Well, last November my poor car was sandwiched on the highway the morning after I finished a brake overhaul. After disputing with his insurance for a couple months, I finally went through my own insurance and settled with a clear blue title in my name, and $2,100 to fix it with. Obviously $2,100 is not going to fix this, I'm expecting 6-8k for it. The front isn't horrible, mostly bolt ons as the hood, bumper, bumper cover, bumper supports, core support, and maybe undercarriage and wheel well plastics need to be replaced. The back is another meal altogether as I've never worked on a unibody before. I'm thinking I'll contract the tub to be pulled out, quarter panel replaced, and bumper mounted, and I'll get the hatch and taillights. Fixing the back isn't a garage project at all, right? It requires special machinery to bend and pull it back to spec, and you shouldn't just weld on a new rear from a donor car? Obviously I don't want to pay more than necessary, I'm a handyman and business isn't exactly steady but I definitely want it fixed right and am willing to do whatever that takes. Advice?

 

Why not just buy a new Z and swap whatever you want over? It'll probably be cheaper and you won't have to worry about structural issues.

 

Because this is the perfect Z that I searched for: San Marino blue, 6 speed, 07-08 for engine and interior, under 100k (76k), touring with heated leather seats and bose speakers, limited slip diff, clean history. I'd have to swap over the engine, seats, ecu, possibly transmission, differential, brakes, and interior consoles and I'd still have to get a new hood and miss out on my chance to upgrade everything in the front end. And after all of that I still wouldn't have a perfect car, I'd have swapped everything into a shell that still needs body work and a paint job.

 

Car looks like a total to me. Those rear quarters are double-walled and a ***** to fix, and if your airbag(s) fired, that's a few $k just for those parts and the belt retractors. I understand sentimental value, but you're going to lose your @ss fixing this car properly. IMO.

 

Sorry man, but it's not the perfect car any longer.

 

Airbags did not go off, it's literally all cosmetics. I've read everywhere that you can get full integrity back in a unibody design as long as the metal isn't split. I understand I'm financially up the creek without a paddle, that's why I'm trying to do everything I can without special equipment myself. I know there have been a couple of guys that did similar repairs on here somewhere, but I can't find them. Anyone happen to have a link?

 

Subscribing...

 

Front is no problem. Rear end...yeah you are screwed.

 

Those rear quarters, like the front frame rails, are deformable structures meant to absorb energy and protect you in a crash. Their integrity doesn't come back to normal. Even if you wanted to try, you'd need to put the car on a frame alignment rack/puller, which is certainly special equipment. At this point, there's no way of telling how torqued the body of the car might be.

 

^Agreed. As much as I hate to say it, you're likely going need several billable hours of work on a Carbench to fix the rear. I'd love to try and sell you a front bumper, but honestly you're much better off looking for a different Z.

 

My suggestion - before putting even one more dime into that car, take it to a frame/body specialist shop, and see what they think about pulling the rear straight. I suspect you'll be disappointed in their answer, but you never know, and that will be the info you need to proceed with this project, or find another.

 

If you're going to total the car out, I'd def buy some pieces off you