Gap under headlights

Suzie-Q · Post by **Suzie-Q** » Fri Aug 26, 2005 9:11 am

I was washing my car today when I actually stopped to look at it closely. While I was washing the front I realized that there is about a 3/4" gap between the bottom of my headlights and the top of my bumper. My headlights are perfectly aimed and the only thing I can think of that could have an affect would be the fact that my car got backed into by a car going approximately 15 mph (my passenger side front quarter panel got buckled out a little bit). Is the fender bender responsible for the gap? And outside of replacing the bumper, it the problem easily fixable?

Manarius · Post by **Manarius** » Fri Aug 26, 2005 2:04 pm

My car has a similar gap..I don't think it's 3/4" though. It's probably closer to 1/4".

IronMonkeyL255 · Post by **IronMonkeyL255** » Fri Aug 26, 2005 4:22 pm

Same here (about 1/4").

LaureltheQueen · Post by **LaureltheQueen** » Fri Aug 26, 2005 4:35 pm

sounds like your subframe may have been bent down at some point.

professor · Post by **professor** » Fri Aug 26, 2005 6:51 pm

solution: the bodyman's friend

you'll need to remove the bumper cover and possibly beam to see what's bent under there, more than likely

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Fri Aug 26, 2005 10:16 pm

My bumper is slightly tilted down from impacting huge chunks of snow kicked off by plows on the highway ... on purpose. I definitely had a larger gap before I did the headlight swap. If the sides of your bumper aren't real tight to the fender then it's not where it should be.

Steve

Suzie-Q · Post by **Suzie-Q** » Sat Aug 27, 2005 5:51 am

here's another thing: the bracket/clip on the bottom of my grill is broken in half so a screw no longer holds my grill onto my car. the grill is being held on to the engine area by two zip ties

i think this might have happened when i got backed into. maybe the bumper got pushed down and broke the clip. it's nothing too major, right? nothing's rusting or falling off so i think it'll be okay.

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Sat Aug 27, 2005 6:35 am

The grille should have 7 clips that hold it in - 4 on top, 3 on the bottom. There are a couple of ways to remove them, but they can only be reused so many times and they do suffer from environmental exposure over time. Putting a zip tie through the holes in the grille and body that the clips should go through would be fine. You don't need all 7 either.

Steve

Suzie-Q · Post by **Suzie-Q** » Sat Aug 27, 2005 9:35 am

yeah, all the clips have been broken. understandable, since my car is 15 years old! i only have two zip ties on the top holding the grill on, so it doesn't look too bad. plus, they're black, so they blend in with the grill nicely

. i plan on getting a new grill anyway, so the problem will be solved. i think replacing the bumper would be unnecessary and not worthwhile. it gives my car character

Manarius · Post by **Manarius** » Sat Aug 27, 2005 2:18 pm

Suzie-Q wrote:yeah, all the clips have been broken. understandable, since my car is 15 years old!

My car turns 15 in December, and I have 6/7 clips (my dad broke one when he was taking off the grille)

IronMonkeyL255 · Post by **IronMonkeyL255** » Sat Aug 27, 2005 3:49 pm

Booya!!!!

My car was 15 in June and still has all the clips.

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Sat Aug 27, 2005 4:01 pm

You shouldn't have to replace the bumper if it's pointed down as the support under it is what's bent. Removing the bumper cover and bending it back up (with a jack under it?) would likely fix it. At some point I'll get around to it myself.

Steve

TheSubaruJunkie · Post by **TheSubaruJunkie** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 8:39 pm

The Front bumper on my Wagon is sagging, looks like it had been backed into or something. No damage to the bumper, but there is a noticeable gap between the headlights and the top of the bumper.

I really want to repair this as it makes my car look like crap.

Does this mean I need to remove the bumper and bend something back in place? Or are there bolts that hold the bumper and I can losen and just adjust it?

-Brian

ericem · Post by **ericem** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 10:45 pm

TheSubaruJunkie wrote:The Front bumper on my Wagon is sagging, looks like it had been backed into or something. No damage to the bumper, but there is a noticeable gap between the headlights and the top of the bumper.

I really want to repair this as it makes my car look like crap.

Does this mean I need to remove the bumper and bend something back in place? Or are there bolts that hold the bumper and I can losen and just adjust it?

-Brian

ur car looks real good, i like white, but then again i like silver, but then again i need to align my doors, get two new front fenders,a bumper, a hoob, and new corner lights , a new rear bumper, the rear trunch lid needs to be sanded, and repainted, and my doors need some bondo, and some sanding, so that i guess could cause the car to looks a little crappy

TheSubaruJunkie · Post by **TheSubaruJunkie** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 11:02 pm

Yeah the car looks great, but that gap under the headlights is an eyesore. I have plans to install a modified grill, and I want to install some foglights in the bumper... but I wanna take care of the bumper 1st.

-Brian

ericS2the6 · Post by **ericS2the6** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 4:03 am

holy carp!

first thing u need to do is clean those headlights. those are dangerously hazy. can you even see at night!?

TheSubaruJunkie · Post by **TheSubaruJunkie** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 4:54 pm

nope, i cant see at night. And yes, I plan on doing that. I found a pair on ebay, but I think i'll try cleaning these 1st.

Regardless... can we stick to the topic at hand? What all am I looking at in order to bring my bumper back up?

-Brian

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Gap under headlights

Gap under headlights