Strangely there seems to be no other damage to the front from the pot hole.
I put the picture into Photoshop and it looks like the seam ran (and split)
through the wheel well just behind the firewall brace. When one thinks about
where the weight is placed it would seem that it should have folded the
other way.
When I replaced my front clip (leaving the original wheel well and frame
rails) I overlapped the joint by about an inch. In the overlap area I cut 1
" "fingers" and then did a shallow Z bend under the original sheet metal,
like a proper overlap should. This was welded on the top, bottom and along
each finger joint. It probably amounted to about 2-3 linear feet of welds
when done.While I won't be running it into a wall to test it, I don't think
this will be the first area to bend in a collision.
I'm no expert, but I would think that these type of extreme repairs can be
done, but they need to be reinforced properly. Sadly thought, many probably
forgo that for "appearance" sake.
Tom
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