I just bought a 1990 Nissan Skyline that will need some body work done on it. I am looking for recommendations for any body work shop in the Chicagoland area. I am going to need them to do some custom fabrication and whatnot.

Any Suggestions?

Also looking for a front left drive shaft for this one... was broken when I got it. Any ideas where to get parts like that?

crainbow wrote: I am going to need them to do some custom fabrication and whatnot.

Any Suggestions?

Check out Sound Performance over in Bensenville.

crainbow wrote:Also looking for a front left drive shaft for this one... was broken when I got it. Any ideas where to get parts like that?

Japan. Skip down to where I start talking about wrist-rockets and ball bearing.

Then there's this post a little further down the screen.

Welcome to the part of Skyline ownership that no one told you about - the part that sucks.

BusyBadger wrote:

crainbow wrote: I am going to need them to do some custom fabrication and whatnot.

Any Suggestions?

Check out Sound Performance over in Bensenville.

crainbow wrote:Also looking for a front left drive shaft for this one... was broken when I got it. Any ideas where to get parts like that?

Japan. Skip down to where I start talking about wrist-rockets and ball bearing.

Then there's this post a little further down the screen.

Sound Performance seems a little too "custom" and expensive. Did a little research on them, looks like a great place, but I am looking for frame/rust work and painting. Not looking for anything that custom. Any other thoughts? or anyone know that they are decently priced?

Custom fabrication isn't cheap... if there's frame rust, I'd HIGHLY recommend you have someone look at it first. It's not hard to burn through a couple grand fixing a relatively small area of frame rust (reliably).

You have pictures of the damage? I'd love to see it, having repaired (and some, abandoned) a few rusted older Nissans.

IF it's repairable, your best bet is probably going to be to find someone local who might do some metal fab / frame work / automotive welding on the side. A good welder in a shop is gonna cost you $60-$120 an hour, and that doesn't go far when repairing a 25+ year-old car that spent its entire life a few miles from an ocean.

crainbow wrote: Sound Performance seems a little too "custom" and expensive.

I mentioned SP specifically because you said you needed fab work. If it's just normal, everyday bodywork I'd start looking for local references & reviews for a decent auto body place. You might check with some of the guys over at the Windy City Z forum and see if they haven any recommendations.

Your pockets need to be prepared for Skyline ownership, you just picked up a 25 year old car that was never offered in the US, you're not going to be able to just take it down to Meineke if you get in over your head on a project. Brakes, clutch and suspension stuff should be pretty straightforward (though I doubt many shops will have alignment specs for your car) but when it comes down to tweaking the RB or diagnosong a problem you're going to need someone that knows what's in. The one advantage you do have is being in a huge metro area which should give you access to some different options as far as mechanics and tuners go. Not everyone is so lucky. You also don't live out in the sticks so shipping will be faster in the event that you do need part in a hurry.

Another shop I didn't think to mention earlier is A-Spec over in Schaumburg. They're rotary specialists but I imagine if they can't help you out they can probably steer you in the right direction.

So I am pretty mechanically inclined and plan on doing all the work myself on it, except body work... just don't have the tools. It that something I should look into or is it worth taking it to the professionals for that?

Hopefully, you'll stick with us through the tough part (which is now) - bear with me, because, as someone who's restored lots and lots of old Nissan tin, we need to assess one thing - does this car have any rust issues that will render it unsafe.

90% of people who hear that question respond the same way: Denial. They hide from the question, afraid they've bought a parts car - or they get defensive, as if we're disrespecting their pet Godzilla. Hopefully, you're cool with getting over that hump.

If there's externally-visible rust, anywhere, the best course of action is to get that bad girl up in the air with some bright light and a camera. Having assessed literally hundreds of these things, I promise you I won't bag on your ride - but if there's a structural issue, you get bet your butt that the RB26 will find it for you with a quickness... and then all that body/paint/tuning was a waste.

I guess this is my lengthy way of saying, show us some pics, man!

Alright, Ill try to take it lightly lol, it is tough to cope with body rust though. Its a process haha.

Ill get some pictures as soon as I can. Clearly there is rust, just not sure if its in crucial parts or not (panel vs. frame).

So hypothetically it does have frame rust, what is my next course of action? Part out? repair?

That really depends on two things: Location and severity. Let's hope it's just outer body stuff.

Good areas to focus on, with that chassis, are under the battery tray, up inside the strut towers, just behind the front wheels (approximately even with the door hinge), and just ahead of the rear control arm mounting points.

Alright, Ill inspect and take some pictures and report back

Link to the pictures I took. Too many to post on here:

http://s48.photobucket.com/user/alexk24 ... %20Skyline

Take a look guys and let me know what you think.

What needs to be replaced, what need to be repaired, etc...

First glance (mostly 'obvious' stuff):

According to the serial #, that car was originally a Lightning Yellow GT-R V-spec. I don't see any evidence of yellow paint under the black, so I'd be looking REAL close for some welding evidence.

Brake lines along firewall aren't in their original configuration, so that concerns me too - front clip replacement?

Paint (looks to be a respray, and not a good one), bad weatherstrip, rear package shelf (looks like water damage from bad weatherstrip), front lip is shagged, corrosion at the CAS, brittle coil connectors, lots of janky s*** under the hood.

That motor's been out (more than once, likely), so I'd check the serial # and see if it matches.

Grease (or brake fluid) at the front spindle - Bad ball joints or drive axles... wait - where the hell are the front drive axles????

WTF did they do to those front tires? Looking further, it looks like a front tension rod snapped, sending the tire / wheel backwards into the fender - that's ugly, and could have been a sad ending. That would explain the gouged / shredded tire tread, and bits of rubber flung up into the wheelwell.

My biggest concern is the corrosion - It's bad. Not just bad, but possibly "parts car" status.

Rust (inner and outer rear wheelwells, with evidence of a really poor repair, rust in the trunk lid, filler neck, front AND rear strut towers (this is a critical area of structural integrity), battery tray, tension rod mounting surface.

I hope you didn't spend a lot on her - I'd be afraid to drive it without some serious unibody repair. Problem is, you live in a climate almost as bad as where the car came from, so the rust isn't going to stop.

These two areas are a HUGE concern:

no, It was parts car price, so I am well aware it needs work... or is it beyond work?

I am planning on paying a lot for body work and I am ok with that. I just want to make sure it is worth fixing.

The front left axle is missing and hub/tire/tie rods are all damaged beyond repair, I am aware of that. Plan on replacing all.

The engine and "lots of janky s*** under the hood" is easily fixable in my opinion. Not too worried about that.

So in terms of body work and anything that can be seen is it worth it to spend the money to get it fixed or no?

What is an acceptable amount of money to have in this car (total with cost of car)?

Also what would be the concern if someone swapped a different engine in there?

My fear is this - From the looks of the fenderwells, along that main seam (where the brake line is falling away), AND up inside the strut towers, that's all structural.

A proper fix will mean gutting the car - stripped to the shell. I think once a shop starts poking into those rusted areas, they're going to find more. The rear fender bodywork is actually the least of your concerns. Paying someone to weld in new metal (while keeping the car square and true) is not going to be cheap.

I'm seeing $10k *minimum* in structural work / rust repair / bodywork / seam sealing / rustproofing / paint. You could wind up with a $20k total restoration bill (even doing some of the work yourself).

If it were mine, I'd either try to flip it to someone who doesn't care about condition, OR sell it as a running drivetrain for an S-chassis swap (and then sell the front bodywork for a conversion). Seats, brakes, dash, differential, and some other goodies all sell pretty well, and should get your investment back.

Thats too bad... as this wasn't going to be a flip. Actually wanted to drive it for a bit.

Well, don't take my word as gospel - Get a couple estimates, or have a restoration shop have a look at it.

The problem is, as soon as any shop sees it, they're gonna see dollar signs, and they'll give you an estimate just to get the job.

crainbow wrote:Actually wanted to drive it for a bit.

If you could buy a drivable GT-R for "parts car money," there would be hundreds of thousands of them in the US.

Eh I mean I knew it had issues, but I have never had the intention of this being a pristine show/race car. It was also going to have some minor issues and hopefully I could make it run good enough that I enjoy driving it and not loose money on it.

So maybe getting a body shop to do enough repairs to make it derivable for me, but never back to show condition.

Assuming you paid X amount for the car, if you can get it running / driving for Y money, and can sell it for Z (where X+Y is less than Z), then I'd drive it as-is for a few months and have fun with it.

If not, I'd put out some feelers on selling (who knows, there's always someone out there with a wad of cash that NEEDS to own a GT-R), see if you can pull a profit out of it.

Third option would be a part-out... if you got it cheap, you could actually do pretty well (as long as you don't count your time as a valuable resource).

Like I said, don't take my word - I'm just one guy 3k miles away. Get a couple estimates and see where you're at.

Props for making it this far without freaking out, calling me all kinds of bad words, or cutting your wrists. If I'm ever in Chi-town, beers are on me.

Haha no your incite is greatly appreciated here. Like I said I bought this as a project because I like projects and wanted to drive it. I am not a GTR crazy guy who would kill for one of these. I just love working on projects and it helps that money put into a project is not lost (as usually is the case).

Any idea what the "Z" number would be for my car fixed up as good as I can with what I have?

Hard to say... I'm always surprised at what things sell for in the rust belt. I can't imagine you'd have a problem getting $7k for it as-is.

Parts value is probably $5k if you do it smart.

So do some frame repair at a body shop, clean the interior and engine bay. Replace usual parts (plugs, wires, filters, etc...), replace tires and paint it... then what would you think? Whats the "Z" for that?

Ideally I would like to do all that, drive it for a few years, and not loose much money in the process.

Any thoughts?

I think you're going to be hard pressed to come out in the positive on this one.

GTRs are expensive BEFORE bodywork, and I think your best bet is to sell now as-is because you might as well keep it if you're going to sink cash to get it to a refurbished level.

Once a number of these comes back to the US, and the rust issues become more well known, buyers will be pickier about which car they buy.

Hitman, you feel like giving my girl the once over? I'm in Tempe, would be happy to drive her out to Surprise. It's an 89 GTR. I can't find any rust anywhere but I'm paranoid, would love to have an expert look at it. I'll buy lunch or something for your time