Worth repairing car?

Discussion in 'Technical' started by Hellsheep, Apr 20, 2016.

  1. Hellsheep

    Hellsheep Administrator Staff Member

    G'day,

    So as some would already know I bought a Zed at a pretty good price recently, been working on repairing small things to get it registered (has to go over the pits in the NT or be given a green slip by a certified mechanic) and finally today I managed to get a new bonnet/front fender that wasn't damaged.

    The Zed I had appears to previously have been involved in what seemed like a minor accident. After replacing the fender and bonnet today with non bent ones it was obvious the cars rails/chassis/frame or whatever the Zed has seems bent in some way. The bonnet on the drivers side sits flush with the fender, looks all good. On the passenger side there is a rather noticeable gap which increases the closer to the front of the car (where the impact would have been)

    I'll likely go get a quote anyway to see what someone locally thinks about repairs but I wanted other peoples opinions on whether this can be repaired, or seems easily repairable at a glance, or whether this is not worth the $2k I paid for the car and I should just part it out and spend the money elsewhere/find a rolling shell of another 300zx and put everything that works and isn't damaged into it instead.

    Attached are some pics hopefully showing the gap I am talking about.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  2. Shane001

    Shane001 Well-Known Member

    U 100% you have the bonnet and guard lined up right?

    With the guard off if there was rail damage you should be able to see it, either twisting or splitting of the seems. Also check from underneath.
     
  3. Hellsheep

    Hellsheep Administrator Staff Member

    I'll double check again tomorrow but if it wasn't lined up all the bolts wouldnt be done up either without bending something. The bonnet doesn't scrape or scratch either side. It lines up with the latch. There is minor damage to the headlight housing and nose panel member if you look closely in one of the pics, I do believe that it's bent downwards towards the ground somehow. I'll take another pic tomorrow of the headlight housing to show the damage there.
     
  4. Shane001

    Shane001 Well-Known Member

    If it is bent down that much you should be able to see signs of it in the rails.
     
  5. Hellsheep

    Hellsheep Administrator Staff Member

    Alright I'll try have a good look then and look underneath too :) cheers.
     
  6. shineyzx

    shineyzx Member

    Put the bonnet on a flat surface see if it is bent.
     
  7. AndyMac

    AndyMac Better than you

    If your bolton bodywork is straight, and it's actually the chassis, then no, it's not worth repairing. As the others have said, make sure your panels are straight and check the front chassis rails, they'll be bent to the naked eye.

    The cost to straighten the chassis will be prohibitive vs the price of a straight car. Part out the good bits and re-coup your cash, then wreck the car.

     
  8. pmac

    pmac Z,, IT'S COMPLICATED!!!!!

    Fitting ?

    The fact that the bonnet is sitting high may not be too much to worry about, it is really the gap between the guard and the bonnet when you push the bonnet down flush that you need to look at.

    The support that holds the bonnet latch may need some work too, seem to remember from you other photos it looked a bit out of shape.

    Take a photo from front on with the bonnet pushed down flush then we should be able to get a better idea. Had to give my bonnet a fit of a twist to get it to sit flat and I did space the guard up with some penny washers to get it sitting perfect.
    Also if the front bar support section fitted without any alignment issues that is an indication that the chassis rails have not been spread apart at least.
     
  9. East Coast Z

    East Coast Z Well-Known Member

    Check the condition of the engine before progressing with body repairs.
    If the engine's no good the repair costs are going to escalate significantly.

    If you have a look the NISSAN Factory Service Manual, in the BODY Section, there are diagrams with measurements to check the body alignment.
     
  10. pmac

    pmac Z,, IT'S COMPLICATED!!!!!

    I started off with this. So I'm pretty sure yours is not so bad, keep thinking at keep at it.

    [​IMG]
     
  11. East Coast Z

    East Coast Z Well-Known Member

    How much would you estimate you have invested in this vehicle?
     
  12. Hellsheep

    Hellsheep Administrator Staff Member

    Assuming you are talking to me, I spent $2200 to buy it, no more than $600 on parts for it so far and with the last of those parts arriving sometime next week, the car should be registerable. It drives and runs okay, I still need to compression test the engine which hopefully I'll do this weekend. And I need to verify what damage has occurred.

    So overall for the car and parts $2800 so far I would say. Tools have cost me a bit but they are all tools I can use on other cars or projects too.
     
  13. mtopxsecret6

    mtopxsecret6 Member

    I like those wheels... just saying... getting in first...hint hint.. haha
     
  14. East Coast Z

    East Coast Z Well-Known Member

    Apologies.....

    I should have quoted, as the question was directed to pmac.
     
  15. Fists

    Fists Well-Known Member

    I can see in the photos the headlight surround has taken a fair hit, looks like it might have run up the back of a ute or 4wd so all of the damage may be above the rail. The headlight surround is also part of the quarter panel support so that will definitely be part of the issue.
     
  16. Hellsheep

    Hellsheep Administrator Staff Member

    So tonight I managed to read the advice in this thread, take it on board and get some more pictures. Thanks to those who suggested the latch itself may be damaged, I removed the latch entirely and got the bonnet to sit flush mostly (other than right next to the front headlight housing as there is definitely a slight downward bend of the housing itself which I already knew)

    There is a pic here showing the bonnet now with no gap on either side with the latch removed, turns out the latch is damaged which prevents the mechanism from operating correctly and the latch is also slightly bent in the direction which makes the bonnet not quite sit flush on that passenger side.

    I've attached pictures of the rest of the damage that I can see, and one showing the car entire front showing it looks pretty straight. I also had no issues getting that front bumper fibreglass support on so they're definitely not pushed apart or together.

    Looking at this now, it looks pretty much like the only major damage is isolated to that headlight housing and if I can get that fixed up I shouldn't have any further issues?

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  17. geron

    geron National Petroleum Equipm

    A panel beater can replace the whole headlight base and fix the bonnet. No big deal for them to fix this. Headlight base should be around 200 bucks new from Nissan. + labour.
     
  18. Fists

    Fists Well-Known Member

    This bit is a bit more of an issue, harder to straighten out and may indicate that wheel alignment will be affected. You'll want to follow that crease around and see how far it spreads and if there's others around that wheel arch. You can see the front of the chassis in the pics and they obviously haven't taken the hit directly although the one on that side may have bowed or cracked depending on how much force was pushing down on that side. Also have a good look at the radiator support and other braces under the car to see if they've moved, you end up needing adjustable suspension arms if those bit bend.

    [​IMG]

    If you can find another whole car that's straight for the price you paid for that one that wouldn't be a bad choice, or there are cheap shells around. Not sure how easy it will be to get one without silly shipping costs in NT though, very easy to find in the east cost cities.
     
  19. pmac

    pmac Z,, IT'S COMPLICATED!!!!!

    I would agree with Hellsheep, looks like the damage is mainly that headlight surround. Looks much better with the bonnet sitting down.
    So now you need to get all your mounting points back to their correct locations. If you get a centre nose panel a headlight and bumper you will then be able to work out where everything is meant to be.
    I levelled my car first going off the front cross member (do not go off the radiator support ). Then you can check your chassis rails, top cross member, mounting points for guard's etc.

    FITS, as to cost of my repairs, $400 for the front screen, $300 for all other second hand parts.
    If you want an amount for my total rebuild ask in my rebuild section.
     
  20. Hellsheep

    Hellsheep Administrator Staff Member

    I did a compression test today, albeit with a cheap $50 tester from Supercheap Auto.

    Came back with the following results:

    Cylinder 1: 151
    Cylinder 2: 150
    Cylinder 3: 150
    Cylinder 4: 140
    Cylinder 5: 151
    Cylinder 6: 150

    The 151's are approx 151 because the needle was slightly in between 150 and 155ish but the gauge isn't very accurate. Could be like 152 or 153 but it's no more than that I'd say.
     

Share This Page