My VH45DE Z32 is no more?

[SSDwellah]

I just had a fender bender tonight on my way home from work. I should say it was a fender bender and a rear 1/4 panel bender. So the car is probably totalled because the damage is undoubtedly more than blue book and I only have basic insurance (it covers the other people, not me). I was coming out of my work parking lot and when I merged into the traffic my rear skidded out and the rear passenger 1/4 panel hit another persons door. Nobody was hurt and there car was able to drive off after the police took our information.

Surprisingly the front, drivers side, top and back looked fine. It's just the passenger quarter's pushed in something nasty and the fender that was peeled back (probably when I went over the curb). If I was a body shop guy I could probably have this sorted out pretty quickly and cheaply but these cars are old and and fixing it up would be way more than I would ever get back for the car. Funny part is I planned on sprucing the car up in the spring with a new 99' jspec front bumper, 99 jspec rear wing, and a fresh coat of paint. Looks like she'll need a hell of a lot more than that now poor girl

Damn I barely had the VH in there, I guess the N/A diff ratio is too high for this engine in this car. I am towing it to my friend's body shop tomorrow and he'll give me the (probably bad news). So keep your eye out for a Z32 w/ VH45DE ready-swap car for sale soon or a VH45DE Z32 fixer upper if you are handy with body work. Or say a prayer for me and hope that it's cheaper than I thought.

[SaintlyCharBoy]

Sorry to hear that man, I hope the trip to the body shop tomorrow ends on a good note!

[perana]

sorry to read this bro,i know what you must be feeling something like this happend to my first vh z32.mine was a 99 nismo edition.only after it burned did i find out how reare they are so i rebuilt it to stock and put the vh in my na z32.im sure your car can be fixed some where there's a guy that can do the job.trust me you will find someone to do the job.dont give up on it,cause as soon as you sell it you will meet someone that could have done the job.cheers

[tmorgan4]

From what you said, it didn't sound like it was TOO badly damaged, but bodywork is EXPENSIVE. Hope it turns out for the best....I was just thinking what I would do if I wrecked mine when I get it going. No way to replace all the work that was put into it.

[SSDwellah]

My friend ironically saw my car before it got towed to his shop because he was in the same towing lot this morning looking at a 350Z. He said it's fixable... but with me not being covered by insurance if I am found at fault then it will really put a hurting on my pockets.

We'll see. I guess that means its a good candidate for someone handy with body work who wants a V8 Z to pick up at a discount. I'll keep you posted. Thanks for all the support guys!

[riu]

oh man.... that really hurts... my jaw dropped when i saw the thread title.

i'm glad that no one got hurt, but it sounds like a somewhat salvageable project. getting an NA should cost roughly $3000-$5000 at least out here in california. which really isn't a terrible price, and since you have everything pretty much set up, you just gotta transplant it.

are you seriously going to sell it? i'd love to have your set up, but coast to coast is a pretty long distance to transport. how much do you think you'd sell for?

[SSDwellah]

I'm not sure if I am going to sell it now. I have to go to the shop tomorrow. The car is on the frame jig now and it looks pretty much straight. But I'm gonna need some parts...

Passenger fender USDMFront bumper - I guess there is no better time to go JDM, except Z1 is out of stockRear quarterQ45 VH45DE oil panNew passenger exhaust - anyone selling a used Greddy SP2 or other aftermarket exhaust?

If anyone is selling any of these parts especially the oil pan and exhaust please contact me a [email protected]

All of the other parts are in good shape or can be worked on. I guess its not a total loss but I'll wait until I see the estimate.

[gs14racer]

my condolences,

i may have an oil pan, ill check

[SSDwellah]

my condolences,

i may have an oil pan, ill check

That would be so key. The dealer wants almost $400 for the pan but I can pretty much buy another engine for that much. I'll cross my fingers. Shoot me an email if you've got it. Thanks!

[z1 zonly]

I've got one that was a takeoff from a Q at our shop. It's the second oil pan the car's had, and was taken off due to the customer putting a small hole in it via a manhole cover (still had the "Nissan" stickers on it).

Anyhow, point is, the hole is VERY small and can be either brazed or welded with no trouble at all. Hell, while the customer was deciding what to do, we RTV'd the hole and it held for over a week without any leaks.

I'll take $50 + shipping for it if you want it. For another $25 I'll weld up the hole.

I'd like to see some pictures of your Z (even if you're not selling it, I'm curious). I'll send you some pics of the oil pan later, respond to my email with pics if you would.

[darkengineer]

Any further updates on your Zed? Hopefully you are going to keep it. There are too few well-done 450ZXs out there, you know?

Also,

[SSDwellah]

Yes, I am going to fix it. Accoding to the tracking numbers the oil pan (thanks z1 zonly) and bumper are waiting for me at home (can't wait to go there). I have a passenger fender already. Tires will arrive in 2 days. I still need passenger front suspension assembly. No pics yet, sorry. I have been really busy with work lately and selling a bunch of old car parts on ebay to recuperate some the loss. So I haven't had time to really look at the car let alone take pics. I will AT LEAST do that when everything is done for sure. So just have patience.