I have to replace a Radiator Support, Hood & Bumper on a 95 civic. Can you guys give me any pitfalls to watch out for. Is this a difficult procedure?

Other than a couple of hoses is there any major dissasembly that will have to take place for the rad support?

From what I gather the bumpers are 3 pieces: metal, foam & a plastic cover. Is that correct?


I'm a civic newbie. Thanks for your help.

Here is a pic of the car.....

 

The pitfall will be when you find that the front frame rails are bent down and nothing lines up and the hood wont close. It looks like the headlights are sucked in, so that means the frame is probably pushed back. It takes literally nothing to crumple the frame on these cars.

 

boiler, thanks for your input.
The main impact was direct in the center, this car rear-ended something with a trailer hitch. You can see where it cracked the bumper.
(I'm really hoping that the frame rails aren't bent)
The radiator itself was not broken or leaking, everything else appears to be functioning properly.

 

Looks familiar, I rear ended an actual flatbed trailer on the interstate (dang backed up onramp). By the time I hit the brakes and got to him I was only going 5mph squarely, so close but no cigar. It didn't get my hood or fenders, but it pushed both my rails down, sucks! Look at the bottom of both rails behind the wheel well, if it looks crumpled you may be out of luck.

 

Like the other guy said, that was actually a rather hard hit, it just doesn't look that way since it's so evenly distributed. The trailer hitch punched a hole in the bumper but that's the least of your worries. Being on the left side it may have broken the A/C condenser instead of the radiator.

 

I going to have another look at the car tomorrow. I plan on inspecting the frame rails closer. Is that something I'll be able to see with out pulling anything off?


MK- thanks for the heads up on the A/C, I'll check that out too.

 

Dirty-

Replacing the front bumper and hood on a '95 Civic is not too difficult. Here are the procedures for performing these jobs:


-Front bumper-


1) Remove the upper bumper stiffener.

2) Remove the front spoiler.

3) Remove the mounting screws on each side of the car that hold the bumper to the inner fender well.

4) Remove the two lower mounting bolts and the four bumper beam mounting bolts.

5) Lift the bumper assembly slightly and slide it forward off of the vehicle.

Note: On each side of the front fender is a locating slide assembly, be sure to slide the bumper off of this.


*diagram courtesy of hondapartsnow.com; all rights reserved


-Installation-

1) Install the bumper by sliding back into position. Make sure that the slide clips catch. The bumper needs to be lifted slightly so that the beam hooks catch the body.

2) Install the bumper beam mounting bolts and tighten them to 16 ft. lbs. (22 Nm).


-Hood-


1) Open the hood and protect the body with covers to protect the painted surfaces.

2) Mark with a permanent felt tip pen the hood hinge locations on the hood for proper installation.

3) Holding both sides of the hood, unscrew the bolts securing the hinge to the hood. This operation requires a helper.

4) Install the hood in position, align the marks made during removal and install the retaining bolts.

5) Tighten the hood retaining bolts to 7 ft. lbs. (10 Nm). Adjust the hood as needed.

6) In the interior of the car, remove the bolts that retain the hood latch handle assembly and disconnect the opener cable.

7) Remove the front bumper assembly.

8) Remove the hood latch mounting bolts and disconnect the cable.

9) Remove the drivers side inner fender shield and pull the cable through the wheel well.

Note: Securely tie a rope to the end of the cable before pulling it through, this will allow you to pull the new cable into position.

10) Install the new cable in position. Install the inner fender shield.

11) Install the cable at the hood latch and install the latch retaining bolts. Tighten the bolts to 7 ft. lbs. (10 Nm).

12) Connect the cable at the release assembly inside the vehicle and install the release assembly retaining bolts. Adjust the hood latch as needed.


Good luck man!

 

Tech Talk
Thanks a lot for your information, That is great. You just helped me out big time!