got my GTR!!! :|

[ylwgtr2]

thanx heaps ylwgtr2, reading that makes me feel a lot better.

i had a closer look at it, and the damage wasnt done from a forklift. the damage goes across one side. it looks like it was beached (or what ever you call it)

ill try to take some more pics. i dont think theyll be able flatten this one out, its squashed down too much.

thanx again dude.

steve

I think you would be suprised at what can be fixed....at worse a new one should still be available...or at even worse....you could make that section of rail quite easy with the use of a guilotine and a bender...i made one once because there was a few weeks wait from japan,it took about two and a half hours to scribe it all out,hole saw the original holes and bend it into shape....the tricky part is there is an offset section with a flattened out part...just takes a bit of "blacksmithing"to shape it

[dayne]

Hey man, Cheer up you can look at it on the bright side of things atleast your cars got a healthy engine in it, and the damage wont be that hard to fix providing you have had a bit of mechanical experience and stuff before!!

My brothers car had damage kinda similar to yours, sept the difference was his was at the start of his chasis rail. Now how they fixed this was to drill all the spot welds off the rail, and make it a little more 'workable'. You should be able to jack the car up and basically un do all the welds, and put a large clap on the rail once done. When you've got to this step, you should be able to change the angle and mounting possitions on the clamp and heat up the rail with a oxy. Once this is done, and while still very hot (should be close to red if not red) tighten the clamps to force the metal back down and the middle should pop down fairly well! remember when doing this go that little bit extra because the metal will always come back! Weld the spot welds back up and your set. Once this is done do what ylwgtr2 said, and beat it up a little with the hammer getting a little more shape into it.

When you've done this grind it back a little and put some fill in there then spray it with under body spray (hides alot) and just give it a quick hit with some black paint again!

Shouldnt be too hard really, just takes alot of time!! If you dont feel comfortable with it, just take it to a panel beater, they shouldnt charge too much and should do a reasonable job, and like everyone else said, everythings fixable so dont worry what others say!!!

Take an easy, hope your happy with your gtr other then this!!

Dayne

[lwells]

Troy: how do you ensure that the chassis is true and straight once you have repaired it? Any weird handling characteristics (or the like) as a result of the bent rail (post fixing, obviously)?

LW.

[ylwgtr2]

by looking at the pressing of it and unnatural marks/lines created by the accident/damage......the only damage that will cause ill fated handling are the ones that mount suspension parts....this is unless the motor is 1metre further back than it should be creating an unbalance...altho 1 would assume this would be noticible

[funkymonkey]

Do you have pics of the undercarriage of the car before it left japan? If it wasn't there prior to shipping, and you shipped with an insured carrier (eg Kiwi) then you can claim the cost of the damages.

[PHATR32]

no they didnt give me any pics of the undercarrage, and they didnt say anything damage.

I guess ill be taking it to a pro. i dont want to try something like this on my own. Id do anything, but bodywork. i dont trust my self enuff.

anyways, thanks for all the info guys. i feel a lot better.

crap thing now is the money i had set aside for getting the paint mint has to go to this repiar.

oh well, importing is a risk well all take.....

steve

[bennettaru]

who did you go through to get the car.

ive heard that kiwi can be dodgy and jspec deal with them..

[chaos]

pretty sure this car was through prestige, cause i saw it advertised on there too just before steve snapped it up

[PHATR32]

yeah i got it through prestige.

steve

[lwells]

I think bennettaru might be asking which shipping line you got it here by, as the agent is rather irrelevant if the damage was caused when the car was moved for storage/shipping.

Judging by your avatar it was a Japan Auto Direct car (even if you bought through Prestige).

LW.

[Beer Baron]

I would almost bet that the car was forkilifted in Japan, not here. I have seen numerous Jap cars come in with forklift marks of varying degrees of severity. Although as you say your's may not be a forklift mark at all, but caused by something else. Either way, I'd say it happend in Japan. Bummer.

Richard

[PHATR32]

yeah it sux, but at least its fixable. it looks like the money i have set aside to do up the paint or what ever, will have to go to fixing this problem.

at least the engine and box are good, the interior is almost perfect, cept for a tear in the drivers side seat.

I also found a pair of HKS super sequential bovs and a nismo 2 way diff so they were bonuses.

also the brakes are in real good condition.

oh well, the risks of importing........

steve

[Beer Baron]

Just make sure you get it repaired professionally mate, cause after looking at those pics again it's pretty serious damage. you want to make sure you have a straight GTR when all this is over. then you will sleep much better

[PHATR32]

yeah ill definetly get it done proberly. anyone in perth know any pros who can fix that?

steve

[[SPESHAL]]

It looks to be caused by someone jacking up the car from the wrong point, crushing the beam?

Would it actually cause that much of an issue in the real world, bar maybe the inspectors at the pits picking on it...?

[predator]

yowch.. thats rooted..

[linxus40]

when they fixed mine, (mine was bent up like yours) they just atached a clamp to the bent pasts a clamp to a ring on thr grond and just pulled it back into shape, too easy and only cost 800 for that and rewelding the joins on both sides fo the car

[Rezz]

Guys if you think this kinda undercarriage damage has to do with shipping companies then you'd be wrong...

My car (yes $2,000 shitter) has EXACTLY the same undercarriage damage... and it hasn't even left Japan!!!!

This kinda dodgy sh*t happens right here in Japan, and don't think these dodgy bastards in the car trade will be honest about it. They'll pick up the car with a forklift for any reason at all... jeez I think sometimes (for example) the car hoist is already being used at the reapair shop so they just lift the thing up with a fork lift and try and fix whatever needs to be fixed... the Japanese are dodgier than the Artful dodger himself.

[lwells]

Rezz: I'm sure what you say its true, but it can be important for insurance claim purposes to work out where the damage occurred (though, IMHO, its an uphill battle).

Doubtless the shipping companies and/or storage companies and/or auction houses -- or any other of the people that get access to these cars during their eventual journey to Australia -- use the same methods as bad dealerships: wheel out the forklift, bugger the consequences.

LW.

[Guest Mashrock]

haha i have seen damage to almost every car that my mate brings into auz!!

its not from forklifts its from either mechenics or whoever owned the car in japan..

where ever they jack the car up from to change a tyre etc.

not much care is taken!

rezz seems to be on about something tho.