Bumper/Fender Allignment troubles...

[SargePepper]

Hi all, I am here today to pleed for your help. I have a problem that I am pretty sure I can fix myself without taking the car into a shop. However, I am not mechanically inclined (til recently, I never had a car, not even a family car) so my car knowledge is limited. My question involves my 1990 celica. On the drivers side, the fender and the bumper are not lined up. i think this happened a week or so ago when i parked a little too far over a parking block, and on the way pulling out, the block lurched something under the bumper. Here are some pics of the passengers side, so you can see how it is alligned correctly... http://us.f3.yahoofs.com/users/42c45...1mFxCBgTzNIL3U http://us.f3.yahoofs.com/users/42c45...ddFxCBF1SZmP99 and here is how the other side looks... http://us.f3.yahoofs.com/users/42c45...ddFxCB9Xld7YY9 http://us.f3.yahoofs.com/users/42c45...1mFxCBLinlkCei http://us.f3.yahoofs.com/users/42c45...1mFxCBnpMNja4P
I don't believe it was hit, because theres no evidence of scratches at all. I just know that its not alligned and I cant just easily "push" it into the right position. I do know that a screw attached to the fender ripped through a screw-hole on the bumper (some kind of plastic/rubbery material on the bumper underside). I removed a screw and a piece of plasted from the opening because i thought i could force it back in, and i thought that they were pushed into the way. I believe i was wrong, but those can be put back in fairly easily i think. However, i cannot simply force the bumper back into the right position at this point. Any suggestions are welcome, thanks a lot.

-Sarge

[flex-appeal]

Well, the pics you posted didnt work for me. But in any case, the bumper on my 90 Celica is not screwed on, it is clipped on. The main clips are on the side, there is also a row of plastic fasteners inside the grill area at the top. If its out of alignment its possible that it just got unclipped. This is what the car looks like without the bumper :



Im not sure what screw you are referring to, but the bumper is attached in the following areas

1. Clips on the sides, see the two plastic things in the pic
2. Row of plastic clips pressed upwards into the main metal bar - non weight bearing, i didnt replace mine after removing them
3. Underbody tray is screwed into the underside of the bumper - again, non weight bearing but can rattle if its not secured.

To unclip you need to first unscrew the underbody tray so that it doesnt interfere.Then wrap the end of a long screwdriver with tape so that it doesnt damage the soft surface of the plastic. Then just prise it off, use the pic to see hwere the clips are. Once unclipped you can reallign it and clip it back. Mine was only clipped on one clip when i first re-installed it after respraying, and it stayed on perfectly well - just crooked. So its possible that this is the culprit. Let me know if you need more pics.