Bought myself what I thought was a reasonable manual n/a Zed that needed a little tidying.

Was pretty standard when I bought it, had a few little rust bubbles just coming through here and there but nothing serious and easily sortable.

Straight away I went out and bought a set of staggered 18" alloys as other originals just look too small, this I when I noticed something wasn't right.

When turning, the drivers side tyre was rubbing the arch liner, didn't think much of it at first as had this issue on my first Zed and it was caused by the arch liner not fitted correctly.

After investigating a couple of weeks ago, I found that liner was fine and that the wheel was sitting too far back in the arch, didn't have time to investigate further until today.

I thought (hoped) that it was a bent wishbone/lower arm but after a few measurement and a proper look, it has turned out to be the worst out come.... Bent chassis :no:

I'm going to keep driving it at the moment as i have no choice (daily driver) and get in contact with the previous owner about selling me a dangerous vehicle and see what options I have.

Not happy to say the least!!

Why oh why did I sell my black TT!?

Oh ffs dude :(

That's not cool, is the chassis rail compressed then or something? Has the car be written off at some point or repaired without that happening, I say repaired I mean bodged, as I would expect far more damage than that was done at the time. Did you do a HPi check?

I looked through all the paper work as if it was written off and repaired then it would state that on the log book wouldn't it? Didn't do a hpi check :(

Yeah, the chassis rail is about as straight as dale winton.

Its not the end of the world as I can break the car for a profit, but not until I can get another car(zx).

No.

It's only on V5 in case of a Cat A or B.

Cat C or D is not required to be on the V5.

 

I know you're probably feeling crap, but why on earth did you not do a HPI check?!?

It may never of gone through the books I guess, just fixed at home and sprayed up sold on. Not very scrupulous but it happens, it may not of even been the previous owner it might be historical by now.

 

I know you're probably feeling crap, but why on earth did you not do a HPI check?!?

Because I'm a :asshole:

Do one now. You'll know for sure then.

Only costs a few quid.

can you post some pics would like to see this

Just did one and the results are....

All clear

Gutted for you mate!!! Any pictures of the bodge?

I will get some pics up at some point soon.

Its bad luck mate. You could jig it or get it on a dozer and get the rail straightened and get the geometry set up. Itll

never be 100% perfect but a decent tradesmans could improve it 100% and keep you motoring and a bit safer too. Good luck

Out of interest, is a bent chassis an mot failure?

Its bad luck mate. You could jig it or get it on a dozer and get the rail straightened and get the geometry set up. Itll

never be 100% perfect but a decent tradesmans could improve it 100% and keep you motoring and a bit safer too. Good luck

 

This is an option, after all this is exactly what happens to 1000's of newish cars that get pranged then repaired under insurance if the finance tallies up.

My wife's Fiesta a few years ago was in a good front end smash, the chassis was straightened on a jig and repaired to an excellent standard.

If the car was a TT and in near mint condition then I would definitely consider having it jigged, but with it being a n/a in rolling restoration condition, it seems like a lot of expense on a car that will never be worth a great amount.

I know this seems like a defeatist attitude but I don't want to sink a huge amount of cash Into a far from perfect motor.

Shame though as the engine and gearbox are as smooth as silk.

No.

It's only on V5 in case of a Cat A or B.

Cat C or D is not required to be on the V5.

 

I know you're probably feeling crap, but why on earth did you not do a HPI check?!?

 

Not quite, A cat D isn't on the V5 either............

Depends on how bad it is. When I bought my my first Zed back from the insurance company and had it fixed, putting it on a proper jig (laser job - called black hawk or something) and having it straightened to Nissan spec (it's in the manual) was only £150. That was in 2003.

In fact, looking at my old bills (what OCD idiot keeps bills from 2003? Oh, it's me) I think the same firm is not too from you. Ish http://www.awaccidentrepair.com/locations_lincolnshire.shtml

Is it a chassis leg end? If so it's not that bad. Just jig pull out and KDS (tracking) and it will be better.

 

Don't worry about it too much, it can be sorted I am sure.

I'll try and get some pics of the issue asap plus will also ask around at some approved repairers.

Bloody hell mate, not much luck recently eh, im sure if its just the leg it can be sorted quite cheap, but you would need to get it all checked to see if its a viable repair or as you say break it. Hope its not too bad for you (fingers crossed)

I have been having a think about it and chances are I'm just going to use it as is so I can save up some wedge and get myself back into a TT when one comes up at a reasonable price then break this one.

Hi Mate, WTF!!!

Your not having much luck Dave....... Can we get together with tape measures, strong coffee and FBH's and straighten this out......... ??

If your about Dave and you want to see if we can do anything just ask mate..... You could pop down here or I can come up there for a nice long drive and see what we can come up with???

Hi mate sorry to hear about your zed .motts body repair in nayland just outside colchester have a 10 ton jig its says on there web site they can pull even the strongest chassis rails with there 10 ton jig maybe worth a try .

Hi Mate, WTF!!!

Your not having much luck Dave....... Can we get together with tape measures, strong coffee and FBH's and straighten this out......... ??

If your about Dave and you want to see if we can do anything just ask mate..... You could pop down here or I can come up there for a nice long drive and see what we can come up with???

Cheers Russ. I'm guessing fbh stands for ****ing big hammers? :) don't think that will help as it looks all caved in rather than bent.

I will still pop up in it at some point though for that coffee, just let me know when your available mate.

Hi mate sorry to hear about your zed .motts body repair in nayland just outside colchester have a 10 ton jig its says on there web site they can pull even the strongest chassis rails with there 10 ton jig maybe worth a try .

Strange you mention Mott's mate as I emailed them last night for a quote as I have been there before in the past.

It all depends on cost like I said before though as the car is in need of various other jobs doing and I can't justify sinking too much into this one.

After all this was just as stop gap while I save for another TT.