Veloster N Project Rebuilt Part 2: The tear down – “It’s worse than is looks”. In starting the tear down, I was a little too optimistic thinking it wasn’t going to be so bad because the car started. As I’m taking each damaged part off the car, I’m quickly finding out that I was very wrong.
Looking at the damage, the driver side frame, lower suspension control arm and front crash bar took the brunt of the impact. I have to say Hyundai did really well in the safety of the car since nothing made it to the driver other than the Airbag.
What’s broken
The obvious victims of the carnage are the bumper, radiator, and headlights which is standard in front collisions. Surprisingly the A/C condenser is damaged but working, which I won’t complain as A/C parts and charging cost lots of money. In looking deeper I found that the impact pushed the radiator assembly so hard that it broke the intake manifold along with damaging the charge pipe and boost sensor.
As for the radiator, the impact ripped off the harness connector along with cutting and damaging other wiring. As I’m continuing the teardown, it seems that the more I looked, the more parts I found broken. The battery tray was damaged enough where the battery was no longer held, the fuse box was cracked by the pressure of the side impact, the driver side headlight is in pieces, and core support broken in half. I can’t find the horn so I’m assuming it’s been ripped out and lying somewhere and there is also the airbag and seat belt restraint system. Needless to say I have my work cut out for me.
Plans and Priorities
With the Veloster N teardown done, I salvaged whatever parts could be saved. Now, the next step is making a list of parts and looking online to find them either used or new. Since the car is so new it’s hard to find aftermarket parts for the car, so I may be looking to ebay and the dealer as my main sources which will kill the budget for the rebuild. For now however, the plan is to make sure the car runs and drives properly. I will start with the lower suspension a-arm so the wheel is straight again since the older control arm was so bent it pushed the wheel to the rear frame. Engine wise, intake manifold and radiator assembly along with any sensors so I can start the car and make sure the engine is ok, well time to order parts and wait for them to arrive.
Stay Tuned…
