What a nightmare! Just read all the posts.
I hope everything worked good so far.
Are there any news?

Thorsten

_________________
T. Link
Germany
1971 240z (HLS30-16506)

Thank you Thorsten. Nothing new to tell, she's in storage currently. Haven't really decided what to do next yet.

Jay

Shooting yourself is not an acceptable option.

_________________
1970 240Z

Definitely not a consideration.

So this thread needs an update.

It took about 4 or 5 months to come to an acceptable figure with the insurance company, and no I didn't let them take the car.

I was torn about what to do next though. Sourcing a buildable shell and swapping everything would have been easiest for me to tackle and had the most appeal. However I wasn't thrilled to part my old car out, even if it was being parted to me. Obviously I'm not a normal human being. I also wasn't opposed to seeing if a reputable collision shop could handle the work of straightening the car instead. One guy looked at it in my garage and told me it was something that could be repaired, but I'd need to find a good panel and the work would be costly. The costly part is a given when frame damage is involved. Hell a high quality paint job on an otherwise nice car costs thousands anyway, so no surprise there. But it was fixable.

The biggest issue was that this happened just a month prior to the start of construction on our new home. We had to move into a rental house for a year while the construction was completed. In my head I still wanted to save my Z somehow, so I convinced my brother to let me store it in his garage while my house was being built. I'm sure storing a totaled car indoors made no sense to him as he's not a car guy, but he knows how much effort I had in that car.

Anyone who's built a house knows there are unexpected extras that come up. For us there was days of jackhammering for the foundation and a very deep well that added quite a bit to the bill. Smaller extras as well. In the end the claim from the Z covered the additional expenses with the house but left me with a car that was going to cost a small fortune to fix or replace, and that was no longer something that I could afford to do. I believe God has a bigger plan for us than our own plans, and things work out the way they are meant to even if we wouldn't have planned it that way ourselves. A blessing in disguise. It's happened enough times in my life I'm getting used to it by now, and I started to view this as possibly something like that.

Once we moved in and got settled I decided the best I could do was try to find my Z a new home. So I listed it for sale. That was surprisingly hard to do after 20 years of ownership. I just hoped it went to a good home.

After a few tire kickers the right person came by. A car collector/enthusiast and super nice guy. He looked the car over very thoroughly with a collision repair guy he had brought with him. I told him all about the car, it's history and recent mechanical overhaul (receipts provided as well). To my delight he told me his intentions were to straighten the frame and fix her up and keep her in his very impressive car collection!

I was thrilled. This was a better outcome than I had envisioned and really just felt right. Even better, he promised to keep in touch and keep me updated on the repairs. So I'm sharing those pictures with you as I get them.

Jay

Progress begins!

Looking much straighter already.

Well, it's good to see your badly injured Z is on the mend. It's too bad it had to leave your loving care, but hopefully you will end up with another Z of your liking some day. I keep telling myself, it's only a car and thankfully nobody was hurt, but I can tell you that we all feel the pain of your Z tragedy and you can bet that we are all on the lookout for a suitable replacement.

Thanks for sharing the pictures with us as this does give us that glimmer of hope that your car will be roadworthy again.

_________________
John Kish
1971 240Z - original owner

I appreciate that John, I know if something like this every happened to anyone else's Z in the club I'd feel the same way. I'm glad I could share it with everyone here though, and I'm grateful for all the support. This club is the best, and I mean that.

It was a tough pill no doubt. I'm excited to see how the work turns out though, and I'm curious to see what (if any) changes he makes to her like color, wheels, etc. I didn't ask because I didn't figure it was really my place.....and I love a surprise. It'll be interesting for a number of reasons but I like seeing my old Z get another chance. This is the second time it has been saved. That's pretty cool.

Jay

WELL!
This is, hands-down, the very best news I've heard so far this year. I am very fond of this car (for what it is and for how good it was) and I am elated to see it begin to look "like it never happened".

If your father in law is any kind of guy, he will somehow surpriZe you with the keys on your next birthday, and your repaired 260 hidden in the back yard.
(With chocks under the wheels).

I just couldn't be happier about the prospects of this car hitting the road again. Please, pleeZe, pleaZe keep us updated on this progress, with fresh pictures if you get them. Sad to note your exclusive Bidini Motorsports decal no longer visible on the quarter light.
But that's small potatoes.

Frank

_________________
1970 240Z

Thanks Frank, I really appreciate it. I'm glad this thread has turned into a good news story.

I will definitely post whatever progress pictures I receive. I'm sure I'm not the only one who likes watching Z's get fixed up.

Jay

Some more pictures, she's looking more complete with each update.

Also he asked me to weigh in on his color choice as he was finalizing his decision today. I'm not going to spoil the surprise but I really like the direction he's heading. I think it's really going to be sharp!

They are replacing all the seals on the glass too. Check out the gaps, looks like they have things lining up nicely. I'm surprised they could straighten the original hatch, it stayed latched in the crash and had a significant bow to it.

Jay

Wow! I looks as if these guys have done this before! What a nice job so far
This might have taken a lone worker months to get this far. "Many hands..."

This also might be a great time to try to replace all the glass on the car, since it will now be freshly painted with perfect body work. Any pitting or distortion in the old windscreen will really stand out now that the rest of the car is new.

_________________
1970 240Z

That's a good point about the windshield.

They do seem to be making quick progress, I thought that too. I'd have expected it to be a longer process.

Jay