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Ben Fixes a Chevy Volt
Hi Friends,
It's been a while since I've been on here, but I wanted to let you know about my latest project. I've been keeping an eye open for a replacement vehicle for our aging 2004 Prius. A guy I know (let's call him Cris,) drives a 2012 Chevy Volt. He hit a deer, or rather the deer hit him. He got the quote for the body work from the body shop and insurance company, and it came to almost $8000. Since a car like that is worth about $10,000 in my area, the insurance company was just going to pay him. He had the option of buying the "totaled" car from the insurance company for $2750. So, he called me and asked if I wanted a cheap car with body damage, and I said YES! Both driver side doors were damaged, along with some dents in the body around the rear door. The airbags did NOT go off, and the car is otherwise perfectly drivable. Cris replaced the rear door window with some plexiglass, as the window shattered. The front, back, and passenger side of the car were in perfect condition. https://300mpg.org/wp-content/upload...1/IMG_9617.jpg https://300mpg.org/wp-content/upload...1/IMG_9623.jpg https://300mpg.org/wp-content/upload...1/IMG_9626.jpg |
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When I picked up the car, it was pretty dirty.
I also really couldn't tell the condition of the back door. The seller said he hadn't even tried opening it yet, as there was concern about the possibility of it not being able to close again. I had concerns about the back door leaking, and since the car was dirty anyway, I took it to the car wash to find out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjdtHx2QPrM |
The driver's seat had some damage (dog left in the car while the guy ran into a store...) and the seat heater wouldn't work. I pulled the seat out of the car.
The big chore to tackle was removing the doors. The front door didn't open from the outside (but could be opened by climbing in through the passenger seat and unlatching from the inside.) It turned out that the read door didn't open at all. The impact of the deer appeared to have smashed the release mechanism for the door latch. Even when I removed the interior door panel, there was still no way to open the door. So, I cut away at the outside of the door, was able to get at the latch itself, and manually release it. I was then able to completely remove the door. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsuUzAXEQ_c https://300mpg.org/wp-content/upload.../Seat-Torn.jpg https://300mpg.org/wp-content/upload...lled-holes.jpg https://300mpg.org/wp-content/upload...le-grinder.jpg https://300mpg.org/wp-content/upload...2/IMG_3771.jpg https://300mpg.org/wp-content/upload...2/IMG_3770.jpg |
Of course, now I needed some new doors.
Would I go dig through a junkyard and hunt some down? No. This is where things get interesting... I ALREADY owned a 2012 Chevy Volt. The same guy, Cris, had sold me one. His mother drove a Volt and ran a red light with it, smashing the front end into a pickup truck. I bought that salvaged vehicle with the intension of pulling the battery and other usable parts from it, and then selling the rest. I simply haven't talked about that as I've been busy with other projects and hadn't even gotten started on it. Although the front was smashed, the driver seat and both driver side doors were in PERFECT CONDITION! In fact, the car only had 17,000 miles on it when it was salvaged! It was the same make, model, and year as the car I bought. It was even silver! https://300mpg.org/wp-content/upload...2/IMG_0315.jpg So, I headed over to the barn to pull the seat and doors from the salvage car. I already pretty much knew what I was doing from pulling the doors off the other car. With that experience and knowing exactly what tools I needed, I made a pretty quick job of stripping the parts. One odd thing about the salvage car was that it had a green accent color to the interior. My replacement doors and seat won't match the existing black/black-silver interior of the car. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0exCHLghoo |
After that, I installed the new (to me) doors on the car.
They went on pretty easy. The big disappointment was that they were NOT the same color! For whatever reason, GM made two different silver colors (plus a gray!) for the Volt. One is a true silver (Silver ICE?) and the other is silver with a little blue/green tint to it, called Viridian Joule. If you saw the two colors, but just not next to each other, or in different light (or in a dark barn,) you would swear they are the same. Nope. Right next to each other on a car, they certainly are NOT. On the other hand at least they aren't glaringly different like blue doors on a red car! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T34kjNypt-c https://300mpg.org/wp-content/upload...2/IMG_0353.jpg The car still needs a little dent repair, but overall, it's a great improvement and now totally drivable! https://300mpg.org/wp-content/upload...2/IMG_0373.jpg I got the doors on at about 4PM Christmas Eve. We were able to drive it over to relatives for the evening. The idea is that this car will replace our old Prius, which is primarily my wife's car. Since she always wanted it, I put a giant red bow on the car. (Thanks, Photoshop!) Merry Christmas to her! https://300mpg.org/wp-content/upload...lt_red-bow.jpg |
Yeah I would have done exactly the same thing.
How much were the doors? |
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I had to get the driver's door of my 2012 Volt repaired and repainted the Viridian Joule color after I hit it with a big stick while mowing. I just assumed I'd be able to see the difference in the paint since it's such an odd color, but when I got the car back it matched perfectly and you couldn't tell there had ever been work done on it!
Enjoy the Volt, and take better care of it than your buddy and his mom! |
Lucky you. :thumbup:
I am and have been on the lookout for a damaged Volt to ship down here and convert to a pick-em-up truck. If a car is needing significant work done to it, taxes are cheap to import one. Shipping down on a banana boat is cheap, also. Electric vehicles are being allowed lots of leeway. Pres wants to BAN all fossil fuel vehicles. Yeah, right. :rolleyes: A rear end damaged car BODY would be what I am searching for, as long as the frame/running gear is straight. Probably just a dream though. Thanks for posting, Ben. :thumbup: |
The doors and seat were "Free" or a "sunk cost" depending on how you look at it.
I had already bought a crashed Volt (same make/model/year) as a parts vehicle for the battery pack. I pulled the doors from that car. On the original auto body repair estimate the doors were almost $1500 each. The only real money I have into repairs so far is about $15 at Harbor Freight. I still need a can of touch up paint at a minimum, but probably also going to try a little more body work, Bondo, etc. I tried doing a little auto body work myself. I got a "Paint-Less" Dent Repair kit, which you use a hot glue gun to attach a tab to the metal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBDB3RV-tlE https://300mpg.org/wp-content/upload...1/IMG_0413.jpg https://300mpg.org/wp-content/upload...out-of-box.jpg https://300mpg.org/wp-content/upload.../01/Puller.jpg I also ended up removing the interior panel and trying to get at the sheet metal from the inside. I ran a socket extension through and pushed and banged on it to get some of the dent out. When I was done, I had gotten much of the dent out, but that little crease was still hard to get at. Here's a photo with the sun at an extreme angle, so that it really gets shown off. At other angles, it doesn't look as bad. https://300mpg.org/wp-content/upload...1/IMG_3830.jpg |
I didn't have good luck with those DIY dent kits.
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I watched a number of YouTube videos on dent repair. Looks like it's as much of an art as anything else! |
The only way for metal to dent is to stretch. Once deformed, it won't be undeformed. Bondo and paint is how you fix more extensive damage.
If it were me, I wouldn't bother since I don't value vanity much, and the Volt already isn't highly sought for appearances. |
I might have to try to get my son to post pics of his dent pull repairs, after his wife backed her Acadia into the corner of their house. He had a deep crease and other bulges in the rear hatch and taillight area, and also, in a fender from backing into their mailbox post and scraping a crease in the rear quarter panel.
He's not finished yet, but, results are looking pretty good, so far. |
Great deal. Great work. Thorough. Patient. Accepting. Always a model of how its done.
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The real question here is: why does Chris' family have such a penchant for destroying Volts?
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Things happen to cars. If your car happens to be a Volt, things happen to Volts. |
I looked through my scrap pile and found a piece of steel flat stock.
I drilled a couple of holes through it to build a new puller from the left-over parts from the Harbor Freight Puller which I broke. I was able to use the new puller to work on a few of the dents a little more. I was also pretty successful at pulling most of the dents out of the roof with it. https://300mpg.org/wp-content/upload...1/IMG_0450.jpg https://300mpg.org/wp-content/upload...1/IMG_3851.jpg https://300mpg.org/wp-content/upload...1/IMG_3850.jpg https://300mpg.org/wp-content/upload...1/IMG_3858.jpg https://300mpg.org/wp-content/upload...1/IMG_3856.jpg |
That looks a lot better. Can we get a look at the repair without the equipment attached?
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Is that normal hot glue or the high strength version ? For your first time it's looking pretty good, so far. Are you warming up the paint so it doesn't crack as you progress ?
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Very cool work Ben. I've been watching the videos as they come out on YouTube. :thumbup:
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Peak EcoModder
Ben!
This is a fantastic project you've got going. I saw the first vid online before you posted here. I think we have reached peak EcoModder: a member has a "parts Volt" out back that he can use to fix up his "beater Volt". And I thought having a couple of Geo Metros laying around was extravagant! |
The other weird thing is that I had an airbag error light turn on, but not until AFTER I swapped the doors!
After a little work (and input from folks on forums) I was able to discover the issue was because of a sensor on the "Seat Belt Pretensioner", which is a device attached to the seat. The new driver seat for the car was pulled from the parts car, and THAT car had been in a collision. So, the new seat was telling the car the wrong thing! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MAwt6J8u-U I was able to swap the pretensioner from the one seat to the other. It was pretty easy to do, other than it meant pulling the driver seat out of the car one more time! Once everything was plugged back in, the error was cleared! I've now taken the car in for emissions testing and that was the last thing I needed for full and clear title/license/registration/etc. to legally be on the road. The car drives well, and my wife likes the stereo. Here's the part that I had to replace to fix the Airbag error. https://300mpg.org/wp-content/upload...7-1024x683.jpg Here are the most recent photos of the exterior of the car. https://300mpg.org/wp-content/upload...7-1024x768.jpg https://300mpg.org/wp-content/upload...8-1024x768.jpg Those two photos aren't great, as they were taken first thing in the morning, and there's condensation on the car. The roof of the car is SIGNIFICANTLY better looking than it was before. I'm pretty happy with how I improved that. The rear fender still isn't perfect, but a far cry better than what I started with. I still need some touch-up paint in a few spots. I'll probably try a little bondo too sometime, but when the weather is better for it. Still to do: Getting the seats and door interior panels all to match. Future Project: Add a 120/240VAC Power Inverter to run from the car and power my house in a blackout. |
Nice going, Ben.
I meant to ask about airbag problems when I saw the pic of the seat out of the car. I assumed it had a side airbag in it. Some cars will throw a code if you simply power them up with an airbag disconnected. |
"Peak ecomodder." Lol. And so true.
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Next project
Weld volts bumper solid to the unibody and add trailer hitch for ;) |
Yes, I still want to add a hitch to this car.
I still haven't upgraded the interior so that all the door interior panels and seats match. (Been busy with other things.) Overall, the car drives well. The heated steering wheel is really nice in the winter. I like how the back seats fold down dead flat (when the butt cushions are removed.) Kinda wish it was a different color. Off-silver is a very blah color. Love the power locks, timer feature for charging, leather seats, heated seats, good navigation, great stereo (rips CDs.), and "Sport Mode". The few things I don't like about it are similar to the negatives of the Prius. Some bad sight-lines. Thick A-pillars. Weirdly slanted windshield. Poor visibility out the back. Overall so far, it's been a very good car at a great price. Pretty good cargo room too. I can fit a Nissan Leaf drivetrain in the back! https://i0.wp.com/300mpg.org/wp-cont...x768.jpg?ssl=1 |
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