1986 crown Victoria ltd VS Bambi.

[DrHax]

Hi guys. Long time no speak. I know I feel bad about that, but life's been throwing me some curve balls. Well now it loony tuned me with an anvil.

My daily driver Vic just nailed a deer head on doing 60mph at 11 pm tonight. The deer thankfully didn't go through my windshield, or my radiator. Instead it hit the bumper got sucked under the drivers tire and out through the passengers rear.

From what I can see when I stopped at a gas station a few miles away is my drives side headlights are FUBAR. And the bezel is non existent and Bambi took out the turn signals.

Amazingly enough no damage to the bumper, or the nose but I think my grill is cracked. If anybody has any spare parts let me know.

I'll inspect it more in the morning when I can actually see it. I just pray the damage is only cosmetic.

I'll see if I can post up pictures.. My poor damn car.

[knucklehead0202]

Sorry to hear that buddy, I know the feeling. If you had an 88-91 with side or rear damage I could sort you out. Just crashed my '90 a few weeks ago and the front end is shithoused. I'm sure there's collectively enough stuff around to get you fixed up. Best of luck and hope it comes together quickly for you.

[sly]

The bumpers on these cars are pretty damn stout.

[Mainemantom]

Sorry about your CV. Deer are stupid animals ! At least you were driving a big sturdy car.

[DrHax]

Got to see the damage fully this morning. Bezel is destroyed. Headlights are looking at each other in a V so the metal parts are bent and my turn signal on the drivers side is obliterated with the light beside it being cracked. Also this enlarged the crack in my windshield considerably

[sly]

The header panel is probably damaged. Each headlight bucket should have 2 springs on them. Make sure they're still there. If you've only got one, that would be why it's staring at the other light. Check the header panel behind the buckets in case it just managed to pop the springs loose and it's still actually okay.

[Tiggie]

Header panel swap time. If your fenders and hood are good. check out car-part.com and look for a loaded header panel. Merc or aero box will work too if you change the hood and bumper also.

When I hit a deer a few years back it took two headlights on impact and another was hanging by the wire. So I drove home with one headlight up in the trees and on pointed at the ground.

If you have comprehensive, it will cover it.

[sly]

[knucklehead0202]

^^^Wise-arse. If we're doing that, you can have my header panel!

[DrHax]

Photo time.
This is what I was greeted with after stopping.

And this is what I was greeted with this morning

Close up.


And here is my temporary fix



I am seriously considering picking up a bullbar and modifying it to fit my car after this bullshit. Theres range rover defender one on craigslist for cheap which is boxy enough... Since my commute is 27 miles in deer country. I've seen 7 on the way to work and I've only been working for two weeks and the 8th time I saw one it was going under my car.

Luckily nothing was damaged one of the snap in headlight mounts snaps broke but two screws fixed that problem. I bought new headlights and turn signal bulbs. And I messaged the guy on craigslist about the bullbar.

[His Royal Ghostliness]

Do the bullbar thing. It's been working for one of our long-term members for quite a while now, once he even sent the deer flying over his car with zero damage to the vehicle itself.

[DrHax]

I've done research on it And if mounted correctly it will deflect anything.
.that being said most people just bolt theirs to the bumper. Well then it just folds down. .

Ive been to aussy land and seen how they mount shit there to take out roos. Also I am a welder by training. So I think I can think of something. Also I think an 80s land rover guard is a right starting point.

My mother is supportive of this idea. In fact she really wants to put a deer sticker on my fender like a WW2 fighter plane kill.

In the mean time does any body have the bezel and the lens that got obliterated?

[WagonMan]

I have a MINT headlight door with the parking lights. Contact me, veightpete@gmail.com WagonMan

[His Royal Ghostliness]

I've done research on it And if mounted correctly it will deflect anything.
.that being said most people just bolt theirs to the bumper. Well then it just folds down. .

Ive been to aussy land and seen how they mount shit there to take out roos. Also I am a welder by training. So I think I can think of something. Also I think an 80s land rover guard is a right starting point.

Both of my own front guards are patterned after the roo bars the Aussie Outback truckies run, they're even angled in a way that keeps the animals from being sent up and over the hood and into the windshield. But both are installed on trucks and thus quite tall, with a passenger car you're hitting the large animal in the legs pretty much regardless of how your roo bar is designed, so what works very well for a road train prime mover even properly scaled down may not work well on a car. Regardless, you are correct about the bumper mounting, but keep in mind your car's bumpers are a two-piece design, and if both pieces are steel the entire bumper is actually quite resistant to twisting. Still you'll need to do some reinforcements between the two pieces to make sure the twist doesn't happen, but that shouldn't be hard for someone with your skills. I'd be curious as to what you come up with, and I'm sure other folks here will be as well

[Mainemantom]

I see your in Minnesota. Yep deer country. I used to special order my new Ford and Mercurys in Wadena. Thousands cheaper than in Ca. That was in the 80s. Owned property 27 miles from International Falls. Mighty cold there !!
Deer are really bad to hit but hitting a moose is horrible. At least you are not hurt.