MrG13 Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 (edited) ###Edit ###Due to this going from a search for help to a very long rebuild project I have now renamed the thread and had it moved to build projects, was a hell of a bump and most of the ###story is below, pretty good read and hopefully she will be up and running by the end of June unless something else raises its ugly head :lol: ###massive thanks to all that helped and gave their advice and keep it coming if it wasn't for this forum I would be up the creak with no paddle!! ###End Edit So a few weeks ago a lovely lady decided to crash into the side of my 350z, anyway what's done is done and the car was a Cat C right off due to the damage (insurance actually quoted me over 11k as the repair price...yipee!) So what I am looking for now is replacement parts to try and get her back on the road and save something compared to what a garage will charge me for all the parts and labour, more effort I put in, I'm hoping will lead to less money I will have to pay them. What the first garage has quoted me is about £2,500 for full repair (including respray and mechanical issues) but they haven't seen the car yet.... Do you guys think this is fair or is it likely to raise greatly after they have seen it?! any help and advice would be great.... Anyway for parts list things I know for sure will be as follows: New driver side front wing (I do believe these are simply bolt on bolt off so not too much trouble...) New driver side door (never replaced a door before but I am assuming it can't be too difficult...) New Door sill part, (don't know what they are called but can be seen in the pick below...) New driver seat (OEM with working air bag and heated seat, the airbag blew in the one I have and I have been told after I bought a new airbag and got it sewed back together I would be better off buying a new seat instead, would you agree or is there and option 3 :/ ) New door curtain airbag (not sure if I would have a clue on how to fit it to be honest) New interior roof panel or repaired (as the curtain airbag blows through it on deployment, again I don't think this should be too hard to fit..) For mechanical problems there are obvious warnings lights for the airbag deployment which would need to be fixed, I got told its a simple ECU reset normally, but I honestly have no idea... and then I am completely lost when it comes to the front wheel, the salvage yard had it marked down as suspension was broken, but when I look at it is doesn't seem damaged, (but again I am a bit clueless but a fast learner....normally lol) But the guys who dropped it off advised the wishbone had snapped and that is why it is hanging at an angle, (see the pics for what I mean) Apart from that the car starts and runs fine, the wing is bent enough its slighlty agravating the bonnet when its being opened but nothing else seems to be an issue mechanically....well so far anyway :/ so any advice on this would be great, If you have any parts you are looking to get rid off that would be helpful as I no longer have a car to run around all the local scrap yards... or if anyone has any opinion on other options or would agree just to let the garage take it and pay them £2,500 and call it a job done, that would be great pic of damage below: Pic of interior and door sill part: You can see the door doesn't close properly here aswell: Edited May 20, 2017 by MrG13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyZ Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 Ouch, looks nasty! Good luck with the rebuild. i would have just taken the money myself and bought another one. Have you checked all your suspension and brake parts that will need replacing too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 Get the garage to look at the car and give you a proper quote (not an estimate), and go from there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrG13 Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 Ouch, looks nasty! Good luck with the rebuild. i would have just taken the money myself and bought another one. Have you checked all your suspension and brake parts that will need replacing too? thanks and yes it was a proper bump to say the least... I haven't checked and to be honest, I am useless when it comes to the mechanical side and my brother normally helps me but he has been too busy to get up to mine and check the car over for me so I wouldn't know what i was looking for! As far as my un-trained eye can see it all looks ok behind the wheel apart from the fact it no longer stays straight...there wasn't any fluids leaking and the breaks all seem to still work. The suspension is sitting slightly off center but it doesn't seem broken... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrG13 Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 Get the garage to look at the car and give you a proper quote (not an estimate), and go from there. I am currently waiting for 2 refurb places to get back to me on when they can come and view but its proving to be a bit of a pain at this moment with work and when they are free, I have sent them a copy of the salvage report and loads of photos so that is what they are looking at with the pricing so far, one said 2500 and the other said it wouldn't be fair with out seeing the car... also here are the best pix i cant get without attempting to remove the wheel.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grundy Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 Why did you not just part out with the insurance? So much hassle is going to be involved.... You could of just taken the money and bought another zed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrG13 Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 Why did you not just part out with the insurance? So much hassle is going to be involved.... You could of just taken the money and bought another zed. Without going too much into it, it was a loan to purchase the car and I didn't sort out the gap insurance insurance in time, (the Gap company I was looking at taking it out with was calling me whilst I was watching the car be dragged on to the back of a lorry and said they wouldn't cover an already crashed car, worst thing is if they called me an hour or too earlier then I would have been clean out and only at a cost of £85....live and learn eh!) But my thinking is if i can get it back on the road for less than what the insurance paid me out on the remainder, then I wont be too bad off overall, but with no Gap insurance on the car I would have been paying off a lot extra and had nothing to show for it. Yes I know I will be losing out with it now being a Cat C and all on re-sell value but lets be honest, no one buys these cars as an investment at this time, its all about the smiles per gallon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
350Chris Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 There is allot of movement there - including the plastics on the inner sill which will either have been pushed by the door or be a symptom of chassis damage. Have to say that looks like a part out or let the insurers have it tbh. You may get it back together with a collection of parts and find that it doesn't handle the same again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrG13 Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 There is allot of movement there - including the plastics on the inner sill which will either have been pushed by the door or be a symptom of chassis damage. Have to say that looks like a part out or let the insurers have it tbh. You may get it back together with a collection of parts and find that it doesn't handle the same again the sill damage is when the door crumpled up against it, it still rubs now when closing the door and you can see where the door has been bent down and crumpled it so I am assuming the chassis is fine as it is only superficial. The only part that is damaged that isn't a crumple zone is behind the front wheel and its tiny, you can kind of see it in the pictures below: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrG13 Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 managed to straighten the wheels up and get a better look at the part which is broken behind the wheel, as you can see in the pic it's the part which has snapped off from the top wishbone (not sure if I am using the correct names here...) This is the other side of the car which is not damaged at all... Could anyone help me in the correct name for these parts so i can attempt to find the correct ones? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikevv Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 Pic of interior and door sill part: Jesus, thats horrid. I have nightmares of people doing this to me :'( Glad you're okay. On a side note, the little plastic strip that is inside the door sill is called a kick plate, and I've got a spare set Shame you're so far away, cause postage is a nightmare Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrG13 Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 Jesus, thats horrid. I have nightmares of people doing this to me :'( Glad you're okay. On a side note, the little plastic strip that is inside the door sill is called a kick plate, and I've got a spare set Shame you're so far away, cause postage is a nightmare Yes it is defiantly an experience I would rather avoid in future to be honest... been on the road over 10 years and never had so much as a bump since passing my test then with 28 days of owning a Z this happened! Only other crash I was a part of is parked at some lights during a driving test and someone back ended me! I got out lightly though, in the picture you can see the door panel is snapped, well that was on my arm worst part was if the other cars slam bar was above the height of the 350's sill so it ment the majority of the force of the crash went straight into the door crumple zones, she hit me about 6 feet across the road... never had a head ache so bad! I think if it wasn't for the seats airbag pushing the door back out and then the curtain airbag protecting my head it could have been a lot worse... Thanks for concern and offer but I have actually managed to talk to one of the dealers on here who is helping me with the part replacement and if all goes well my plan is to change as much as possible then put it into a body shop to do a full repair on anything I have missed, still completely clueless when it comes to the suspension part but my brother, (who is a whizz at that stuff) will hopefully be coming to visit soon and help me out on that side question is now do with the money I should be saving on repairs should I do a complete colour change and new kit or put it away for a rainy day... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZEUS Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 As long as the chassis is straight it should be fine, Andy James zed was worse than that and he sorted it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrG13 Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 As long as the chassis is straight it should be fine, Andy James zed was worse than that and he sorted it. as far as I can tell she is all straight but I think ill find out if there's any real damage once the wing has been removed but I am not going to start stipping until new parts have arrived so a few weeks yet! Don't suppose he posted on here with his updates on fixing it by any chance, would love to see something that been fixed to make the corners of my mouth start to raise again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZEUS Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 Here you go http://www.350z-uk.com/topic/102295-andyjames-supercharged-silver-pheonix-rebuild/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrG13 Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 Here you go http://www.350z-uk.c...heonix-rebuild/ your not wrong, his was waaaaay worse than mine! jsut read about the subframe being bent though and as mine has the top wishbone joint snapped it may mean more issues for me down the line... only time will tell eh! but not bad I have a little bit of faith back again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrG13 Posted March 21, 2016 Author Share Posted March 21, 2016 ok, so update time! First thanks to the forum and everyone who has helped so far parts have arrived all shiny and raring to go! so got up today looking to remove the wing and fix the suspension and check for any underlying damage.... Sun was shining and the wing came off with out a hitch at all! which was great! Problem I then had though was removing the current control arm... First issue was the split pins, what an absolute pain in the rear they are! so anyway go all 3 pins from the bolts holding on everything to the bottom of the control arm and then the day began to get long and tyring... No matter what I did I could not get the ball joints lose or to budge once bit! I think I used about a full bottle of lube and penetrator in an attempt to loosen the ball joints but no avail, I tried using a Jack to press some weight upon them but still no movement and as the top of the suspension is not connected I couldn't get enough weight on them at all, so if anyone has any idea on how to release these (with my car in its current state lol) that would be a great help!! I think my options so far come down to strip the whole unit off, get a new track rob, banana arm and steering tie rod and then hope the rest of the car is as difficult to work with as this part Anyway here's some picture of today's antics: New shinys! Managed to get the wing off without removing the front bumper which was alot less hassle: Slight bumps and bruises but nothing to worry about here and she seems straight as an arrow underneath so seems like good news all around: I think my indicator bulb may be broken This was a bolt from the new wing which was seized on! due to not wanting to damage the paint and the awkward angle of the braket it took me about an hour and 4 cheap B&Q hack saw blades until it finally gave way! But now the new wing is all ready to go as soon as the door is sorted.... And now the 'evil' suspension bolts in question that seem like they are very found of the car and do not want to depart....there is also a third bolt underneath which need removing but I cannot for the life of me get any movement at all... So if anyone knows any neat tricks in how to get these off with my suspension currently broken that would save me a whole lot of hassle! or if not just to confirm I will be better off removing everything and doing a full offside replacement (which I think will be the case) In other news charged the battery last night and she started first time with no issues or smoke at all so there is always a silver lining Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veilside z Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 Hope all the rest goes to plan. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrG13 Posted April 23, 2016 Author Share Posted April 23, 2016 Well sun came out today and my Bro was free so have managed to drag him out to help me with a bit of rebuilding, some great news as well, after lots of potching and snapping a few cheaply bought sockets we have managed to get the old broken suspension off and replaced with a new fully functional arm Sadly the wheel is going to need a refurb and we couldnt get it pumped up so out came the spare for the first time in its life and to put it politely I cannot wait to get it back off again as it looks TERRIBLE! so here are some pix of todays work anyway.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrG13 Posted May 20, 2017 Author Share Posted May 20, 2017 (edited) Well its been an EXTREMELY busy year, went through a tiresome house move and now with the warm weather on the return and things settling down I have finally had some time to put the pieces of my Z back together! (Yipee!!) been a long journey along the way with first the door being repaired, then after the long a tedious job of switching all the stuff from the old one to the new one I discovered the door hinge was slightly buckled but just enough so the door wouldn't close A big shout out to Emperor Tuning who shipped me a new set and after some tinkering the door now closed with perfection Then things got busy and house move happened and the new place was having the gardens redone so a huge ton of chippings were left on the bottom of my driveway stopping access to the drive and new garage (which the Z doesn't fit inside btw ) After about 2 months of waiting on the landlord to take action I grabbed a bucket and a shovel and ended up moving it all myself followed by a quick call to recovery team and got my Z back on the drive within the same afternoon, makes the 'if you want something done right, then do it yourself' saying strike home! then with work and life things died down again but over the last few days I have managed to open my dusty tool box and begin rebuilding once more! Interior is now completely back to spec with the door curtain bag being a lot of work to replace, (had to strip out the a pillar and all the rear plastics to get at the thing! what a fun time that was!) but after everything was removed it was a few bolts and then everything went back in alot quicker than it came out! Next was the drivers seat airbag, with me being a complete ass hat I had left the replacement seat in a garage over winter with the broken wing resting on it which led to trust spots all over the base of the seat with the HUGE split in the leather on my original seat from where it was blown out in the crash it was clear I couldn't keep my old top, so after some close inspection turns out to replace the top side of the seat was only four bolts and 3 connectors, (electric motor for seat adjust, airbag cable and the heating element cable) so I now have my old bottom and new replacement top which I also scuffed so that will need some love and attention once I get around to it! I did was going to fit the new wing, but with it being azure blue it looks absolutely daft as fudge! so I will be sourcing some spray cans, doing the edges my self in the OEM colour and then sending to a body shop so I can get the colour match done professionally The front bumper is in dire need of attention so I am currently looking to replace for an after market kit and then get all the spraying completed once she is all rebuilt! (watch this space!) apart from that it will be change all the fluids and filters myself and then send off to the local garage to see if she will fly through the MOT! Battery has been playing up lately from the long stint where she was hardly started over the house move and chippings blocking the driveway incident so will have that tested and possibly replaced but apart from that she turns over perfectly and still purrs like a kitten :teeth: Anyway this has been a very 'text' heavy and somewhat long come back post so here are some lovely pictures to stare at and make you get a warm fuzzy feeling over knowing (hopefully) by the end of June she will be road worthy and costing me all my savings in fuel again! 1st the ever so slightly buckled hinge... The door once it was removed, you can see how well the side impact bars really do protect you on this! the bar basically bounced all the impact into the crumple zones and took all the pain from me to the poor Z! The shiny side before dumping on a flat bed for the house move, (almost looks normal here, I do love the suttle kit she has..the more I stare the more i fall in love again ) onwards we go! in her new home...note how its outside as the garage is really short and has a table in the end which means she doesnt fit.... will be changing that soon as I have time some of the bumper damage.... not much but enough to make you go EWWWW! current state on the rear quarter panel, not as bad as i thought it would be and should be an easy fix.... and finally look how bad this is.... (the lines are all off as it was just a dry fit to see if i could stomach the multicoloured monstrosity! :lol: ) Edited May 20, 2017 by MrG13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strudul Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 Getting there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrG13 Posted May 20, 2017 Author Share Posted May 20, 2017 slowly but surely! well extremely slowly taken me a year to start working on her again but have the time and energy over the next few months so hopefully should be able to change a lot cant wait to get her in a drive-able condition again as I do miss the 3.5 litre beast Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrG13 Posted May 26, 2017 Author Share Posted May 26, 2017 Ok so bit of a story up date and more pics will follow with this weeks progress! So as I thought the car was a right off i called the DVLA and checked with them if I needed to do anything like a VIC check before the MOT etc, they told me the car has never been written off and i just need to insure, tax and then get her in for an MOT and hey presto all done! Was more than a bit sceptical about this so rang the old insurance company and they adviced i just had a partial payout due to the damage and the car was never written off and i had the car back! So seems to be some really good news as after the repairs, if i ever do sell then everything is A ok! Moving on if you seen my other thread i commited and got the new front bumper, (Shout out to Chris from Tarmac! Extremly helpful and very speedy delivery!), but then the bad news....in the truck the bumper was sat up on its side and even though the packaging was really good it has left a small stretch mark and a few slight splits (pic below). I dont think this will be a hard repair and as its going to need touch ups for fitting and repainting then shouldnt be too much of an issue! (Touchwood 😉) So as the sun is shining I thought why not go for a dry fit! Seems like there is a few adjustments needed around the lights but in all honesty I could quite happily drill and fit it how it is before it goes in for painting with the body shop... Anyway enough ranting here are some pictures as we all hate boring banter eh! Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrG13 Posted May 26, 2017 Author Share Posted May 26, 2017 And yes the wheel is still in need of repair hence the spare... going to get some cans to touch the edges up on the blue wing so i can fit it and ensure it makes the sprayers job easier, Let me know what you think! I know the GTR look-alikey bumper can be a bit controversial but i think it just gives it a bit more 'GRR FACE' 😂😂 Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sargara Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 Personally I wouldn't fit that bumper, a Nismo V2 perhaps but each to their own, I'm just happy to see another Zed live on regardless of your choice of cosmetics. How much longer do you reckon it will be until its back to normal again? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.