SoupBA

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

so last wednesday i was the victim of a hit and run. Lady on cell phone crashed her Chevy Blazer into the front of my 240 IN REVERSE... WHILE IN TRAFFIC... TEN YARDS AWAY FROM MY FRONT YARD!!!! and then has the STEEL WATERMELON ***** to peel out and take off.

My head almost blew up.

My BEAUTIFUL S13 looks like someone launched it straight into a brick wall.

SO ANYWAY,

An investigator tracked her down (i got her plate) and her insurance agency is gonna give me some money for my TOTALED 240,

BUT....................

I convinced the agency to give me the most money theyed be willing to hand over to FIX my car instead of declaring it a total loss. Incredibly, Getting a front clip is WAYYYYYYYYYYY cheaper than pulling the accordian style nose which my car now has to the way it use to be.

QUESTIONS:

1. What happens when i buy a front clip and decide to attach it to the front of my car? (Does anybody do that? How?)

2. Can I attach an S14 or Skyline front clip to the body of my S13?

3. How much should i expect the ATTACHMENT (aka frankenstein procedure) to cost me?

dekand

240s are unibody ... you can't just "attach" a front clip without MAJOR cutting and welding ... its not even worth it to attempt on an s13, just buy a new one.

gazelle

I'm Buying a new front clip for my 240, i have a 1993 fastback. I a'm getting a s15 front clip, because i love the looks of the front and i wanted an sr20det, my whole front clip is costing me 3200 and i will put it on myself with a couple buddies, just 3200 plus rent of tools i dont have. Could vary, cheaper than buying new 240.

About the hit and run, i would find her address from the insurance agency and have some choice words, or would have driven after her when she did it. Damn i would explode if that happened to me, i would prolly combust with anger... good luck! sorry about the whole ordeal, i hope it ends up making your car look nicer than before =D

xjon

Dekand is right. You replace the panels, hood and bumpers off of the clip that you get. But you keep the original 240 "frame" intact. Which in your case would be the accordion.

l2aine

agree with dekand - front clips are usually cut from crashed cars, and yeah - unibody construction basically says it all. You could go through the hassle of cutting, measuring, welding, etc. but good luck getting it straight.

You're better off parting out what's left and getting another S13 man, sorry to say.

SoupBA

I figured the unibody would be a problem, but i thought that maybe SOMETHING could be done, there's usually somebody who knows some guy that can produce miracles.

Thanks anyway guys.

jonpowell

there is a way to do it, but you REALLY REALLY want professionals at a bodyshop to do the work. I manage a bodyshop and have done bodywork, but I wouldnt feel comfortable splicing a whole nose on. Straighten the rails and weld pieces of the inner structure, no problem...I can do that all day long. Install everything from the firewall sorard sounds like too big a challenge for me, but there are people qualified out there.

rkcarguy

How about a photo of the engine compartment so we can see? I'd take it on if it wasn't too bad, alot of the clips I've seen fold in front of the crossmember and critical mounting points, so it's just a matter of splicing on the new unibody section where the strut towers end. If it's folded back further than that I'd let it go. Better yet get a front and rear 1/2 from a Silvia and put yourself together something better, and make your salvage chassis disapear.

dekand

i just personally dont think its even worth it... you can get s13's in good shape for under 2500$ so why spend 1500+ to get someone to do the job right and still have a car that i personally wouldn't feel safe pushing to the limits.

l2aine

rkcarguy

yeah if you are gonna pay someone else to do it-probably not. Not to brag but none of this kind of stuff scares me, I race a 63 MG Midget with a Mazda rotary in it, all the suspension, braces, 4 whl disc brakes, and some parts of the chassis I cut-welded-modified to fit. And I'm not talking about "open the catalop and get the Visa out for bolt ons either". I see it as a way to make something better. Replace stamped unibody with steel tube, and be lighter-stronger-faster.....and custom. Just me tho.

jonpowell

If the repairs are done properly, it will be just as safe, if not stronger than it was before. Most of the problems we face in the bodyshop industry when repairing cars is OVER reinforcing cars when we repair them. The inner structure is designed to fold so that the force of the inpact is absorbed before it hits you. The challenge we face is to allow the vehicle to keep that balance of strength and impact absorbtion.

I say, if you can find a competent bodyman, with all the proper frame measuring/alignment tools then go for it, just be careful....this is not an area to "cheap out" its basically your life you are dealing with here. The reason you are walking away is because the car did what it was supposed to....dont change it.

SoupBA

Woah, never thought of it that way.

My life and my safety do come before my car.

I hadn't taken the time to consider all the "safety" science involved and i guess it might be a better idea to buy a whole new car.

Jewellz

My fater used to have his own body shop befor he decieded to get into aircraft, and he used to weld half cut cars all the time.. but he really knows what he is doing and pays great attention to detail, he is one of the only people i let do work on my cars besides me..

Its not an easy thing to do, and not somthing that should be attempted by a novice, call some local body shops and see what they say, but your prolly better off getting another 240..

-Ry

blkwidw96

Instead of trying to weld on the whole new car from the firewall forward, which would be extremely difficult because of the forementioned issues with the unibody, you could fab a tube front end and the just do the engine swap and attach the new body pieces to the tubing. It would be ideal if your front "frame Rails" were straight or could easily be straightened to start from there and build up. It shouldn't be that hard if you have competent welding skills but otherwise you may want to try and find a hot rod shop or chassis builder for dirt/circle track racing in your area and I'm sure they would do it for under $4-600 if you had it towed to their shop with everything already stripped off your car from the firewall forward.