Frame Damage

[AChev]

As the Z car got smaller and smaller as I am disassembling it, it became clear to me that she has been in a few minor accidents over the years. The passenger side floor board is raised up and dented upwards. Really I am writing this for any opinions on another are of body damage

The front left of the car has been damaged, spanning from where the headlight scoops mount to the crossmember, which is also bent. Look at the photos. The cross member circles also became misconstrued. I realize it is not very major, although if I am getting the car painted and am spending this much time to make retstore it I want it to look the best possbile. I know that replacing it would be overkill, so my next best bet is to make it look the best I can. Thanks in advance to all who offer opinions.

The first photo is the undamaged side

[EScanlon]

Take that car to a frame shop and have them chain / block the rest of the car and then straighten the front end back out.

What you have is the result of a collision with an object on the lower left corner of the frame "cube", causing that corner to come up and in towards the center. Even though the metal has been "straightened" you can still see the twist in the frame from the front picture.

Get the dimensions from the FM for that year if they don't have them available.

They'll chain and block your car, and then using hydraulic rams, will pull that corner back down and out.

The frame shop will pull out the twist and allow you to properly straighten the metal there. You'll probably notice the roundness in the vent holes comme back on it's own.

2¢

Enrique

[Bubbleguinea]

she will be ok. take it to the shop to see how bad it is. post back and tell us how many degrees of it is from center. id be interested.

[AChev]

Has anybody had any experience with frame straightening? I am curious about how much this is going to cost, but I can't get a really get an appraisal without getting the car towed. I have a local shop that does frame straightening, he said he would come to my house and give me his oppinion and an estimate on it. That is only one shop, is it worth it renting a towing unit and borrowing a friends truck? Over the phone the local man told me a few hundred as a guess, but I really have no idea how much this will cost.

[Ron Carter]

Fixing damage like this is risky on a 30 year old car. I would suggest inspecting the frame rail back and underneath the floor pan for any crinkling where the frame rail has been pushed back into the body as well. Track down someone who has experience with these cars, or foreign cars at least. Repairs can run from a few hundred to a $1k+. Be sure that who ever is pulling out the damage has dimentions of the original car. Since this car is 32 years old it is likely that most shops will not have the correct measurements and you will need to supply them with that information.

Finally, be sure that this is the chassis you want to restore. I had a 70 that I was going to restore originally, and elected to buy a replacement chassis instead. To do a full restoration, you will want to start with a good foundation.

[Ed]

Andy,

It's going to be tough getting an estimate when you don't know the extent of the damage. If you can get atleast one more person to come to your house and look at the damage. This way you get two estimates and a better idea of what might be wrong. And like Ron said you don't know if the damage goes down underneath.

Good luck.

PM me your email address and I will send you the 240z chassis dimensions.

[AChev]

Well when I went up to this shop he had 2 Z's sitting in the parking lot which got me excited, they were probably a 78 and an 81 or so. So he has had some Z experience, I don't know how much though. I'll have to ask him.

As for the extent of the frame damage it appears only to be on the front right corner. I looked at the frame and it had a couple dings from junky jacks lifting using the frame, that is all it seemed. It looked decent. Although I did say this. On the passenger side the floor is raised up (an anti-dent if you will) I do not know if this was the same accident or not. So I'll have the frame man asses this.

I had been saving for a paint job, but it looks like this will have to come first :mad: Ron I wish I could just start with a new chassis like you did, but I am just a student in high school and can't cut the money for that. Plus the more I feel like I got ripped off on this car, I just couldn't do that. The whole thing just makes me angry

[mperdue]

My car had almost the exact same damage. I had it straightened at a frame shop. I don't remember the exact cost for that part but it was around 2-300 dollars. They basically had to pull it 2 directions, toward the front and toward the left to get it to pop bacfk into place. I had a few other things done at the same time so I can't remember how much it was exactly. It was very difficult to find a shop to do it. I had to go to 4 or 5 places before I found the right place. It looks very good now, but I'm not happy with the other work they did (welding new dogleg panels in and repairing a rust hole in the firewall). I should have had them fix it but I didn't notice how bad it was till I got it home. Doh. Good luck finding a shop.

Michael

[Ron Carter]

I can understand your frustration. I bought my 70 with the understanding that it had been hit at the front passenger side wheel and had been repaired correctly. When I got to seriously looking at the car for a resotration. It was a mess....It was very hard for me to part with this Z, but I did it and found a really clean chassis with a blown motor for $1k. Sold enough of the stock parts off this donor car to pay for the chassis and started from there.

These things can be done afforably, if your patient. If you can't wait, do what you can.

R