Well, my wife parked the truck in the shop over the weekend when we was gone. Backing till you hear a crunch is a bad idea. She backed right in to my work bench.

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That was $1200 in damage. Well, I can fix it for less then the deductible.

First pulled the inside panel.
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Didn't take much to do this, then needed to pull the liner.


Spent about a half hour banging with a rubber mallet. Not perfect by any measure. But it'* close for now. Next spring when it'* warmer out I will sand it down, clean it up with a little bondo and repaint it. About a hour of work total so far. A few more hours next spring and it will be good. Should be less then $100 in paint and it'* fixed.


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At this angel you can see where she did the most damage. The paint is cracked and a slight crease in the metal. A few dings can be sen from where I had to work it hard to get it back in shape. This is where I will have to do a little filling and sanding.
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Move back a foot or two and you can't even see it unless you know what your looking at.
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With that done I needed to change the tires on the car.
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So I pull the first tire, Hmm, that just don't look right.


Well, that might explain a bang I heard one day and never figured out what it was. So, guess I better remove it.


Rusted the bolt right threw and then it finally snapped.


No one has a new bushing in stock. So I'll have to drive without it. I'll order one next week.


With that done, I finished up the tire change and greased up all the ball joints while I was there. I give all my balls two pumps every time I change my tires.



Still need to change my hood. I'll get that later.

Nice job on beating the dent out. You're right...not much else you can do when the metal is creased and the paint is cracked. But, it looks much better than it did before you started.

That'* one well rusted bolt. Are you going to inspect the others?

I'm going to order a Optional Performance repair kit. That will replace both sides of the front.

I thought I noticed a missing end link in your grease up writeup

Yep, same picture, I just added a circle around the zerk and renamed it.

Didn't know Pontiac made trucks...LOL!

Good job on the dent though. I know I couldn't do that.

It'* a Montana, actually a minivan, but looks and drives like a truck with sliding doors.

I figured as much, I knew the closest thing they make to a truck is a crossover.

Dan.. I've found Autozone frequently stocks the ES link kits. 8105 should be front and 8120 is the other. Urethane for a stiffer ride.

u still use a grease gun and put grease in your suspension bearings? didnt they do that in like the 50'* and 60'*?