda CR-V.  More on this in about a week or so.