2014 Nissan 370z Sport - Rebuild (w/Pics)!

NickS

Hey guys, new to the forum. I browsed around a bit before deciding to buy a Z, and definitely got some interesting information, so I figured I'd contribute something interesting to the community.

Some background: I work with a couple car lots that do strictly rebuilt title vehicles, mostly specializing in daily drivers, so I have access to very skilled bodywork guys and very skilled paint guys.

When I started looking for a Z, I had looked at a couple rebuilt titles and had seen a very common trend of a poor quality rebuild, but the prices they were selling at were significantly lower than clean title, so it got me doing a bit of research on the parts cost. On 7/20/2015, I purchased a 2014 Nissan 370Z from Copart. Copart is an auction that specializes in wrecked cars.

Below, I just want to make a log of the progress on this vehicle.

Picture of the car at auction, 7/20/2015:


Car arrives at the shop and goes on frame machine to be checked out 7/27/2015 featuring BMWs old bodywork guy:


Door removed; no extreme structural damage found so far, and headlight turns out to be inside the car completely undamaged 7/27/2015:


Pulled out the quarter enough to confirm no real damage to the structure of the vehicle; already had quarter skin ready. On the downside, every suspension part that could have broken/cracked, did. Ordered suspension and door today, should be here Thursday 7/27/2015:


After drilling the original weld points of the quarter, we're only making one cut on the body, right below the corner glass for the window so that bondo won't have to be used on this car 7/28/15:


The carnage; if you ever wondered what your Z looks like undressed, here ya go. 7/28/15:


Fitting the quarter on (feat. BMW bodyman again) 7/28/15:


Quarter is on; everything lines up perfect. Now just waiting on the door and suspension! 7/28/15:



Also, considering doing a front bumper conversion to Nismo. Does anyone know if the 2014 Nismo bumper uses the same LED strips as base, just mounted differently, or if they're different?

Zbrah

How much for that rear quarter panel?

Definitely subbing to follow your journey. It's interesting to what the car looks like under the all the metal. Good luck buddy!

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NickS

Thanks!

The rear quarter lists for right around $600, my cost ended up being around $380. The parts aren't really killer, which is why I don't understand why people don't do proper rebuilds on these cars.

cooltoy

2014 Nismo does not have LEDs.

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NickS

Weird, thanks for that! Guess I've been seeing 2015 or something. Guess I'll stick with the factory bumper since it's got the LEDs, almost looks better than Nismo.

Update: Waiting for the door and rear suspension to get to the shop from LKQ today. Might just drive the car a day or two without painting it, haha

Zbrah

Thanks for the info

I think you meant 2015+ Nismo LED. I don't think the base LED strips are made to fit on 2015+ Nismo bumper. Nissan wouldn't want to make it that easy. Those LED strips go for $1500. There are aftermarket options from EVO-R and Carbon Signal soon to be released for a few hundreds.

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NickS

$1,500?! Jeez, even with my cost it would probably be at least $800.

Yeah, the quarter was surprisingly cheap, but installing it properly isn't the easiest in the world. Have to remove the corner glass to avoid breaking it, unless you're looking to cut the quarter somewhere in the middle and have a quarter inch of bondo on the car , and then you have to carefully remove it with a chisel all the way around and if you know anything about aluminum work, it's a pain.

NickS

Today was not a good day; got the suspension at the shop, went to put it on, rear differential is cracked.

So there goes a $1,600 part.

Zbrah

Sorry to hear that. Any updates?

Funny you I asked you about the rear quarter panel. I had an accident today and the damage happened to be on the rear passenger quarter just above the wheel arch where the creases are. I'm going through the other party's insurance for the repair so if the shop can't do an absolute perfect job using painless dent removal, I'm going to ask for a new factory quarter panel welded in, I don't want any shoddy bondo work on the car.

Factorynissanparts.net sells factory panel for $190 + $24 shipping to CA Had no idea this is so

Here is a link for anyone else looking for the part. Part number 766306GC0A for the passenger side.
EXTERIOR TRIM. QUARTER PANEL & COMPONENTS. QUARTER PANEL & COMPONENTS. EXTERIOR TRIM.. Fits: Nissan | FactoryNissanParts.net

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