I'm starting to look at buying a 350z, and considering all options from a nice bone stock car, to a modded one, to something thats wrecked. My thoughts on a wrecked car would be to find one with front end damage, but still in good running condition. This is just me thinking here, but instead of repairing the front of the car back to stock, maybe have a chassis shop remove everything in front of the shock towers and have them make it all tube frame in front of there. They would obviously have to fabricate brackets and mounting points for the fenders/headlights/bumper/radiator support/etc. I know a local guy who did this with a Supra and it turned out great. The purpose would be to have unlimited options for radiator and intercooler(once turbo'd) placement, etc. Has anyone done this or seen this done on a 350z? I'd like to see some pics if so. Of course I would have to take into consideration the cost of new body parts and the chassis work, to see if it would even be worth it. Any info and opinions are appreciated.

 

Why not look for a car with rear end damage, and make a mid-engine Z?

 

That would be WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY too much work.

 

The difficult part of a project like that is picking the points where the tube frame will connect to the original structure. There are no "hard" points that will safely take all the loads involved, so you'll have to make something that will spread the load. That could get really complex, add weight, and take up valuable space.

Getting the design wrong could be really bad. In a crash, the rigid tube structure might punch through the original structure into the passenger area or tear away completely.

 

Very valid point there. I would ask the chassis shop about all of that. I'm guessing they would say it's not for a street car.