Z-TARD Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 I bought this Z on Ebay about a year and a half ago: The Ebay description of course neglected to mention tiny details like major collision damage, etc. For $260.00, I wasn't really complaining. The general appearance of the car, along with it's nearly complete lack of straight sheetmetal quickly earned it the nickname of "The Turd". At some point a previous owner had decided to retrofit it with a sunroof, which another owner had sealed shut with what looks like Henry's roofing compoud, and also painted it black on the inside. Evidently Vampires dig first gen Z's.... Over the last year and a half I've made several trips to Tucson, the city where I purchased it, and where it still resides, to restore it to a driveable and presentable condition. I considered bringing it to San Diego, but after driving it the first time I quickly decided against that and it has been parked at my brothers house ever since. The passenger side door was a major concern for me since it had taken a pretty severe hit. Even after replacing the door, it was still mis-aligned by about 2" near the bottom front edge. Using a slide hammer I was able to get it to within about 1.5", but to fully pull it out to the correct placement I had to use the ultimate redneck slide hammer.... The 1998 Jeep cherokee has a listed curb weight of 3,700 pounds. Add a complete set of tools and a driver and this climbs above the 4,000 pound mark. By attaching this via a stout chain to the afflicted area of the Z, and gunning it with about 3 feet of slack in the chain, I was able to pop the door piller area out the additional 1.5" to make the door line up with the fender with only 5 good tugs. Honestly, I think a sixth tug was in order as it was still about 1/4" off, but I broke the chain on the fifth tug and took that as a sign from all that is holy to stop. In retrospect, I'm probably pretty lucky that I didn't exceed the deployment threshold for the airbags during the pulling. I'm not sure how they are triggered, and to be honest I never really gave it any thought until after the fact. Evidently Charles Darwin was smiling at me that day..... Anyway, here are the before and after pics of the project: Passenger door in as purchased condition: Passenger side after installation of "new" door: Pasenger door after pulling with jeep: As of now the car still doesn't run well enough for smog testing and registration, hopefully my next trip out there will take care of that. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubin Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 lookin good... like the rims a lot and the flat black looks pretty cool too good luck with the project Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaleMX Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 Wow, a Jeep. That looks well aligned for such a traumatic experience. Looking good. So what's the plan, LS2? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody 82 ZXT Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 Wow, I would have so left after telling that guy everything I was thinking for wasting my time. But, you didn't and it looks like you making good on your plan to save another Z. Looking good and I like the rims. I've seen and heard about the "Redneck slide hammer" works pretty good. It's amazing what you can get done when you think about it for awhile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-TARD Posted January 28, 2006 Author Share Posted January 28, 2006 If I hadn't already paid for it via Paypal I probably would have walked. It did run well enough to drive the 2 miles to my brothers house, although it left a James Bond style smoke screen behind it for the entire distance. The car was actually from Nebraska of all places, I figured on encountering a lot of rust on it but so far have only found a few spots. The floorboards are good, which is more than I can say for my 240. Of all the sheetmetal on the car that was bunged up, the rear roll pan is flawless. This is the only un restored Z I've seen that has absolutely no damage at all to that area. The rest of the car looked like it was driven off a cliff however. I've been painting everything flat black as I fix or replace it. It's my way of tracking progress. So far I've replaced both fenders, headlight buckets, the hood, and installed a new lower valance which was missing entirely. I found the wheels on ebay kind of on accident, but they were flat black/gunmetal as well so I couldn't pass them up. I'm going to take my 240's bumpers out there on my next trip and fab up some mounts to stick them on in place of the slab'o steel 280 crash bumpers. My plan for this car is to leave the drivetrain pretty much stock, maybe swap in a turbo motor from a ZX down the road. I'll probably end up swaping in a later model T-5 tranny to replace the 5 speed thats in there now. I know it's only a matter of time before 5th gear grenades itself in that thing. At this point I'll be happy just to get it titled and smogged so I can drive it on the road again. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speeder Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 According to a wise(***) friend of mine, if you try to polish a turd all you get is a sh!tty rag.You may prove this person wrong. Good work!. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b__sosick Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 more proof that flat black is just plain bad assed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Here comes trouble Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 And I thought I was the only one to use a tow chain and a another vehicle to pull a dent when the slide hammer was not enuff.............the 'turd" is not that the name given to the first big block (390) Cobra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-TARD Posted January 30, 2006 Author Share Posted January 30, 2006 I should have taken some pictures of the event, it ended up dragging the car sideways about a foot through the dirt. You may not be able to polish a turd, but you can definitely paint them flat black. The good thign about this is that because I have rescued this car from certain death at a crusher, I can drive it like I stole it and not feel bad about it. Once I get it running good again of course. Right now a good stomp on the go pedal only results in lots of stumbling and popping with no discernable increase in speed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed260Z Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 Good job bring that Z back from certain death. At most I would have called it a parts car when I saw it. One quick question though. Why didn't you have your bro take a look at it for before you sent the money? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-TARD Posted February 1, 2006 Author Share Posted February 1, 2006 Good job bring that Z back from certain death. At most I would have called it a parts car when I saw it. One quick question though. Why didn't you have your bro take a look at it for before you sent the money? Thanks Ed. My brother isn't a car guy for the most part, in addition to working nights as well so I didn't want to bother him with it. I think I got my $260 worth, but not much more. I got all the new sheetmetal for it from the junkyard for about another $140. Altogether I'm into this car about $1500 at this point, which isn't to bad for a Z that is for the most part rust free..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Some-Guy Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 haha thats hilarious worked apperntly. altho idd have to say I like the old rims better............................ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heavy85 Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 My brother now has my old GTI which has since been run into a couple times. The last one pushed in the right rear corner - kind of folded it under a couple inches. He chained it to a dumpster and rolled the car forward until it jerked the rear end of the car back up. Took a couple of rolls but worked and with the factory fender flair covers on you cant even tell. So if your in a pinch and are lacking a Jeep a dumpster can work. Cameron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-TARD Posted February 7, 2006 Author Share Posted February 7, 2006 My brother now has my old GTI which has since been run into a couple times. The last one pushed in the right rear corner - kind of folded it under a couple inches. He chained it to a dumpster and rolled the car forward until it jerked the rear end of the car back up. Took a couple of rolls but worked and with the factory fender flair covers on you cant even tell. So if your in a pinch and are lacking a Jeep a dumpster can work. Cameron Awesome! I'm thinking that if I had parked my car anywhere near a dumpster, the trash guy probably would have picked it up along with the trash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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