Sigh....Looks like my Z is toast

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nismotigerwvu

Golden Member
May 13, 2004
1,568
33
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So my Dad knew that I was coming in this weekend (had my last 2 wisdom teeth extracted Friday morning) and went to get the AC recharged in my 300ZX Twin Turbo. Unfortunately, the car sprung a gas leak and by the time he pulled off to the shoulder of the interstate there was a full blown engine fire. The hood and the everything in the engine bay appears to be a total loss. This was my first car (bought back when I was only 15) and had been one of the rare common grounds my father I had vehicle wise (he sold his 71 vette for this) and the loss really stings. The insurance payout will likely be fairly solid (it was insured as a rare/difficult to replace item) so I may be able to buy the car back and just drop an ls2 in it or something, but my heart is screaming to find a front clip and get another VG30DETT back in there. I'll post pictures once I'm off the painkillers for my wisdom teeth, but it's pretty gross in there. :(

Edit: Oh and I'm really glad it was my Dad behind the wheel, as he was able to pull over and get out of the car as soon as he smelled gas. I'm completely anosmic (no sense of smell) so I wouldn't have known anything was wrong until it was much worse. There's actually a stillen GTZ for sale in Akron with only 25,000 miles that he wants me to go take a look at, but it's running in the 30k range and there's no way I'll let him pay that much out of guilt.
 
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nismotigerwvu

Golden Member
May 13, 2004
1,568
33
91
Yeah the last few weeks have been a real kick in the teeth. Someone stole my turtle out of his pond I had setup on my back deck, my favorite car went down in a ball of fire and the wisdom teeth really didn't cooperate that will with the oral surgeon. Anyone know of any shops around Pittsburgh, Cleveland or Columbus that would be down for a full on rebuild like this?
 
Harrod

Harrod

Golden Member
Apr 3, 2010
1,900
21
81
That sucks, glad your dad is ok, I've got a friend who had a similar thing happen 2 weeks ago to his Lotus Espirt. I can't imaging what it's like to watch a car that you've put alot of time into restoring burn.
 
manimal

manimal

Lifer
Mar 30, 2007
13,559
8
0
Oh no man that sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How bad does the engine bay look?can we see?
 
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soccerballtux

Lifer
Dec 30, 2004
12,553
2
76
I have a friend in GA who has one in good condition he would sell. White TT 400hp, ~80k miles, doesn't drive it much except to keep the engine lubricated and such. Doesn't want to mess it up just take care of it.
 
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nismotigerwvu

Golden Member
May 13, 2004
1,568
33
91
http://imgur.com/a/wN3i4#0

Excuse the crappy cellphone pictures, my OG Evo is beginning the great decline as well. The keen eyed among us might be able to notice that this car didn;t start it's life as a TT as well. We started with a NA 1) becuase we had a fantastic deal on it and it was in amazing shape and 2) no hicas to worry about (among other things) that leads to a ~300 pound weight savings. The even keener eyed might be able to pick up on which parts we've already started picking off as well.
 
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nismotigerwvu

Golden Member
May 13, 2004
1,568
33
91
soccerballtux said:
I have a friend in GA who has one in good condition he would sell. White TT 400hp, ~80k miles, doesn't drive it much except to keep the engine lubricated and such. Doesn't want to mess it up just take care of it.
Click to expand...

Have any idea of how much he'd want for it? If he'd seriously be willing to part with it you can PM me on his behalf or at least to get contact info.
 
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Black2na

Senior member
Nov 25, 2010
629
1
0
Dont let her die! good lord take the insurance money buy the car back and find a TT JDM front clip like manimal! save her! the rest of the car is still clean right? it might take a little work. but not many people still have there first car i would take the time you bring it back to life! not to mention another good bonding time with your father the car will live on and continue to make and give you memories.
 
manimal

manimal

Lifer
Mar 30, 2007
13,559
8
0
I still have a bunch of stuff left over including hood and fenders.

Anything I can do to help bro let me know.

Man those pictures made me sad.
 
sdifox

sdifox

No Lifer
Sep 30, 2005
100,726
18,036
126
manimal said:
I still have a bunch of stuff left over including hood and fenders.

Anything I can do to help bro let me know.

Man those pictures made me sad.
Click to expand...



fml... wrong tab. sorry.
 
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manimal

manimal

Lifer
Mar 30, 2007
13,559
8
0
I even have parts sitting around for a rhd conversion if you wanted to go nuts. is yours a slick top? If it is then definately keep it.
 
tcG

tcG

Golden Member
Jul 31, 2006
1,202
18
81
Is it really unrepairable?

Total loss is something like an accident that damages the frame... the engine being ruined is nothing if the chassis is still straight!
 
SpatiallyAware

SpatiallyAware

Lifer
Sep 7, 2009
12,960
3
0
Wow, what a sad thread :-( RIP 300zxtt, I hate hearing about lost cars which have such an emotional value.

Why is the hood pried open like that? I assume firefighters did it?


Something to consider... as close as you are to that car, it will take quite a bit of work to rebuild it, or build something close to it. Maybe you and your dad could have a good saturday night together deciding on a replacement with that insurance money? There are lots of fun 2 seaters that would make excellent replacements.

Either way, I would find something to keep as a 'token' from your first car.. Whether it's an emblem, or internal engine part, or whatever.
 
exdeath

exdeath

Lifer
Jan 29, 2004
13,679
10
81
tcG said:
Is it really unrepairable?

Total loss is something like an accident that damages the frame... the engine being ruined is nothing if the chassis is still straight!
Click to expand...

Total loss is when the total repair cost exceeds some percentage of the replacement market value of the vehicle prior to the accident. Has nothing to do with how or where it was damaged.
 
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nismotigerwvu

Golden Member
May 13, 2004
1,568
33
91
SpatiallyAware said:
Wow, what a sad thread :-( RIP 300zxtt, I hate hearing about lost cars which have such an emotional value.

Why is the hood pried open like that? I assume firefighters did it?


Something to consider... as close as you are to that car, it will take quite a bit of work to rebuild it, or build something close to it. Maybe you and your dad could have a good saturday night together deciding on a replacement with that insurance money? There are lots of fun 2 seaters that would make excellent replacements.

Either way, I would find something to keep as a 'token' from your first car.. Whether it's an emblem, or internal engine part, or whatever.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the firefighters pried the hood open. I haven;t dug in far enough to fully assess the damage, but I doubt there is any frame issues. It might make sense to just snag a clip and dive right back in.
 
skyking

skyking

Lifer
Nov 21, 2001
22,808
5,973
146
The hard parts are relatively easy, but what make things like this a total is the harness. It can be a total PITA to get it fixed, and sometimes it is never right. Take a good long look at it before proceeding with a repair.
 
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