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PostPosted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 9:21 am 
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Joined: Fri Dec 23, 2016 7:11 am
Posts: 678
So on Tuesday this week while I was at work my Z was totaled by my father in law. And he wasn't even driving it.

I still feel sick from it.

So here's what happened. He came over to my house Tuesday during the day to use the garage for something he was working on. My wife happened to be home that day and noticed he was out there.

She also knows how notoriously careless he is with stuff and that things usually end up damaged from being in close proximity to him when he's into a project.

So she walked out to the garage and told him if he was going to be working out there she would move my Z outside to protect it. He said he wasn't going to be more than a few minutes and that moving the car wasn't necessary. She said ok, just let me know if that changes.

He didn't do that.

Instead he decided he'd put the car in neutral and just push it outside. If you saw my property you know how incredibly poor that decision was.

The car immediately got away from him because of the grade of the land. It continued down across the front yard and went over the 20' cliff into the woods. It stopped further down the mountain when it finally struck an oak tree.

It's bent really badly. I'll post pictures later.


Last edited by jp260z on Wed Jun 29, 2022 12:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: My Z is ruined
PostPosted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 10:07 am 
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Joined: Sat Feb 01, 2014 9:21 am
Posts: 973
Location: Somers CT
WoW :shock: :shock:

I can't even imagine what that is like. Perhaps it isn't quite as bad as your expecting.

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W.Karl Walton
Somers CT



75' - 280Z - HLS30203249 - #304 Gold Metallic (stockish)
96' - 300zx TT - JN1CZ24d3TX960293 - Black on Black (enhanced)


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 Post subject: Re: My Z is ruined
PostPosted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 10:37 am 
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Joined: Mon Jun 30, 2008 2:16 pm
Posts: 1181
Location: Ansonia, CT
Jay,

I feel sick after reading this. So sorry this happened to your precious Z car. :cry: :cry:

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John Kish
1971 240Z - original owner


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 Post subject: Re: My Z is ruined
PostPosted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 10:51 am 
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Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 5:53 pm
Posts: 14779
Location: CT
:shock: :( :( OH NOOOOO!

I don't even know what to say! Is this a sick joke?
Please tell me this isn't true....... :cry:

Do you have Hagerty insurance?

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1970 240Z


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 Post subject: Re: My Z is ruined
PostPosted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 7:00 pm 
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Joined: Fri Dec 23, 2016 7:11 am
Posts: 678
My poor car......


Attachments:
File comment: Doesn't look like much of a tree but it really trashed my car.
Zwoods.jpg
Zwoods.jpg [ 153.77 KiB | Viewed 18485 times ]
File comment: There was no impact on this side but this damage was the result of how far everything moved. Notice the door gap.
Zquarter3.jpg
Zquarter3.jpg [ 72.25 KiB | Viewed 18485 times ]
File comment: Since the tree was on the driver's side, the worst damage happened here.
Zquarter2.jpg
Zquarter2.jpg [ 251.64 KiB | Viewed 18485 times ]
Zquarter1.jpg
Zquarter1.jpg [ 99.98 KiB | Viewed 18485 times ]
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 Post subject: Re: My Z is ruined
PostPosted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 7:09 pm 
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Joined: Fri Dec 23, 2016 7:11 am
Posts: 678
Thanks for the support. I am in disbelief - this just shouldn't have happened.

Karl it's real bad, I actually did collision repair work for 5 or so years. Its really twisted good. That's not to say it couldn't be made to look nice again - but it would never be as good as it was. This car was 100%, no filler ANYWHERE. There was no false advertising, it was really that straight. I haven't come across many Z's like that. What a damn shame.

And no Frank, I didn't have Hagerty. I will for the next one I guess. I don't plan to claim this anyway - I'm not the one who wrecked it. It's going to be up to my father in law to cover this. That was an expensive mistake.

On that note, if anyone knows of any clean, rust free, never wrecked, one owner type well maintained early Z cars I'm in the market. Nothing later than early 1974 models. Manual trans, non 2+2. I spoke with Vinny about this already also, he said he'd keep an eye out. I might be open to reworking a solid shell (using all of the stuff from mine that I can) if anyone knows someone with one of those, it'd have to be a real nice one though. I'd prefer to buy something that is a runner/driver - even if it has to spend a few weeks/months with Vinny getting freshened up. Well anyway, if you know of something PM me.

Jay


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 Post subject: Re: My Z is ruined
PostPosted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 7:53 pm 
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Joined: Sat Feb 01, 2014 9:21 am
Posts: 973
Location: Somers CT
Looks like it was going pretty good when that left side met up with that oak tree . . . . . . :shock:
That tree prob saved it overall though. :wink:

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W.Karl Walton
Somers CT



75' - 280Z - HLS30203249 - #304 Gold Metallic (stockish)
96' - 300zx TT - JN1CZ24d3TX960293 - Black on Black (enhanced)


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 Post subject: Re: My Z is ruined
PostPosted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 9:32 pm 
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Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 5:53 pm
Posts: 14779
Location: CT
:( I feel sick.

That was the best all-original 260 I knew of. Regardless whatever you do with it, it will never be original again.

There is no "frame" back there as you know. A skilled professional could cut and replace all the panels and a partZ car might donate internal parts you need. What happened to the plastic interior bulkhead panels? I don't know if the rear dimensions are the same btwn the 240 & 260, but if they are the same you might locate a "cheap" ( :roll: ) 240 body you could section off. The rear corners of the back end are a nightmare to fix; they are easier to replace. Several 'folds' of body panels join at the corners and would be a bogeyman's nightmare to straighten out.

Are the doors involved? Do they open/close OK? Is the roof wrinkled? I'm asking things I really don't want to know, you know? :(

The good thing about your Z is that you can replace the bumpers and side panels easily; yours is closer to a 240 than it is to a 280.

Roadworthy 260s are averaging $10,000 today, depending on condition. Projects are down around $3,000 and the best are up around $28,000. I would consider your 260 to be about the best all-original car I've seen. They usually have some personal modifications / customizing; yours was very original. Due to the scarcity of the 260 in general and the excellent condition of your personal car, you could probably have insured it for around $30,000. You would actually have a better chance of locating either a late 240 or an early 280.

https://bringatrailer.com/datsun/260z/

You will now have to decide whether you want the insurance company to total your car (and they will take it away) or pay for restoration (which will be considerable more).

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1970 240Z


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 Post subject: Re: My Z is ruined
PostPosted: Sat Sep 08, 2018 5:52 am 
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Joined: Fri Dec 23, 2016 7:11 am
Posts: 678
The doors are messed up on both sides Frank. Driver's side is too small, passenger is too large. Neither one works correctly anymore. Also the A pillars made contact with the fenders enough to scrape the paint off of them. The roof doesn't appear wrinkled but had to have shifted as it's attached to everything else.

Clipping the entire back half would be the best option for repair to keep the factory dimensions but I don't know of any parts cars with rust free panels. Usually that's why they are parts cars.

Also I'm not sure the car will ever handle and track the way it did once it's been all chopped apart. It was as tight as a new car....... Not one single rattle or squeak. Really.

As for the interior panels, I haven't noticed any broken although the truth is I haven't looked at it since Tuesday so I could easily be wrong. The only thing I noticed inside is a bunch of the plastic rivets that hold the panels together sheared off.


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 Post subject: Re: My Z is ruined
PostPosted: Sat Sep 08, 2018 7:04 am 
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Joined: Fri Dec 23, 2016 7:11 am
Posts: 678
Also Karl, yes and no on the tree saving it.

I honestly wish it lodged itself on a rock or stump underneath before striking anything and stopped that way. Even if that meant having to replace a floor plan or transmission. That's a far easier and doable task.

I'm amazed at how well the bumper shock took the impact. It was directly lined up on the driver's side. Turns out they are really strong.


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 Post subject: Re: My Z is ruined
PostPosted: Sat Sep 08, 2018 1:04 pm 
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Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 5:53 pm
Posts: 14779
Location: CT
I don't want to make this about *me*, but I (we) had a similar experience as teenagers. A bunch of us kids in AutoMech class spent the winter of '63-'64 dropping a 409 Chevy engine into a ragged 1960 Ford Falcon in our buddy's single-bay wooden garage. On the day we got it running young John (garage owner) jumped in and fired it up, gave it some revs to keep it from stumbling and popped the clutch to drive it fwd out of the garage. The car reversed straight thru the back wall and down a steep embankment into his dad's fruit trees, destroying the car and the garage.

I can't really compare that experience with yours; you had blood sweat and tears invested in your 260 and it was as near-perfect as it could be after 45 years. Once you got the timing sorted you never had another complaint about the car. Our beat-down Falcon was free, the 409 was free out of a wrecked delivery truck and the car didn't actually belong to any of us. But the garage/slope/tree combination brings me back there. :cry:

May we ask your father-in-law's reaction to all this, or is that a family matter?

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1970 240Z


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 Post subject: Re: My Z is ruined
PostPosted: Sat Sep 08, 2018 7:27 pm 
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Joined: Fri Dec 23, 2016 7:11 am
Posts: 678
Well he said he was sorry about it. He also said he'd pay whatever it took to fix it. I told him ok but this isn't a case where it can really be fixed. So he's going to have to pay for a replacement instead, and whatever work is required to get the replacement car in the condition mine was in.


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 Post subject: Re: My Z is ruined
PostPosted: Sat Sep 08, 2018 9:13 pm 
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Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 5:53 pm
Posts: 14779
Location: CT
There's some discussion whether this is a real advert or a phony scam, but you could call them and discuss the car to zee if they sounded like they really knew what they were talking about:

https://bringatrailer.com/2012/12/17/1- ... tsun-260z/

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1970 240Z


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 Post subject: Re: My Z is ruined
PostPosted: Sun Sep 09, 2018 7:33 am 
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Joined: Fri Dec 23, 2016 7:11 am
Posts: 678
Thank you Frank. That looks like a really great car, but the auction isn't current. I searched both eBay and bat and no dice. That's an archived one.

Beautiful example though.

I found a semi-local 1972 240z that sounds promising. I'm going to have a look tomorrow.


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 Post subject: Re: My Z is ruined
PostPosted: Sun Sep 09, 2018 8:23 am 
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Joined: Wed Jul 23, 2008 2:38 pm
Posts: 3411
Location: rhode island
:cry: I just caught wind of this, and really sorry for your loss. Well I know it's not going to be easy to replace, matter of fact harder than a 240 or 280. I'm always looking on line for good part car deals, and not going to find a 260 very easy. Or a complete early 260z at that. So now you got me biting my knuckles because I happen to have a nice rolling 260 shell, 73 built. Minor rust, minor holes, but solid. I have everything to build this car, even the bumpers with new rubber, and dead set to restore it..........BUT, in your case, in such a horrific event that can make a grown man cry.......Talk to me. Instead of welding 2 z's together, and it would have to be a 260, because they all differ. BTW, from personal experience, these Z's can sure take a hit from behind and live to tell about it.


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