USAFguy177

I have a 1997 Z28 with 169k miles. Its in great shape. Must have been garaged or covered. All stock. Even the original exhaust and paint.

I got hit in the front right by a woman (asian) running a red light in the rain. She may have only been doing 30 mph but it spun me around, and broke the upper control arm. Radiator got squashed too.

Here is some pictures. I'm out of the U.S. on active duty so I haven't had a chance yet to get an estimate done.

Does this look like a big job? I don't plan on selling the car so I'm not worried about lost value. I'm concerned about the initial cost to fix it, if the body could be damaged elsewhere, or if it is limited to just that area. I know little about frame and body work as well as the complexity of this kind of damage.

Its a 6 speed fixed roof, cayenne red, and I'm seeing these are very hard to come by. I bought it back salvaged.

I'm in the Philadelphia/South Jersey area for the info.

Thanks for any advice guys.

96z28_lt1

iTrader: (3)

i know you can try to pop the rear quarter dents out from the inside. The front quarter would need the most work it looks like. I have a spare hood if you need it, i'm only about an hour and some change from philly.

BLK95-Z

iTrader: (2)

Looks like the upper rail/core support will need pulled and replaced. Get all your parts together and take it to a body shop with a frame rack.

If you dont want to fix it all at once just have them pull it and hang your parts so its drivable.

67goatman455

iTrader: (14)

yea, easy fix man. core support may even be saveable but hard telling from the pics. Looks like it did push the frame rail up a little on that right side. (notice your fender to door gap) Just make sure you get a knowledgeable body shop to pull the damage

scj

iTrader: (89)

I wouldn't fix it. Cut your loses and buy a ls1 car.

NnOoSsSs

iTrader: (1)

Yes this is a big job. There are many internal things you have to take in concern, such as brackets etc... also that wheel assembly looks fucked on top off getting a new front end and checking things out in the rear section of the car.

01WS6/tamu

iTrader: (37)

Cars a technical total looks to have major suspension and frame damage in front not to mention the rear quarter is wiped out. To fix the car right you will have way more in it than what it's worth. You could alway's buy a v6 car and move over everything but you'll still be in it pretty damm deep before it's said and done. Part the car out and find another one these cars are getting to be a dime a dozen these day's but you still have to look to find a cherry one at a good price.

LoneGunman

iTrader: (2)

This is not that major of a job if you know what you're doing. It was hit away from the rail, so the frame should be ok. It's gonna take a rad support, headlight mount panel, inner and outer fender support, quarter panel, splash shield and the obvious fender, front bumper cover, and suspension parts. I can't really tell from the pics, but the shock tower looks to be intact. If you have never done anything this extensive, do not even attempt a job like this!! You are gonna need a whole other car for parts to begin with. Get some estimates at body shops, and see what they tell you. This is not a total loss vehicle, it CAN be saved if put in the right hands.

USAFguy177

Thank you for the thorough response.

It doesn't appear that the shock tower has any damage at all. The upper control arm busted, but that's an easy fix.

I can fix as much as a home mechanic can do. I don't do metal work though.

As soon as I get home from this deployment I'll fix that control arm and hopefully make it drivable to get a few estimates. I may ask them for an estimate excluding any paint work, and have that done later. I'd like to see a body shop install the front bumper and fender since they will be doing the work beneath it. I'm afraid to run into alignment issues if I took it back with nothing installed.

I'm hoping it costs no more than $3500 since Progressive gave me $4800 plus the car.

I'd like to know from any of the body experts if it looks like rest of the chassis COULD have sustained some other major damage that isn't visible with an impact completely perpendicular in front of the right wheel well like that. It was a Ford Focus doing about 30-35 mph.

01WS6/tamu

iTrader: (37)

It's a total loss based off of price of said parts labor and paint vs value of car though. It depends on how much cash you want to sink into it. Is it fixable yes but not anywhere near a cheap repair. I'd be willing to bet most estimates for a competent correct repair for a complete job using new OE or LKQ OE parts will be 4500 to 7K That right frame rail under the fender is bent and twisted to hell and back that's a major repair. Only way to get a concrete answer if the uni body and shock tower and subframe are twisted pushed etc is to strap it down to a frame machine and see what the numbers say. This advice comes from 34 years in the automotive field if it helps any and is a professional opinion based off of a few pics. I'm not trying to talk you out of your car if you are hell bent on it. It's really putting good money after bad these cars are all over the place for very reasonable money these day's and it will never drive the same or have the same fit and finish. It's only factory once.

LoneGunman

iTrader: (2)

You are right about putting it on a frame rack. That's really the only way to tell for sure if the frame is tweaked. I would say that if it was "squared" in the side, it's possible it could be swayed over. It looks like it was a hard "sideswipe", so it should be ok. Fixing it with OE parts is pretty much out of the question. The only "OE" parts you will get will be used parts from a donor car. If it's taken to a body shop, they will use their "go to" salvage yard for the parts. This will be costly. If he were to browse Craigslist for a 6cyl car with a bad motor or something he could get the whole car for less than a grand. As far as never being the same. I don't mean to second guess your 34 yrs of experience, but that isn't true at all. I've seen vehicles that were literally bent in half, and because of completely inept insurance adjusters, had to be fixed. They drove just as good as they did when they were new. It all depends on who does the work. There are some miracle workers out there, that can fix ANYTHING. Maybe I'm just a softie for 4th gen cars, but I hate to see something that can be repaired get hacked up for parts and the driveline put into a stupid *** old Nova or something. These are my generation's "muscle cars". Lets keep them around.

SparkyJJO

iTrader: (11)

I don't get the "it will never drive the same" thing either. If the chassis is within spec, it should drive the same, regardless of whether it was bent or not. If it doesn't drive the same after the repair then it wasn't put back in spec and the repair wasn't done right IMO.

Sometimes, the "market value" of the car is also meaningless. I see that thrown around a lot. Well, I don't want to speak for the OP, but my car is worth a heck of a lot more to me than just "market value."

Obviously if the car was a goner then you can't fix it. But from what I can see on these pics I've seen worse get repaired, so if the car means a lot to the OP then by all means fix it. If it were my car I would be fixing it.

LoneGunman

iTrader: (2)

Well said Sparky.

94 White T/A

I had less damage to a mustang and it wasn't worth repairing to me. The cheapest I found to put a new core support on was over $1000, then needed lights, hood, fenders, paint, and radiator. I got quotes for everything between $3000 and $10000. I'm thinking the car is done for what it is worth, but it can be fixed with no driving issues if you want. I only paid $1300 for my mustang, so anything over that wasn't worth it to me. I picked up my 94 T/A for 2100 after that

EDIT: Didn't see you got $3500 to fix it. I'd check around and see what you come up with. Then probably part it out and get a LS1 car with less miles for almost no $ out of pocket

Spartan7

iTrader: (7)

Your insurance company will total that. It's ridiculous what they value our cars at. If it's got a lot of sentimental value, buy it back and fix it. If not, just buy another Z and transfer all your mods over. There are plenty of decent LT1 cars out there for a good price.

BLK95-Z

iTrader: (2)

Its already been totalled and bought back.





Whenever you take it to a shop they'll check with a Tram gauge to determine exactly whats going on. If I had to guess, Id say the upper rail and core support will be the extent of your frame damage.

Spartan7

iTrader: (7)

Must have missed that part. In that case, you already know the score OP.

The Outlaw Kid

iTrader: (1)

If it were my car I would take it to a shop and get an estimate. But I would fix it. I smashed my cars (96 Trans Am) P.S. rocker, rearend, P.S. door, P.S. window, P.S. side skirt, bent a spindle, bent a tie-rod, bent a rim, shattered another rim and shifted everything in the craddle a half inch to the drivers side. Cost me around $4000 in parts. My uncle did the body work. He used to work at a restoration shop.

I loved the car too much to part it out. It took a few months for us to repair it. I had to buy part by part.

It's gonna come down to what the car is worth to you.I would fix I love my car so I couldn't let it go when it could be fixed.

Good Luck and sorry to hear about the wreck. Remember doing doughnuts in heavy rain is a bad idea.