Hey guys, I'm new to the forum so if I posted this in the wrong place or something move it or let me know. But I am looking for some advice on my 350z build. I currently own a 2005 350z enthusiast with 150,xxx miles on it that I've owned for two years. It's the second z I've owned so I know the car fairly well, first one got totaled by a deer. It's mechanically sound but has a few issues on the body. Mainly the rear quarter panel has bondo on it and not sure what the damage is underneath. Other than that just a few dings and needs paint obviously but my father has a paint booth. No signs of damage anywhere else on the car. Drives straight and handles well. I've done body work with my father since I was 10 years old so I could do it, but might be more work than I'd like to do. I plan on building a 350z to be a fun, fast weekend car as I really enjoy the way the chassis handles. I will be Pulling the motor, having it rebuilt at a local shop, upgrade to 06-08 6 speed tranny, custom single turbo setup, go through all of the suspension, and other goodies. I have a rotary lift and plethora of tools so I'll be able to save a lot of money doing as much as I can myself. My question is, is it worth building on a car with 150,000+ miles or should I sell it and find a cleaner one to start with? I'm leaning more towards finding a cleaner low mileage z but not sure if it is worth paying the extra cash when I'll be basically replacing all of the critical components. Hopefully someone else has been down this road and can offer some advice. Thanks.

 

Welcome and it's unfortunate your Z33 has rear QP damage. That's a repair discussed at length around here. It's a double wall panel that's not easily repaired and expensive to boot. Do a search and you'll find several discussions on the topic. Hope you got the car cheaply and can clean up the bondo repair.

 

You will never get your money out of either car so it's not really "Worth it." Build it for yourself to reflect your priorities.

After you have enjoyed it and ready to move on to another platform, return what you can to stock and sell as much of the 'Goodies' as possible.

It's common to see guys with a Z that has turbo and built engine that can't get near the amount of upgrades they did let alone the initial car's worth.

fun as hell though

 

Post some pics!

I think rear quarter panel damage is the worst to try to repair. And if it's really bad then it can run you thousands just to replace; definitely not an easy job.

P.S. it all depends on your budget which you didn't really specify so it's kind of hard to give advice.

 

Run the chassis, scrap or part the motor.

Unless you like you said rebuild it.

Just look at replacing and updating the bushings and soft parts sooner than later.

 

Thank you guys for the quick responses, I really appreciate it, and after looking into the repairs and considering the answers I have gotten here I have decided that it is not worth it to me to fix it, and I think I've made a decision... and not one that I had in mind originally. A good buddy of mine has a rust free s13 hatch with a clean sr20 swap and I have decided to buy it instead. He recently bought an all original 1998 s14 and doesn't want the hatch anymore. He is giving me the "homie discount" and I just can't pass up the deal. Plus it will be cheaper to build on than my beloved z. I will be selling my z33 as is. As much as it pains me to see it go, I've had two of them and think it's time to dabble in something different. I'm sure I will end up getting another z33 at some point because let's face it they're damn sexy cars, but for the time being I don't think I will be dissapointed with a 240.