Hatchback front on my 08 sedan

So, I want to change the (currently non existent) front end of my 08 aveo sedan, to the front end of the 08 - 09 hatchback. The way the grill is so much longer, and the fogs, and the entire elongation and slight widening of the front. I thought I could just buy the parts that go on the hatchback and substitute those for the ones from my sedan - Im not overly car savvy - until my husband pointed out that they may not fit. I have done everything except buy the parts and hope! I do not have access to the parts for measuring and calculating the bolt wholes, or for direct comparison, so does anyone know if this is possible without replacing the ENTIRE front clip. Also, does anyone know if I will need to add skirts to the sides and back, or also replace the back bumper to keep the car looking straight and even? I appreciate all the help, and look forward to getting this project underway!!

As a member on here pointed out before, the internal frame is the same. You should be able to replace the whole front end if you're getting the bumper fascia, fenders, headlights, grill, hood, and possibly fog lights if you're getting those too. And the ones you're talking about are 09-10 hatchbacks... 08 hatchback is even older style than the one you have on your car right now.

from what i have seen, the subassembly is the same, you can swap between them (and the earlier front)

i would start with the hood and bumper.. and see if your headlights and fenders line up. that would be a cool look, i am fairly certain they would. unfortunately the hatch front bumper is only available oem or used. where the sedan bumper is available in aftermarket.. $$ savings.

if you do the whole front you need the fenders, hood, headlights, bumper and grills. Most of the hardware will interchange, but the inner structure of the foglight mounting, lower grills etc is different.

Thank you very much! I think it will look fab! I agree with the starting with hood and bumper. And yes you are right, I do man the 09-10 front! I think the look will really st my aveo apart from the e100's i pass daily! lol I apologize for not seeing the first post that pointed out that the sub was the same. When I searched for post telling me that I couldn't find anything! I think adding the fog lights, despite the complications which I am certain we will overcome with some handy work, will really pull it together!! :D

I do hate that the 09 bumper isnt avail aftermarket just yet that I can find, but the crazy costs are worth the look. With the price I paid for the car, I could do just about any mod and still be under market. Although I intend to drive her until she literally falls apart! :wink:

By the way serega, I love your car! It is beautiful! =D>

i doubt there will be an aftermarket bumper for the new hatch, it would have to have the bowtie molded into it, and the aftermarket companies don't have those rights.. from my experience.

i have not personally seen aftermarket bumpers that include trademarked writing or symbols on them. And even recall a problem once where we installed an aftermarket saturn bumper on a car and it didnt have the "saturn" letter impressions to replace the chrome letters.. it wasnt long after that (insurance company was furious) that i stopped seeing availability of bumpers with specific text or shapes..

You are right. Used or from chevy is all i can find really. I am certain I can figure out where to get the parts. With such a big change it will take a lot of parts but thats ok. I am just glad Im not crazy and that there are others who agree it will be cute and that its totally possible! Now i just have to figure out if the sides will stay the same, but after looking i think they will still be even with the newer front end. Then of course I have to figure out if i want to stick with OEM headlights or maybe change to halos or the wavy audi style... ahhh the decisions.... Cannot wait to see how this project goes, might actually even help my husband with this one!! :wink:

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Originally Posted by tatas_auto

By the way serega, I love your car! It is beautiful! =D>

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Thank you. 8)

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Originally Posted by petrified.rabbit

i doubt there will be an aftermarket bumper for the new hatch, it would have to have the bowtie molded into it, and the aftermarket companies don't have those rights.. from my experience.

i have not personally seen aftermarket bumpers that include trademarked writing or symbols on them. And even recall a problem once where we installed an aftermarket saturn bumper on a car and it didnt have the "saturn" letter impressions to replace the chrome letters.. it wasnt long after that (insurance company was furious) that i stopped seeing availability of bumpers with specific text or shapes..

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rabbit, how about the bumpers that would delete the bowtie altogether, would those be legal? :mrgreen:

And there is a factory body kit, or rather lips-and-side-skirt kit, available for the 09-10 hatchback, but it still requires your bumper to be there. You can see it here: http://www.chevrolet.co.uk/owners-area/ ... tails.html - when you get to the page, click on the body kit in the left column (the image will be the same as the one attached to the post).

if they had an aftermarket bumper for the hatch without the emblem molded in, it would be on my car by now :P

op- there are no headlight options like you listed for the 09 up hatch.. just factory, and what you do yourself.

Thanks! Not a bad , kit! I pretty much figured that any sort of decent headlight would be a whole separate project. But that's ok, my husband says he can do it just about any way I want it. I will probably save that for last, because it isnt really one of the necessary improvements, and I am certain will a be pricey.

Does anyone know of a good custom car seat cover place, preferably around GA, or has anyone seen breast cancer awareness seat covers anywhere?

I do wonder if the front end swap will eliminate the howl... I dont think mud flaps would be a good look for my car... [-X

This topic brings up a similar question of mine. My GF has an '06 Aveo hatch and she's been wanting to switch the front to the front end of the '09-'10 hatchback, but I wasn't sure it'd swap over so easily. Would anyone care to clarify?

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Originally Posted by tatas_auto

Does anyone know of a good custom car seat cover place, preferably around GA, or has anyone seen breast cancer awareness seat covers anywhere?

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Car seat covers are not a very good idea with the seats that have airbags in them... at least so they say. I know people who still do it, but use it at your own risk. The custom seat cover place should be able to shine more light on that issue.

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Originally Posted by Z34guy

This topic brings up a similar question of mine. My GF has an '06 Aveo hatch and she's been wanting to switch the front to the front end of the '09-'10 hatchback, but I wasn't sure it'd swap over so easily. Would anyone care to clarify?

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like rabbit said above, the subframe is the same. You'll need all the parts listed above though: hood, bumper, fenders, headlights, and foglights if you're interested in having those...

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Originally Posted by serega12

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Originally Posted by Z34guy

This topic brings up a similar question of mine. My GF has an '06 Aveo hatch and she's been wanting to switch the front to the front end of the '09-'10 hatchback, but I wasn't sure it'd swap over so easily. Would anyone care to clarify?

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like rabbit said above, the subframe is the same. You'll need all the parts listed above though: hood, bumper, fenders, headlights, and foglights if you're interested in having those...

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So it matches up perfectly as long as you have all the front end parts? Seems easy enough.

In theory. petrified.rabbit has more knowledge on this since he worked in the industry for a while fixing/painting cars... 8)

i looked at the body reference charts for the frames, all the measurements were the same.

Ah it is very exciting to know that i am not the only one who loves that front end! I wish you the best and would love to see the results!

as for seats with airbags, at the moment none of my air bags work because the drivers side was deployed when the previous owner wrecked it ( i guess the unhooked them or whatever). But I am on the fence about replacing them and hooking the others back up. But I supposed if I did hook them back up, then instead of seat covers I could completely re upholster or merely make a this that covers the fronts of the seat of the just the headrests. not sure about the solution there, but im certain the answer will come as the money goes... lol...

Thanks for the support and responses guys! I look forward to the million more questions i will find as my project continues!! =D>

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Originally Posted by tatas_auto

Ah it is very exciting to know that i am not the only one who loves that front end! I wish you the best and would love to see the results!

as for seats with airbags, at the moment none of my air bags work because the drivers side was deployed when the previous owner wrecked it ( i guess the unhooked them or whatever). But I am on the fence about replacing them and hooking the others back up. But I supposed if I did hook them back up, then instead of seat covers I could completely re upholster or merely make a this that covers the fronts of the seat of the just the headrests. not sure about the solution there, but im certain the answer will come as the money goes... lol...

Thanks for the support and responses guys! I look forward to the million more questions i will find as my project continues!! =D>

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for safety, I'd have all airbags replaced and hooked up. But I'm anal about safety. The Aveo structure can crumple in a crash so any airbags help. There's a thread somewhere with the crash test videos that illustrate what I'm on about.

A quick search for "Aveo crash test" on YouTube gives you plenty of results too. Good food for thought.

i guess there are just so many arguments for both sides. Ive seen air bags kill people, and ive seen air bags save lives. The only real accident I've ever been in, we were lucky the airbags didn't deploy. Given the angle and my height at the time, it would have broken my neck. But we flipped it off an embankment, and I was a lot shorter then.

I have seen seatbelts kill too, but I still wear mine so I guess we will see how I feel when it really comes down to it. Chances are, theyll be hooked back up, but i won't replace the drivers side. :|

Then you'll get the airbag light (which is probably already on as it is). And it won't go out until you hook all of them back up, unless you pay the guy with a specialized computer a nice fee (close to $50-100) just to turn off the light... IMO it's only worth disconnecting those if you're replacing them with something that can do their job just as well, i.e. racing seats with superior lateral support and a 5 point harness.

i really like your idea of the front end swap, i actually wanted to do the same to my 04 sedan, but i'm short on cash