Reference original thread from 05-24-2010: Wrecked Z - Fix it or ditch it?

She's back home again! Long story short, after a seriously long stream of bullsh!t from the bank my loan is with, they agreed to give me car & title for the market value of the car. Insurance sent the money and I bought the car from insurance for about $2,600.

So they dropped my car off yesterday and today I've just begun to take off the damaged bits and plan on getting new and used parts for it over the next several months. I'm hoping to have it back in driving condition by mid summer if i'm lucky. Time and money are the primary constraints so it will be a slow project but you can bet i'll be pushing to get it done.

So since the car has been sitting in a salvage yard for nearly a full year, what is the best way to get this thing running again? I plan to drain all the fluids and put in new... Should I get an oil pan heater (used to keep oil warm for cold morning starts) to help drain the old, nasty, thick oil? Or should I just drain it cold and not worry about it? Is there any other things I need to do to prepare the motor for running since its been sitting almost a year? What about the soft top? I put a new battery in last night and tried to open the top but the tonneau cover stops after coming up like 10%. It just clicks... could the motor have seized this quickly? Anyone have thoughts on this? Maybe i'll wait until I get the engine running and try again, it's probably not good to try to open/close the top without power from the alternator...

Looking closely, the damage to the front end is small I think... all focused in the upper right area. I am hoping all I have to do is take off all the old broken parts and put on new. I don't think there is frame damage as the hit didn't go back very far. Everything behind the collision area appears to be lined up correct so hopefully new stuff will fit properly and without modification. I won't really know for sure until I get all the broken bits off, but here's to hoping....

Not sure what i'm going to do about the airbags, i'll probably leave them off for now. I'm not sure what is involved in getting new ones installed and the computer and electronics configured for new ones. Anyone ever dealt with this themselves?

The rest of the car seems in decent condition compared to last time it was in my hands. Not much has deteriorated but the soft top still has tears in it of course and I will have to replace it within a year or so.

Anyway i'm pretty stoked to get the car back, but I have a fair bit of work ahead of me to get it road worthy again. Oh almost forgot... pics...

 

Congrats on getting her back and good luck on the rebuild!

 

Congrats I guess.

Why didn't you just buy a new z?

 

Good choice, you'll be up and running in a z that you own for under 9g .

 

Good luck with your build, update when you can

 

now that's dedication! good luck with the fix

 

Well i'm excited... i'll take more (crappy) pics as I get moving along.

Does anyone know where the frame actually starts on these cars? The point where the bumper beam mounts onto is pushed back about maybe 1 cm. I am working on getting the radiator support out but its a slow process.


In response to sportbiketed... I dunno this seemed like a good deal. Owning the car for $2600 and with (so far I believe to be) little damage. If I can fix it up and getting it running for less than $5K i'll be happy. I can certainly get another Z in the next year or two. I'm kind of thinking of turning this Z into a dedicated track car, and getting another Z for daily driving. But I dunno, i'd probably end up mixing the two. I could make this semi-track but I would like a manual. This one is auto, which works but isn't as fun. However my RX-7 is manual... it just needs a LOT more power, then it could be fun too

 

You do have alot of work ahead, but if you have another car to drive, i would have done the same--if it were a manual--

In regards to the bold print above.... Pix of the RX?

 

 

Looks just like my buddy's! Cept he destroyed two of the apex seals somehow.... Never heard the end of that story....

 

You bought a smashed 350Z? Not my cup of tea but best wishes.

 

Twas already his, he just "bought it" after it was totaled i presume

 

Tear-down progress... got the rad support out, almost done removing the radiator. I don't think there is any frame damage but the outer edge of the frame got bent a slight bit. Need to get a auto body friend of mine to come take a look, I doubt it is much of a worry though.

Gotta start seeing how much it is going to cost for new parts. I'm going to try to get most of the radiator and mounting parts new... looks like it will cost me about $2,500 or so. Then i'll try to get a used hood, bumper, and right fender from LKQ or on this forum. Actually i'll try to buy whatever I can from here...

Anyway here are some pics...

 

Hey dude if your interested I am selling two pairs of light just like yours if your interested.
I am also selling my Cosworth plenum.
but to tell you the truth your frame dont look that bad here's my number if you need Z part's I might be able to get them for you my friend also has a totaled Z but the front is complete from what I hear.
Here's my number (562)375-2180
My name is Robert.
If I dont answer which is rare leave me a message or a text and I will get back at you.

 

Frame is good... just have to bend the top edge back into line. I can get all the parts I need to get it back on the road for $2,500. Another grand for airbags... only thing i've bought so far is new 06+ headlamps and a used rad fan assembly from a member here. In for $980 at this point.

I think i'll have my Z back on the road in a couple months, hopefully repainted DB. All for less than $8K and that includes buying the car. Then maybe try to sell it since it's an auto and go get a 04 ZR in DB and 6MT. Or... buy another salvage Z with good gearbox and swap it into my car. Sounds like fun right!?!?!?

Anyway here are some pics with it all torn down... except for the right fender.

 

I would just build it into a convertable track car. Remove the roof completely, install jungle gym, sell off the autotragic and convert to stick. Not that hard to due considering it will be a track car.
You will need an 05 stick ecu and mod the wiring harness. It has been done before, if you can rebuild the car at home, you can do the trans swap.

 

Yeah thinking about it... but I'd still like to drive it to work here and there so I'd like to leave the roof operable. Either that or ONLY drive it when i'm sure it will not rain that day.

I've looked at maybe 2 threads from guys who swapped out their auto trans and got a manual. Looks like a lot of work but I think I can do it. I've swapped gearboxes before, same type though, not from auto to manual. This is why i'm thinking a salvage car with good manual gearbox would be good. I'd have all those bits, and know how they go on using the parts car as reference.

Anyway i'm still deciding... starting to save up money...

 

I would just do no roof and watch out for the days your drive it, besides a cage with the roof intact will be a PITA. Snap on roof (Bimini, like Jeeps run would be cool)
The trans swap, 05 auto to 05 stick will not be bad. just make sure you don't get an 05 aniversery (rev up) and it will actually be pretty easy.

The shop that sponsors me just did a 06 G35 to 6mt swap, that was a PITA. He now has the only 06 mt with intellikey. Now if Relentless would quit Fing around with his motor build he would have his car back.

 

If I can pick up a salvage 03-04 6MT Z at an online auction for under $2.5K i'd do it for sure... but thats a little time down the road. Who knows what other good stuff I could do with spare parts. Trying to buy all the needed parts individually would be a pain and I wouldn't get the benefit of taking them off another car so that makes it that much more difficult to put on my Z.

As for the roof I honestly don't see why its a problem to keep the soft top... maybe I just haven't thought it through enough, bolt and weld points to the body probably would go right through the area where the soft top is stored. Not sure I haven't seen any install pics around here that I recall. I may do some searching later on but i'm about to hit the sack for tonight.

Honestly at this point I just want to get the thing driving again so I can enjoy it in the summer. We'll see how it goes after that...

 

thats a decent amount of work.