Hi,

I had a recent visit with the tire wall at Seca... I was able to drive the car home and feels like it's mostly 'cosmetic' damages. The door still shuts perfectly and the windows rolls up and down fine. Got an estimate from the shop for about 8-9K to fix it... the car's blue book is around $8500.. + prob 10K of mods...

Should i fix it? sell it? don't fix it just use it as track car?.... thoughts?

 

Ouch...sorry to hear about this. If you could get enough out of the parts personally I'd sell and start over. Really depends on what your plans are long term, and if cosmetics really matter to you.

Im superficial...I'd have to fix it up to be happy.

 

Spec Z build

 

If its just cosmetic damage the quote wouldnt be 8-9k
Need to find out what is really damaged.

My vote is make it a track only car

 

ouch. sry to here. but this is a good time to make it into a crazy agressive street/track/drift car. a hot blow dryer could fix the front bumper. it fixed a big dent in mine. a used/new fender is around 1-200$. a used door is 400-800$. id do an overfender for the rear similar to this guys> https://my350z.com/forum/nismo-350z/...191-linda.html
and check out the second page of the xxr wheels thread for Ktrans car. it has a good look.

 

not necessarily. my friend had the exact damage on his z only cosmetic, ran across a guard rail. for a bumper, fender,paint and dent repair, it was just over 8k.

 

Depends on the shop and quality work that those fixes vary that much...fender only needs replacing. The front bumper just needs to be popped out and repainted!

All that just from the looks of it...obviously removing everything might tell another story

 

Thanks for all the feedback!

Spec Z - Since i don't have any of the original parts, probably not gonna work...

I think the only route is to make it into an aggressive track/street car... i would luv to put some wide body kit on it...

the only concern i have is the car is 10 yr old and 90K on the engine... if i did a body make over... how long would that engine last before i have to replace it!

I also have to figure out exactly what was damaged by opening it up.. SCARY!

I guess there no easy way out...

 

If it is Only body damage and no frame - Zip tie front bumper, hammer out rear fender, add a mirror, keep tracking and learn from the experience. What turn did you hit btw?

 

LOL, actually that's what i was thinking! I like the zip tie idea... lol

I lost it on turn 3, which is a turn i usually close my eyes on... I was pushing it at the end of the day... BAD idea...

lesson definitely learned...

The only prob with zip-tie is... it doesn't make track day as fun...?

 

Agreed!

You don't need many oem parts to make a SpecZ, as you buy the upgraded parts anyway. Anything that you have upgrade that isn't allowed in SpecZ is EASILY located locally (i.e. in my garage).

The National Champ was driving a 2003 with 90k miles on the engine, so there's your answer.

T3 is not as bad as T4, I was surprised this happened in 3 but I see a lot of cars lose it there. You really have to ask yourself if you have the INTEREST AND BUDGET to have a dedicated track car. Or if you have the budget to fix it. I'd bring it to Pat at CityTech to see what it would cost to just make it decently cosmetically appealing to turn it into a race car (i.e. pound out the fenders, touch up the paint, make er' look good from 50' away kinda thing).

If you don't have the budget for any of this, then you need to cut your losses, pull the whiz-bang parts, and sell it as a shell that someone can do what they want with. If you have the budget to have a dedicated track car, do as I said with the body work and upgrade to some good suspension parts, an aftermarket diff, and safety devices. Sell that TEIN crap, etc. If you need some stock stuff, let me know. I also have a bunch of OEM NISMO goodies to help limp it along until you connect the financial dots if you like. If you pull the fancy parts and sell it as a running race-car-to-be, I think you'd get about $4k for it.

 

Thanks Scott!

Really really good points and thanks for the emotional support. I can't believe you remember i have Tein.. LOL

I need to do some soul searching on this... whether i 'really' want a dedicated track car or have the budget and interest to support it...

I had this puppy for 10 yrs... trying to not get too emotional about it.. haha!

 

Buy cf doors $1000
cf fenders $600
cf bumper/front and rear/skirts $2000
cf quarters $800
cf hood $600
Roof/pilars $800
trunk $600 lexan window $600
cf spoiler $300
mirror covers $120

BOOM full cf 350z for price of repair $7500
May have missed a piece

 

I have seriously thought about the CF route. Now it's just figuring out my interest and budget... that Cayman is starting to look pretty nice...lol

 

PS - the automatic hurts in all aspects, so budget that in as well.

It's just a piece of machinery - you gotta let the heart move on to make a smarter financial decision. I'd pass on the CF stuff - remember install, paint, etc. . . and then you're still left with making the car faster (through suspension, diff, etc.) and an auto. I say you drive it off of 17 one night. :-0

 

LOL, i thought about the insurance route. Since the car is only worth $8500 on blue book, maybe it is the best option to write it off, since the raining season is startting...more then what i can get from selling it!