My Cutlass was involved in a front end collision a while back which trashed the driver side fender, grille, and bent the bumper and core support. Luckily, this was the extent of the damage.

My question is, how much do you think a core support will run me? I have purchased everything else, but I need to know how much I should put away for one (money is TIGHT).

While the right shop may be able to straighten the one I have, I'm not aware of any, at least in my area, who would be willing/good to do it (I live in Annapolis, MD). Thus, the cost of shipping it away and repair may actually exceed the cost of simply purchasing a "new" one.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. If pics would help, I could probably post some up.

As for posting elsewhere, I was considering on posting on 442.com as Ive always had great replies (when looking for parts), however the nature of this post would be against the rules of their technical forum and I'm not exactly looking to buy just yet.

Thanks!

 

Well your best bet would be looking up a parts car and seeing how much someone would sell it. I had picked mine up for 120 for my 68 but the guy gave me a deal. I'd say you're most likely looking anywhere from 100 and up to maybe 450.

 

Welcome to the site.

I would think you might want to budget somewhere around $300 give or take a little for a replacement support. Rougher one may be cheaper and super clean ones may be a little more. Shipping will be expensive if you can't find anything local. The nicer supports will come from out west and down south as a lot of the metal around here doesn't do well over the years. When you get to the point that you are ready to buy one, place a post in the parts wanted and see what happens. If you can, post a picture or two of yours so I can see the damage. Your other option may be to see if you could find someone with a support that damaged on the other side and buy just the driver's side half. That would make shipping cheaper as well as the cost of the part itself. The replacement section can be grafted onto yours. If you need to make measurements from a good support let me know as I have one out of a car right now that you could measure. I'm up in Harford County.
Brian

 

Yeah, after a little more searching, I just found one on ebay for $150 + the ride. Seems to be the magic number, cause that's about what I paid for fenders and doors a few years back.

 

Thanks Brian
Around $300 was what I was thinking to budget for a decent replacement. I'll definitely consider purchasing the half if I see one floating around. Now that I think about it, the drivers side doesn't appear to be damaged at all. Its primarily where the headlight bucket is - bumper took the brunt of it (low-speed collision). Either way, I'll try and get some pictures when its not raining!