To draagonfly, Michael has an idea there.

Attach a come-along to the bumper of the Jeep, and to the dented area of the Camaro. Put it under tension, crank on that until you get it tight enough to walk on (think walking on a tight rope).

Then, take a chunk of wood and BFH (Big Freakin' Hammer) and smack on the dent from the inside to outside. Use the wood to cushion the hammer blows from directly hitting the metal.

Since the come-along is putting the metal under tension, the hammer will "spike" the force trying to pull the metal out. You should be able to get enough room to fit the resevoir and battery back in there. Then you can take it to a shop for a better idea if it is worth repairing.

ON A SAFETY NOTE: Stand off to the side while tensioning the come-along and when whacking on the dent. DO NOT STAND IN LINE WITH THE COME-ALONG. If it were to fail, YOU WILL BE MAKING A TRIP TO THE HOSPITAL.

Above all, be careful and take your time. The car is already wrecked, no sense in hurting yourself trying to make it driveable.

 

I'd still rather use my tree idea. Should something let loose, it's going to go flying forward. My Jeep, I'd care about. The tree, not so much. I have a big "body straightening" tree here that's worked well for a couple of my cars!

 

when I buy a project vehicle I pay $100 for flatbed transport upwards of 20 miles

 

And another $100 for her to get the car flatbedded back home from the body shop if they can't do anything for her.
I can see the reasoning behind wanting to be able to drive the car to the shop.

 

even so, it's cheaper than hurting oneself

( I was only figuring getting the car to the shop to be fixed)

 

Thanks Grandpaswagon! I don't think some of you guys understand working or living on a budget. I was thinking its was one of the reason to be on this forum, to do it ourselves.

Peace

 

I completely agree that the tree would be a better idea of an anchor point. But if she can't get the car over to one, or there isn't one nearby, then the D-Ring on the Jeep will have to suffice.

I know that if the chain popped off while under tension, I too would be upset over the damage to my Jeep.

 

Murphy's Law....any hard flying projectile will always find something fragile and brittle to land on.

 

This generic statement isnt even close to true. Thanks though.

My turn to weigh in.

Ratchet strap, 2x4, a hammer, and the jeep.

Exactly as was said before. Bend the fascia frame (the light bar) by putting it under tension and hitting it with a hammer. If it doesnt work call a man that is bigger than you, cook him dinner and ask him to do it... I will work for free food... lol

I had to do this to my first camaro, and it was fine.

NOW, looking at your pictures, i can tell you if the strut tower moved it was minor, BECAUSE the metal on the front of that corner is bent and shows sings of shift. That is exactly the same spot my 6cyl was hit, and the fender NEVER lined up right again because i didn't do it right. Be very sure of what you are up to, because that fender can push up on the door and the door wont open anymore. trust me, that one i have lived...

I think you will be fine, just be aware that if it is messed up on the strut tower it may be a lost cause, You will eat through tires, spending money that you don't have. Again Lived this one. It can really tear stuff up and eventually will cause another wreck.

 

Just wanted to update this story. I know lots of people said to just give it up and scrap her, but by the way, SHE'S BEEN RUNNING SINCE JANUARY. (Hoping I didn't just jinx anything by saying that. ) Thank you to those that offered helpful suggestions and encouragement.

We did finally take the chance of just plugging up the reservoir connection and sticking the battery in there hoping it stayed put. She successfully made it to the shop on her own – no towing. (WIN!) Katy paid just under $300 for them to bang the corner back into some semblance of shape. They did a decent job, even if it took them three (or was it four?) weeks and several prodding phone calls to get it done. They measured it and showed us the little dealies hanging underneath that didn't line up. They were off by an inch or less depending which place you looked, which may be huge to those that know how it should be, but driving it, it didn't feel any different and it wasn't pulling so we had to skip the machine straightening part for now due to lack of funds.

We changed Paddy's hood out in our driveway. Apparently our HOA didn't like that because a month later they sent out new "Rules and Regs" that stated specifically you can't work on your car in front of your condo, or even inside your own garage. Gods. Whatever! I'd like to see them try to fine me for changing my bulbs and wipers cuz aside from this issue, that's all I do. It's not like we reconstruct cars every weekend!

We then took Paddy, along with the headlights, nose, and quarter panel from the red Camaro, to DIY Garage in Escondido, CA (Google it!). I can't say enough good things about Alexi and DIY Garage. He was an IMMENSE help, and VERY fair on the price to use the lift. If you live in the San Diego area, PLEASE go use his DIY Garage. He has everything you would need in there and offers help and answers to any question, even dumb ones from girls. I trust him because he's happy to explain everything (multiple times) and point it all out. He has infinite patience. I took The Best Jeep Ever to him to replace the radiator and water pump when they failed and he did excellent quality work, and again charged a very fair price. (My MPG actually FINALLY hit what the sticker claimed it would be after he worked on it! Only took eight years to get there!) His customer service is impeccable and I never felt like he had a different attitude because we are girls. (WIN!)

Anyway... it took us about six hours total, but we managed to get the new nose cover, quarter panel, and lights all in place (see pics), so it looks like a whole car again. It doesn't line up perfectly, we had to improvise here and there, and it looks awfully ghetto with the two colors, but it's been driving without incident since end of January. And of course she finally had a bath! We joke that she's Phantom of the Opera for now.

My daughter has been working as much as they'll let her (job market sucks here) to get the money to drive it to a friend in AZ who can straighten it out properly, then she plans to get it painted (which it needed anyway). (Personally I'd look for a new car, but she's determined.) It will never be perfect, it will never be a show car, but she's getting around and that's what we needed. Total cost to be back on the road: $800 and a lot of effort and time. But it IS on the road, so yay for reaching goals.

Oh yeah, and we took the hood to the recycle place and got a whole $2.40 for it, so total cost was actually $797.60. haha!