2001 Grand Am SE front end damage

[wthile]

Hey... LAst fri I had a mishap... Lady in frotn me me hit her brakes then release and as traffic started going she slammed them... No appearent reason why... needless to say I rear ended her.... Both Air bags deployed, crunched hood, (her rear bumper slipped over the top of mine..... Busted both head lights pushed in the grill and pushed the radiator back in to the fan, Fan set is toast radaitor has a hole in it... Condenser looks ok but it warped slightly...... (I have a complete set for that on the way) How bad is it to replace the header? (the part over the radiator) I am sure I could straighten it but they are not that expensive anyway....

Also looking now I do not see where the head lights "clip" in any longer? Does anyone have an exploded diagram of the front end so that I know exactly what I need to replace?

I am thinking front bumper assembly from salvage yard locally (no shipping this way) Neither of the fenders were damages in the least...


Also How do I remove the blown air bags so I can replace them? I keep seeing something about the clock spring???? I realize I need to replace both bags and the module (or have it reset) but what is this clock springand what does it do? I used to be a mechanic so doing the work is not an issue just like to read up before doing so.

Is there a chiltons manual for this of if someone has an exploded diagram of any and all of this it would be greately appriciated...

Im in Raleigh Nc...

Thanks

William

[b2089]

I can't help with the technical but there is a Haynes manual. It's number 38026 and it covers our car as well as the Chevrolet Malibu, Oldsmobile Cutlas, and the Alero. Autozone is where I get mine. I haven't seen a Chiltons. The ISBN number is 1563925370 do a Half search for it and you may get one cheap if you are willing to wait.

Also through mygmlink.com there are extensive dealership repair manuals for some years, but it's a bit expensive.

[kody]

Man that sucks. The clock spring is on the steering column behind the steering wheel, at least thats where it was on my Caravan. You have to remove the steering wheel to get at it. Its a donut shape and allows the wiring coming up the steering column to make their connections with the buttons on your steering wheel.

[sudden_impulse]

If it is cheap/feasible you could pick up the entire front clip for the car, with all the radiator mounts, bumper maybe, and headlight mounts.

[wthile]

Originally posted by sudden_impulse
If it is cheap/feasible you could pick up the entire front clip for the car, with all the radiator mounts, bumper maybe, and headlight mounts.



Hey guys.... Just thought I would update this thread.... I got lucky and found a donor car, a 1999 Grand Am SE with a 2.2 liter that needed a timing belt and a cataletic converter. I picked up the entire car for $500 swapped hood, Front Bumper assy, Head lights, and Air Bags and it was red so no paint needed at the moment...... Not for the best part... The car was filthy rims looked bad but it had almost new tires on it (I was about to have to purchase new ones anyway....) but under the grime on the rims was a nice set of Hard Crome Mag Rims.... I found them at pep boys and they are $100 each so $400 for the rims the tires had maybe 3000 miles on them so the tires and rims paid for the car and I got the rest of the parts to boot.... I spent about 10 -12 hours and put her back together... its not perfect yet but almost and very driveable... She looks great....

[wthile]

After Photo

[wthile]

And one of the rims from the donor car.... Nothing wrong with the ones from my car these were just a lot nicer...

[kody]

Wow congrats, looks like you got lucky. Amazing job of putting it all back together considering the damage in the first photo, I take it the frame wasn't bent. Is that the donor car in the background?

[Jchiasson]

Hey my GA has a twin.....
IS that the donor car in back of the after photo?
Like kody said, you got lucky!

[wthile]

Yeha the Donor is in the background.... its a 99 se with the 2.2 4 cyl.... Drives and runs as it did before the accident..... the new hood and bumper cover have some minor scratches andsome like rock chips on the hood but you have to get right up on it to tell.... the Driver airbag was perfect black and looks great..... The Passanger Airbag was like a tan and mine was/is Gray.... My wife dyes itto match and you cant tell it.. the match is great.... All that is left is to replace the windshield..... I wish I could swap them myself.....

[Nighthawk243]

I will say, with how bad the damage was, you did great in fixing your car.

And hell, you scored some rims for it too ;).

[XoticGA]

nice job!

[wthile]

Yeah the Rims and tires were a bonus I was going to have to replace very soon anyway.... so yeah its running great now... Now im looking to do upgrades... Performance, audio, etc..... Any ideas? Whts the deal with Changing the Head unit???

[Saved04GT]

Bringing this back, what was involved in replacing the airbags? I'm going to be fixing up a GA soon and need to know what I need to do. How do you get to the passenger airbag to get it out and will replacing the airbag module be enough to reset the system?

[wthile]

Bringing this back, what was involved in replacing the airbags? I'm going to be fixing up a GA soon and need to know what I need to do. How do you get to the passenger airbag to get it out and will replacing the airbag module be enough to reset the system?



well... they were not that bad..... You have to 1. Disconnect the battery before starting doing this.

2. remove the fuse from the fuse panel

3. Wait about half an hour, or more if you can, you want to make sure that the power bleeds off so you dont accidentally pop them... (this was for removal of the doner ones.

The passenger one you have to remove the side panel in between the door and the dash.......

Remove the Glove box.

there are 2 bolts that hold it in place...

on the side under the panel you have to disconnect the connector and pull out the plastic piece that holds it in place....

That connector is a real Bit*h to get to go through the holes in the dash frame.... but it will go.... just be patient....

Just reverse the process for putting the new ones in..... Connect everything before putting the fuse back in and reconnecting the battery.

From what I understand replacing the module from one that hasnt been deployed will work fine.... unfortunately the donor car I pulled the parts from the module had a different connector so I opted to have the dealership reset it. (about $100)

Shoot me a pm with your e-mail and I will share the wealth.. so to speak... someone forwarded me the pages from the shop manual on the airbag system..... I will send them to you......

The steering wheel bag was actually easy..... 2 bolts that use torx forget the size.... comes out easily and just disconnect...

I was puzzled on how to get them back in but the bolts are cool... they have these expansion things on it you screw them into the bag a few turns pop the bag in and then just tighten works great and easy to do.....

Not sure if you have same issue as I did with the turn signal.... there was clicking like the flasher was on and off.... While I had it apart I pulled the signal assy apart and cleaned with alcohol and q-tips and regreases it with dielevtric grease (available from radio shack)

All has been well with the GA since then......

Hope this helps.....

Let me know if you need any more info.....


William