New pics of damaged 240, How would you proceed?

[Guest iskone]

I took some new pics after disasembling most of the front end sheet metal. It's not as bad as I had thought and has given me some hope that she'll (Beatris) will be back on the road some day.

 

The top and bottom core supports seem fine but the top has a bend in it. The bend does not look bad. the frame rails look straight too. I'm going to measure the distance from the firewall to the upper core support to see if it moved forward. I thought it moved but after closer inspection looks like it was just the radiator.

 

My biggest concern is the strength it will have after being repaired. My buddy used to work at a body shop and said they would probably cut out the spot welds and replace the panels. Can that be done on a Z? Yeah. I shoud already know the answer.

 

Priorties are:

Strength

$$$

Length of time

 

I already have another shell. It needs a little work to but nothing major, yet. It sure did feel good to be in a Z when I drove the shell (Emma) home.

 

Thanks

Isk

 

 

 

 

 

 

[crashed240z]

From what I see, I would fix it, It really hasn't recieved a critical amount of damage. That area is not stressed very much and so I don't believe strength is an issue in this case. Cost shouldn't be bad either. This is IMO. I'm no body guy!

I had my frame rails replaced after an accident, depends if you want to keep that particular car. It's easier to fix then replace. good luck which ever you choose

[dj paul]

you have the same grinder as me! =). anyways, this is an easy fix man, take either a piece of cardboard or a large peice of paper and make a few templates of the peices that make that area up. on some 18 gauge metal transfer these templates and cut them out. heat the edges up A LITTLE and beat them out with a body hammer to get your flange type edges that gives it a little more strength. keep that upper frame/vent intake area in take since it doesnt look that bad and straighten it out and measure on the other side how far from the top/bottom it is and just tack it back on there. crashed240z was correct in that this is not a structural important part of the car. no need for great welding skills here, or lots of planning. just get out there and do it!

[bjhines]

I have a white 240Z shell that has been hit in the rear... rust free... too bad you live on the other side of the continent... You could easily cut and paste... so to speak...

 

I would leave the damage ALONE... until you have taken it to a FRAME repair shop... they will get it straight......

then you can decide what to do about pulling the wrinkled metal or replacing it... the point is... once the car is back in square.... you can brace off an area and then cut out the damaged portions...then weld in sections from a donor car... grind seams ...add a little filler ... and there you go.... you could make it nearly impossible to tell the car was ever hit....

[AK-Z]

I have a white 240Z shell that has been hit in the rear... rust free... too bad you live on the other side of the continent... You could easily cut and paste... so to speak...

 

I would leave the damage ALONE... until you have taken it to a FRAME repair shop... they will get it straight......

then you can decide what to do about pulling the wrinkled metal or replacing it... the point is... once the car is back in square.... you can brace off an area and then cut out the damaged portions...then weld in sections from a donor car... grind seams ...add a little filler ... and there you go.... you could make it nearly impossible to tell the car was ever hit....

I agree with taking it to a shop, but its not going to be the same as it was before. My 2nd 280z I got had an accident, head on collision (slight damage to the bumper) and even though that was the case the front half of the frame was bended to one side slightly (about 3 inch).

 

i don't agree with using filler on welds inless its for body work. Spend an extra few dollars and buy some weld seam sealer.

[dj paul]

from what i can tell the frame does not look bent. take some more pics if you can of the right rail in the engine bay by looking at it from the cowl, and then in front looking into the firewall. this looks to be like mostly cosmetic damage, the only thing you will have to be careful with is the front crossmember where the radiator support is, you just need to make sure thats nice and straight. if you wanted to go as far as cuttin out and welding in and entire new rad suppor you could, that would prob be easiest, because it would be hard to form that sloping metal that meets the other side. it could be done but it would look crappy unless done just right.

[AK-Z]

Well i suggest to measure measure measure. Measure from the firewal to the radiator support and measure fro the same point on the firewall to the strut towers.

[Guest iskone]

I'm going to take it to a shop. I'd like to take it tomorrow but I don't think I'll get out of work early enough. The shop I want to take it to is 4 blocks over and 2 blocks down. Why did I mention that? Because I'm thinking about driving it there. It's the only way I can get it there in time.

 

I have some more pics in my album and I'll take some more when I get home since ther will be light out.

 

I plan to take alot of measurements when I get home. I just don't want to make repairs and never have it be the same anyway.

 

Isk

[Guest iskone]

Me and my buddy were looking at the pics over lunch and this one has me thinking it might be faster to just replace the whole inner fender and part of the core support area.

 

 

 

If you look you can see that that the srut tower is pushed in. The inner fneder is in real bad shape right in the corner.

 

What does replace the area to the left of the srut tower to the front and then the sheet metal that is inbetween the upper and lower core supports sound like? I would probably reinforce the upper support.

 

This would be my first atempt at any body work requiring welding. Since this would be poping my welding cherry I'm concerned. Which is why I've been thinking I should just swap a few things out of the 72 into the 71. I could swap the engine and suspension but not the diff. I'm not sure about the camber plates yet. Oh, and I'd have to buy a few bushings as some in the 72 need replacing.

 

 

Isk

[tube80z]

I'm going to take it to a shop. I'd like to take it tomorrow but I don't think I'll get out of work early enough. The shop I want to take it to is 4 blocks over and 2 blocks down. Why did I mention that? Because I'm thinking about driving it there. It's the only way I can get it there in time.

 

Quit stressing -- this is nothing. Take it to a shop and have them pull the corner out and then replace what is mangled too much to fix. If you go somewhere decent they should have the tramming measurements that are needed to verify alignment.

 

I had a car that hit a tree at a hillclimb that had the strut towers pushed back. I fixed it at home, ugly and temporary I might add, and squared it up as best I could. It worked fine and won quite a few races. You don't need another shell. Far worse are fixed all the time.

 

Cary

[AK-Z]

"get out of work early enough" ? just call ahead. Just make sure they fix all that counts, anything that has to do with the allinement.

 

edit: Just noticed thats a strange looking dizzy you have there, custom? how is it driven

[Guest iskone]

Yeah I'm a bitch. I think about my car all the time and it gets my mind moving with all these ideas

 

Can't get out of work enough to take my car to a shop. I've decided to F' it and drive the car to another shop about twice as far (a mile) that is open for a little on Saturdays. This shop is only 2 blocks from the Police Dept. I'll tell them what I want and see how much it costs.

 

Yes, that dizzy is custom. It comes out of a 80's Supra. It is driven by a belt from the crank. Look in my album and there is a ton of picks. I almost completly disasemble it and take pictures. It can be a bitch at times and an angel others.

 

Isk

[proxlamus©]

tube chassis time ! =)

[AK-Z]

tube chassis time ! =)

Thats what I was going to suggest.

[Kennysgreen280zt]

Yeah, a shop should be able to pull that no problem. Here are a few pics of my wreck a year ago. The car was bent to a point that the oil filter was punctured by the motor mount (I think) and the rear of the passenger door came in contact with the door jam and would not open. Suspension was all bent up too. I had Hoey's (sp) Autobody in olympia pull mine. It ended up taking them 7 hours on the rack to get it all straight. Looks almost as good as new.

 

I would just pay to get your car fixed rather than having to swap all the stuff onto a new shell. just my opinion though.

 

 

[Guest iskone]

I'll take it to a shop and just talk with them about what they can do or what the ycan do that I can't.

 

Isk

 

Edit: How much did it cost?

[Kennysgreen280zt]

well I got a friend deal, so it wasnt too bad. Like I said, it took 7 hours, so whatever shop rate is multiplied by that.

[Guest iskone]

Ok, on Friday the power went out at work so I took the car into 3 different body shops. First one said it's a 72' so I have to take it to a custom shop. Second said I'd have a qoute on Monday. Thrid made me wait about a hour then I got skipped, so I siad F' these guys I'm outta here.

 

Best part is I got the qoute from the second shop. With me providing the parts it will cost me $500. So I'm stoked!!! All I have to do is get the section from the left of the strut tower to about half of the upper and lower core supports (don't need all of it but better to have more than not enough.) and he will be set.

 

Of course I'll still need a hood, fender, bucket, front turn signals, side marker light, headlight, bumper, etc..

 

Anybody have any of the above stuff on the cheap?? Have truck, cutoff whell, sawzall, will drive, LOL

 

Oh, I have that 71' I can trade or work something out with.

 

Isk

 

EDIT: Almost forgot I need a damn as well.