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Yesterday evening a deer ran out into the road right in front of me while I was going 55mph. I was able to slow down a little to about 40 before I hit it with the driver side front corner:
I was able to drive it home with the fender liner slightly rubbing on the tire. The deer ran off.
Today i removed the bumper and fender to see what damage lies underneath. The impact pushed the "frame" at the top of the radiator out of square, the top bar was pushed toward the passenger side about 3/4 inch. I suspected this because the fit of the passenger side headlight showed a gap where there was none before. Also, I measured some points on one of my other HHRs to compare.
Here is the front "frame":
The driver side of the top bar of the frame is also pushed down a little.
I'm not sure what I am going to do at this point. I may try to bend it back with a hydraulic ram setup from HF. If I can get it back close to square I can get a bumper and hood from a junkyard pretty cheap.
If not, looks like it might get parked behind the barn as a parts car and I will need to get another HHR from down south.
If you are a welder type, you can get the pieces and weld it in. I have used a come along and a tree to straighten on up on my Mazda. Well, I learned not to use a chain link fence post, anyway.
From the picture the area is pushed down and to the right. Pull or push in the opposite direction. Pulling looks like a better way to go. Make sure you support the other side as you do it. Good luck.
