hi all. i have at the moment one of (if not THE) worst condition Z's ever. it has been crashed at least once and looks like a lot more.

on the good side, mechanically its very impressive. no smoke, rattles, leaks, etc and it has good strong power and behaves very well.

im just wandering if its worth breaking it for parts or re-shelling it? interior = tweed but very good cond, everything works, etc.

its an auto LWB TT T-bar.

N/A front bumper, its had a rear 1/4 (badly fitted), had the right hand side bashed in at some point, the door window shuts against the targa, front crossmember is bashed and bent, etc.

but its got 11 months MOT and tax and seems to work ok (although i dont really want to push it as i never trust and ex-crashed car).

i know in bits its worth 2k+

i also know that with a re-shell its worth 2.5-3K+

i dont know how much a shell would be or if it would be worth all the work?

any comments, suggestions, etc?

cheers.

si. :wack:

BTW, i forgot, this one is my 2nd one. not the one im building to go fast. that one's nice and straight. :)

sell the parts and use the cash to make your good one go even faster!

i know in bits its worth 2k+

i also know that with a re-shell its worth 2.5-3K+

 

I dont wish to sound critical mate but you dont "know" that, you merely "hope" that you might make that.

Reshelling a car will take days and days to do, have you costed out your labour???

Also "re-shelling" is a grey area legal wise with a monocoque contruction car as the shell is the item that carries the "chassis number" or VIN number.

What are you proposing to do??? Alter the chassis number???

Many potential buyers will run a mile at that scenario.

And soon we will have more people breaking cars than we have cars on the road! The knock on effect of all this breaking is to drive parts prices down. Dont forget too the time and space needed to break a car and the disposal costs of the unsold remains.

It all depends on how you value your own time and what skills/facilities you have.

well there's no real hope involved in those prices. thats just what Z's and bits fetch atm.

legal wise its very clear. if you "only" use the shell, you change the VIN number on the logbook and send in a mechanics report when you change it. the DVLA has pretty clear guidelines on this and on when an SVA test is required. there is a points scoring system they use. basically if it has engine and shell it has to be the origional ID.

if either one is used its the shells ID unless more than one major or a lot of minor components are used from the other car. if the points lay even (very rare) then it can be either ID (down to the tester).

so i only need a shell which means a change of vin number on the logbook.

as far as i know its illegal to change a VIN number anyway unless it has already been tampered with (on stolen/recovered cars) beyond reasonable recognition.

i would NEVER change one as i see that as ringing.

as for parts prices coming down, how is that a bad thing unless you are a breaker who should expect prices to drop over time anyway?

disposal costs of the unsold remains are nothing. you take the junk (old shell, etc) to an ELV (end of life vehicle) centre where they have a weighbridge and they pay you money for the scrap weight.

i've broken a few cars due to body damage but i'd rather keep a Z alive hence the re-shell idea. the only thing putting me off is that it would be worth very little more than its parts prices and the price of a shell so i could be doing it for nothing. in that case i'll just break it and give someone a good engine, etc.

cheers. si.

hi m8 i've re-shelled a couple of cars and in my opinion it aint worth the hassle unless its realy rare, your gonna make loads of money or you luv it its a lot of work. its just my opinion, personaly i'd just buy a donor transfer wot i needed an sell the rest. out of intrest see e-bay item 180034679015 hope this helps m8

so what are you looking for on that without the eng/box then? my other one is silver (the good one) so could make a nice pair. the only other thing im thinking is this car has 11 months tax/test left. i know i could shell it and use it for the rest of the year without many probs and TBH thats what i bought it for. i could just use it as it is then break it at the end of the year but its a bit embarrasing as everyone will think i smashed it.

i think i'd be looking at about a weeks solid on it to get it done right but im ok with that if i have a decent car at the end of it.

still unsure.

cheers.

si.

Any pics? Sounds quite comical.

its a real rat mate. dunno how to get pics on here but if you explain it i'll go take a couple. lol

si.

Just upload them to here... http://www.photobucket.com you'll need to create an account. If you struggle with that, then email them to me and I'll host them for you.

ok mate. uploaded them to that site but now how do i get it on here?

hang on. just found the URL's.

http://s100.photobucket.com/albums/m13/siraff/th_redZf00kt006.jpg

http://s100.photobucket.com/albums/m13/siraff/th_redZf00kt005.jpg

http://s100.photobucket.com/albums/m13/siraff/th_redZf00kt004.jpg

http://s100.photobucket.com/albums/m13/siraff/th_redZf00kt003.jpg

http://s100.photobucket.com/albums/m13/siraff/th_redZf00kt002.jpg

http://s100.photobucket.com/albums/m13/siraff/th_redZf00kt001.jpg

 

dont know if they work. can you let me know please?

cheers. si.

 

dont know if they work. can you let me know please?

cheers. si.

 

Doesn't look that bad. Door needs adjusting, front bumper needs respraying wing needs a blow in. Can't imagine that would cost much more than a few hundred quid.

ok but now look harder at the wing pic and the roofline in the pic of the targa.

lol

and the sill aint quite straight.

and the rear 1/4 panel has been replaced.

and the front crossmember is bent and bashed.

lol

I'd try and get it repaired. You could have a mint Zed if you spend a bit of time doing it. Don't have to get it done all at once.

hmm.... i could but i really dont trust cars that have been banged. its had rear 1/4, sill and crossmember damage so it'll be a nightmare to get it straight and i doubt it'll ever be bang on. im still thinking of breaking it or using it as a donor for a good car with a dead engine.

Begs the question why you bought it....or did you do the damage?

nah. bought it like it is as i got it cheap. like i can sell the motor for more than i payed for the whole car. its just a shame. i must admit i didnt really check it that well when i bought it. i noticed it'd been bumped but i was going to get it done and use it for my winter Z. after driving it i dont think its really upto the job. its ok-ish at low-normal speeds but its skittish and just doesnt feel right. and handles all over the place. i just think it'd be safer if it wasnt on the road (i have a bit of Z experience but if a newbie jumped in it there'd probably be a big accident) but the engine is really good and most of the stuff on it looks quite well looked after. its just the bent body thats killing it hence the thought to re-shell it?

still undecided. lol

Could get the critical points measured. If the thing's in really such a bad state, then I'd guess the suspension, tracking, bushes and HICAS are all on the cock. Mine all needs replacing to be honest.

oh yeah, its well out. the front c.member where it meets the big metal thing that holds the rod that holds the wheel (dunno the name for it lol) has only got one bolt in it due to the member being bashed in and too out of line for the other bolts. its not a good one. the guy i bought it off said he'd hit a kerb. i take it this was after the MOT cuz it wouldnt pass without those bolts.

also the back end feels like the wheels are fighting each other and it loses grip suddenly and for no real reason.

nasty to drive. lol

Christ, hope you paid -£.

....you're better off breaking for spares, saving some cash and buying a good one. Less hassle.

i already got a good one. lol. this one is just to mess about with. i was thinking of breaking it and maybe buying a manual with a dead engine? i think the spares off this one would probably pay for most of it and i always have a little money on one side just incase.