How many changes between 1986 and 1987 bodies?

[Scuslidge]

Long story, but we're having to replace a roof (among other things) on our 1987 300ZX. We've found a 1986 that we'd like to use for parts. It has a T-top, which our 1987 does not have. Will it be possible to swap the roofs? We're trying to figure out how much to offer for the 1986 based on how much use we'd be able to get out of its various parts.

Thanks!

[AZ-ZBum]

tail lights and some minor things in the b-pillar area at the rocker panels. Nothing that will affect the roof.

cutting off the roof and swapping? Hmmm... Do you know what you're doing with a welder?

Also, a few interior pieces are different. as well as all the weatherstripping.

[Scuslidge]

Not doing it ourselves - my husband is decent under the hood, but this type of work is a bit beyond anything he's done before! We're having an auto body shop do it. We found a 1986 on Craig's list and just wanted to compare the cost of purchasing it (hopefully for less than it's listed for) with the cost of the parts that need to be replaced to make the car operable again (hood, roof and windshield - hood flew open at highway speed, shattering window and seriously denting roof), to the cost of having the auto body shop purchase the parts. Trying to figure out whether the roof (which is a T-top on the 1986) could be used to replace the damaged one (the 1987 does not have a T-top). The hood and windshield can definitely be used. Plus, we will be able to use a lot of the other parts from the 1986 (we hope). The 1987 runs like a champ (my dad put a "new" (to the car, at least) engine in it before he died, as well as a bunch of other work), but it needed some electrical work as well as a paint job and interior work. It's mostly a sentimental thing, fixing it up. I love driving it, though, so we're definitely getting the work done!

[Perrenial Badass]

Do you have a picture of the damage to the roof?

[Aichel31]

I used to own a 87 turbo I invested 9,000 into it and it was beautiful. If your using a reputable body shop, I would let them find a roof for your car, it's just a lot less to deal with for you, and they can probably find one cheaper because its what they do, ask around about the body shop, you don't want them taking short cuts, or not doing things the right way because then you will have problems with rust and leaking. Michael.

[Perrenial Badass]

Just reread you post, it's a slicktop. If the damage is really bad enough to warrant a new roof, search around for another slicktop to get a roof off of.

I doubt that a hood flying up is enough to warrant a new roof though. Even if it bent it up a little at the forward edge, it would make more sense (to me) to weld in that new section than a whole new roof. Less expensive too, I'd bet.
Modified by Perrenial Badass at 12:17 AM 1/21/2010

[Scuslidge]

The original body shop we were working through could not find a replacement roof (they no longer sell them through Nissan). We've gotten the name of another body shop who says they can do just what Perrenial Badass suggested - weld in a new section. We have had no luck finding any 1987 bodies around to scavenge off of (and it looks like the 1986 we found is a T-Top, which the auto body shop says cannot be used to replace our top). They're checking into whether the hood and roof might work. Original place said all of the part numbers had changed between the 1986 and 1987 parts we needed so we couldn't use the 1986 we found, but the new shop says that sometimes the numbers changed, but there were no differences in the parts themselves. Sooo, we're having the new place give us an estimate and they'll probably do the work. Sigh... if this car hadn't belonged to my dad and, thus, has sentimental value, we'd just buy the 1986 for the $900 the seller is asking and fix that up.

[evildky]

I can't imagine a hood flying open doing enough damage to a roof to warrant replacing it, a good shop should be able to pull it back into shape with a unispotter, and reskinning a roof is a LOT less involved than converting to T rops (and why bother, slicktops are far more rare and desirable)

replacing the car would be the better option, I'm sure your father wouldn't want you to be burdened with this car, I'm sure he'd rather see you enjoy any car than to stress about saving that particular one

and if you really must save this particular car, don't cheap out, let the shop do it right, but don't be afraid to get a second opinion

[Perrenial Badass]

Get me pictures of the damaged area. I have 2 87 parts cars. Both are t-tops (one is a 2+2), but the leading edge of the roof should be the same whether a slicktop or a t bar. Depending on how far back the damage goes, you could use that area off of one of those cars (or, if the area is how I'm guessing it is, any 84-89 300ZX roof) and fill in with sheet metal if necessary. If it goes where the t-tops would otherwise be, that is.

Also, the hood will not work. Well... it will bolt on and function, but it isn't the same shape. The curvature of the hood is slightly different, and as the headlight buckets are wider on the 84-86s, the "cutout", if you will, for them is also larger than the 87-89s.http://az-zbum.com/information.differences.shtml

I have a hood I might be willing to sell, but I'm pretty sure shipping quotes on a hood from Florida might be rather motivating to find one locally.

[Scuslidge]

I think the new auto body shop we're going to use will do a good job of repairing the roof. The other shop has done a good job for us on cars that our kids have gotten into minor fender benders with, but they admitted that repairing a roof with that big a dent in it was beyond their skill level and they recommended the new place.

I'm sure my dad wouldn't really be excited about me spending $3,000 plus to repair this damage, but I just can't explain to my stepmom that the car she just gave me at Christmas time is trashed. So, we're taking it to the new place today for a real estimate (rather than the over-the-phone ball park estimate they gave me based on what I told them had to be fixed. They'll be able to purchase a hood and windshield - it's just the roof that is the hold up at this time. We're going to get a relatively inexpensive paint job for now (this place says they charge $5,000 to paint - mostly they do custom work) and we are not really in a position to pay that much for nice paint. So, off to Maaco for now just to get it back on the road. Once my husband has finished the rest of the work it needs (interior stuff plus some electrical work), we'll save up for a "real" paint job. Although, I don't see us ever spending $5,000 for one!

Oh, and you'd be surprised how much damage can be done when a hood flies back! Whoever owned it before my dad bought it had allegedly used it for racing - they put a hood scoop and racing latches on it. That's what caused the problem - after opening the hood to do something, the pins in the latches didn't get put back in. I was on my way to work, accelerating and in the fast lane of the highway when the hood flew open. Was one of the most frightening things that has ever happened to me! The rear view mirror fell off and I could see nothing. I had to pull over on the left side of the road where the breakdown lane is pretty narrow, hoping all the while that I wasn't going to hit someone I couldn't see in front of me and that the cars behind me were paying attention - and also that I wouldn't compound the damage by scraping the entire driver's side on the barricade. Got out, put the hood back down, realized my cell phone was sitting at home on the kitchen table. So, had to make my way back into rush hour traffic, make my way across three lanes and then drive (slowly) to the next exit. Not something I ever want to repeat! I'll try to take pictures later today when we take it to the auto body shop. Can they be posted here?

[AZ-ZBum]

So you admit to being an idiot? Because, anyone who drives a car that has hood latches that aren't latched is automatically an idiot. Seriously. They're there for a reason. You should have figured out what was wrong and made sure they latched.

[Scuslidge]

Well, if I had been the one who had not latched them properly in the first place, then just maybe I would have had the pins to put through them when I closed the hood after the incident. The person who left them out has apologized for forgetting to put them back. And I don't generally call someone an idiot when they've made a mistake. Just like I don't generally check to see if hood latches that I've never used before are latched properly when I get in the car to drive it for the umpteenth time and I've had no problems all of the previous times I've driven it. Do you look at your hood every time you get in your car?

Thanks for your input, though.

[Perrenial Badass]

I'll admit that I've never had a hood fly up on me before. But I've had a car upside down, I've drove a car and suddenly there isn't any ground to drive on, and I've got up close and personal with more fences and light poles than I care to think about. So I'm pretty well aware of what kind of force is required to do a certain amount of damage (or amount of idiocy, I'll admit that much:rotflmao ), I think you'd have to be booking pretty good to irreversibly damage the roof. I've seen pictures where a guy was going 85, and it looked like relatively light damage (as in aesthetic damage, not structural) to the roof. Most of the dents might have popped out. I could see it messing up the leading edge of the roof, and maybe "under" the roof some where the windshield sits. That area would be a sumb**** to replicate and fix without welding in a section from a donor car.

But again, without photographs it is all speculation on my part. Go by what the body shop says but my advice would be to find a slicktop for a donor car, it's a lot less work that way. There were a lot more 84 slicktops than 87 slicktops so that's probably your best bet if you must replace the entire roof. It should all be the same between the bodies up there.