just went to take the Mrs and little one up to mcdonald, heading up the A45 doing 50, next thing you know revs shot up out of the blue boost hit and in the blink of an eye the rear went, corrected the first part, but then the snap back got me and the back end spun out, after a brief moment of facing on coming traffic, i see the central reservation barrier approaching, so turned the wheel to get the rear to take the hit. by this point car had slowed to around 30mph when the rear passenger side took the hit.

 

Trying to find the camera memory card. but passenger side exhaust is fooked. and the rear passenger side panel has taken damage to the out side panel only. i know it was wet so was taking extra care due to my air filter being out in the mouth of my 99spec bumper. haven't got a clue what i touched on the road but it was like ice. but not cold enough to be ice.

 

Well looks like I'm going to be doing some body repairs now. or do i see what the insurance say about it? going to go find my memory card now and get some pictures.

 

:( so glad that no one was hurt. Mrs is a bit shuck up as the little one was in the back. If the car wasn't lowered, would of only been rear bumper damage.

 

Nice to know that everyone behind me just drove on with out even stopping to see if anyone was OK.

Edited October 30, 201015 yr by vodkashots

Bumper is now off, here are the pictures, boldy whats your opinion matey? luckily the damage is localised to a small area rather than the whole side of the car. Boot had minimal bending but nothing major, and the part of the car that suffered the most amount of damage from what i can tell can be replaced.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

just looks like you need to do some panel beating, get the most of it out and then onto the filler :)

yeah lucky really that doesnt look too bad ive seen much worse

just looks like you need to do some panel beating, get the most of it out and then onto the filler :)

 

 

well the red out lined section is hollow and not that big, and the number 1 part is stopping me fitting another bumper as its been pushed out due to the impact.

No expert mate but that will need a pull IMHO!-it will repair tho':wink:

would you be able to cut that section out along the red lines and replace with the same off your breaker . with that out the way it would let you into the other bits to tap out . looks like all of the outlined area is behind the bumper so any weld marks should be hidden .

 

hope you are still all feeling ok now the adrenalin has wore off .

theres parts of the A45 thats got grooves from lorry wheels . i wonder whether one of these unsettled the back end

would you be able to cut that section out along the red lines and replace with the same off your breaker . with that out the way it would let you into the other bits to tap out . looks like all of the outlined area is behind the bumper so any weld marks should be hidden .

 

hope you are still all feeling ok now the adrenalin has wore off .

theres parts of the A45 thats got grooves from lorry wheels . i wonder whether one of these unsettled the back end

 

could of been anything to be honest. i even wondered if it was a 4x4 that was doing 40 in front of me in a 60 zone. seemed a bit odd at the time, and it was only shortly after being behind it that i had the prang.

 

Manta I'm not sure it would need a pull, the boot is pretty much fine with only a small patch, about the size of cigarette packet that's bent and even that isn't bent that much, the main chassis is fine. its just that outer skin that has crumpled like its supposed to. From what i can tell, that bit down near the rear wheel, if i cut along its edges i can take the whole thing off the car with out removing anything that is integral to the overall structural integrity of the car. once replaced and sprayed i doubt if its a good enough job that you would even be able to tell.

 

this is the barrier i hit, damn it....

 

http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=52.288323,-0.715742&spn=0,0.111151&z=14&layer=c&cbll=52.288129,-0.715498&panoid=3SOeUYvdovu3Q3TVEsEa2w&cbp=12,182.43,,0,25.15

It does look like it will repair but it,ll take a bit more than a knock out with a hammer , it,s creased under the petrol flap because it,s collapsed , acting as a crumple zone , it will come back but it either needs pushing from the inside using a Hydrualic ram called a Porto Power , this can only be done if there,s something strong enough on the inside to push off or as first mentioned it needs a pull to get it all to come back into shape and take the stresses out of it before repairing .HTH

Look what i,ve just found on ebay :wink:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GENUINE-NISSAN-300ZX-Z32-LH-REAR-1-4-VALANCE-PANEL-NEW-/310212557603?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item483a1bfb23

It does look like it will repair but it,ll take a bit more than a knock out with a hammer , it,s creased under the petrol flap because it,s collapsed , acting as a crumple zone , it will come back but it either needs pushing from the inside using a Hydrualic ram called a Porto Power , this can only be done if there,s something strong enough on the inside to push off or as first mentioned it needs a pull to get it all to come back into shape and take the stresses out of it before repairing .HTH

Look what i,ve just found on ebay :wink:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GENUINE-NISSAN-300ZX-Z32-LH-REAR-1-4-VALANCE-PANEL-NEW-/310212557603?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item483a1bfb23

 

Around the petrol flap, its come away, there is a join around that where the wing would Slot over the fuel filler housing where it is then bonded on with that strange yellow stuff, where its crimped up there is now a gap between the fuel filler surround and the wing. (hope that makes sense)

 

I was thinking along the lines of cutting just right of the light cluster, down around that valance panel, and then near the wheel arch and replacing everything that's crumpled rather than getting it pulled stretched and bent back into shape.

 

Have to remember i have a second car that I'm currently breaking so have all parts / panels available already. only thing i cant do is weld.

just a question but given the cost of parts, and labour (not sure what someone would charge to do that) would it be worth letting the insurance company know?

It,s up to you bud if you want to go through your insurance but trying to fit half a quarter panel isn,t to be taken lightly , it,s a big job especially when it,s a used panel that also needs unpicking off the doner car first without destroying it !!

Now look what you,ve done , you,ve gone and made me pass 3000 posts !! lol , not bad in 6 years :no::blush::blush:

Bloody hell mate, only just saw this :( So sorry to see it'd happened but at least you're both okay and the car was the only thing that got hurt.

 

Hope you get it sorted out soon!

It,s up to you bud if you want to go through your insurance but trying to fit half a quarter panel isn,t to be taken lightly , it,s a big job especially when it,s a used panel that also needs unpicking off the doner car first without destroying it !!

 

im pretty good with a angle grinder. im sure i can get it off the car with out damaging the bit i need. then with it off the car i can clean up around the edges.

 

ooh **** it, really not sure what to do now.... :crying:

Just take it to a local body shop and ask them to straighten and pull what they can and you tidy up the rest.

To them with the correct tools a couple of hours or a 100 quid at best, makes it a cheap job and no fannying around wondering whats best or isn't and the hardest part is done for yer too.

smithy

i wouldnt bother trying to replace the qauter, it will be a mammoth task, and you would have to drill all the welds and chisel the qauters off at the joins on the breaker, it doesnt look really bad and im sure a decent body shop will be able to porta power it back into place

 

i think the first port of call is to get it to a local bodyshop and get them to get it on the ramps and check there is defintely no floor damage or subframe damage

 

its deffo not as easy as a quick knock with hammers and dolly's then a bit of filler

 

insurance wise a lot of places will let you buy it back, would prob get about £2500 for the car and buy it back will be about £300-£400, its deffo the last resort if you havent got any protected no claims, it does go better as there wasnt any one else involved, it will be quicker to claim

If you have spare car everything behind the bumper could be cut and welded in with section from your other car, think I would pull it out, plenty of ways to do it, the rear quarter is going to be the biggest cosmetic problem, as I said earlier in thread that will almost certainly be a write off if you go insurance

 

Not quite sure id be able to get it out with this thing, but damn lol

wow, that's some good work there!

Needs pulling out? do what me and a friend did when he bumped his puma, tow rope and another car :p

 

Sorry to hear about ur little misshapp, if you need a hand with anything, i'm not too far away, i'm pretty handy with a spanner and you can pay me in tea :D Plus, you did offer your help changing my plenum, so i'd consider it a fair trade :p

thought id get a video as I'm getting mixed reports with the panel damage, some people are thinking its a lot worse than it actually is. also thought id tidy up the back end a bit, so after i got into day, i got straight on it (damn winter light)

 

So first up is video

 

 

Next up is test fit of the bumper yes color is wrong, but its to cover up parts that are exposed to the elements more than for looks, until i get around to sorting out the color on it.

 

 

hand tightened on the drivers side, lose on the damaged side.

 

 

This is the best i can get the fit on the damaged section due to it being pushed out an inch behind the bumper but still not too bad a fit

 

 

hides the pushed out bit better than i thought it would, though i did get down there with me legs and push as much back as possible with leg power.

 

 

doesn't look as bad now. but would of preferred it with the correct color even with the dent. nothing screams bodge job like the wrong color panel on a car.

 

 

Number plate bracket is inside the bumper at the moment, but its just on for now and not permanent as i need easy access to the damaged area.

I woundnt of really worried about what is going on under the bumper tbh. I would of got it the best i could with a lump hammer. That part really dosnt offer and strenght to the body it more like a shell if you like.

 

I would do the best i could under the bumper and weld anything that needed to be, on the body the same again and then use filler.

I woundnt of really worried about what is going on under the bumper tbh. I would of got it the best i could with a lump hammer. That part really dosnt offer and strenght to the body it more like a shell if you like.

 

I would do the best i could under the bumper and weld anything that needed to be, on the body the same again and then use filler.

 

going to take mad max up on the offer, its bare metal anyway so welding a few bits to it to pull it back into shape as best i can, would most likely be the best option at the moment, then filling in the rest with body filler and getting the shape back, i cant remove the rear tail light at the moment as the metal is clamping it down.

 

Personally annoying as it is to have a grizzly dent in the damn car. i think i was pretty lucky to stay way from anything major to the integrity of the car.

yeah or that. Its a really simple fix. Like i said its just a shell so nothing to worry about.

 

If it was part of the chassi then its a differant story lol!!!

As car.mad says, I wouldnt hesitate to pull the dent out as far as possible and then fill with filler and a quick spray, job done, I actually like that veilside bumper that you have fitted too, will be nice when all sprayed up in the same colour!!