crash repair - help & info.

[alanjuggler]

hello chaps,

heavy rain, Sunday, motorway. I think some aquaplaning though not sure = crashed into motorway barriers. airbag did deploy (180 has an S14 style wheel). only me involved and I'm still standing - no damage apart from a single bruise on my arm so bloody lucky, overall.


I've been stripping down the car to figure out if it's fixable (making sure the chassis legs are straight etc) and I think it is. here's some pictures.










I've rang round all the breakers that are likely to have an S13 in (GDUK, driftbitz, garage-d, jdm garage) and only one had been seen recently ... with front end damage

I'm hoping the SXOC can help me. I've already got a lot of bits in spares (UK S13 wings, lower crossmember from nissan, spare pair of front lights) but I'm hoping someone is breaking an S13 that can take a front cut from the passenger side or has some bits. Nissan reckon they can get the slam panel piece still with the front supports etc, so I'll be placing that on order shortly.

The bits I'll need initially are :

cut end of the passenger side upper rail that leads to the slam panel to be welded in

s14 wheel & airbag

bonnet

bonnet latch

bumper support & the upper brackets etc

if anyone has any 180 wings with the indicators in front of the wheel rather than the UK S13 wings I have, I'd consider picking those up too

and if anyone has a factory kouki 180sx bumper like .. I used to have, that'd be lovely


drop me a PM if you do and we can sort out prices/pickup

if anyone has repaired similar sort of damage themselves before, I'm open to any advice

cheers

alan

[MattyGee]

So sad to see this glad you are OK and great to hear its fixable, good luck with sourcing the parts you need and getting it back on the road

[paulsx]

Hi Alan repaired one very simular to that a few years back. If you look at where the inner wing meets the slam panel that bit will straighten.

You need to carefully drill out the spot welds and it will then allow you to bend the upper bit back into place.

I am sure from memory you can then separate the headlight panel further along and then get it onto a bench to panel beat it flat.

As for the wings I used S13 ones and cut the front hole for the repeater and welded a piece in the back so they were 180 spec

They always look a lot worse than they are. If you want to pm me I can chat to you in more detail if it helps.

I'll also see if i have any S13 bits left from my repairs, you could also contact slide motorsport they have one listed for breaking

[alanjuggler]

didn't think of slide - cheers

I didn't think I could just straighten it, would have imagined it'd lose too much strength - I suppose that part of the chassis isn't massively structural though. I reckon it's time to get some good spot weld drills then

[paulsx]

As you say that whole area isnt very strong and its easy to bend. If it was mine I would thread a piece of chain through the hole in the inner wing just below the damage and pull it out.
find a good strong post to connect your chain to and just use reverse to give it a tug.

[fikemoo]

So sad to see this alan. Been following your 180 ever since we first spoke about the rb25/26 hope you get it all fixed up. Worst come to worse I think you can get a front slam panel from rhd japan

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

[green_rs13]

take the drivers side wing off and measure off that side for 'accuracy'.
that's easily repairable. have you pictures of it with all the air filters etc..removed?
ive done this kind of repairs before. its fairly straight forward.

if you can find a breaker then just use a regular drill to unpick the whole side off the undamaged car. then spot weld drill your car apart. then you can plug weld it on with a mig.

this is your best kind of spot weld drill.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dormer-8mm...QAAOSwpRRWnN0W
a pistol drill with a slow speed works best. once you get the hole started rock the drill around and watch for the join between the two sheets of metal, you don't want to drill all the way through.

you will need a thin chisel to pry them seam apart. I used to make them out of old donkey saw blades with the teeth ground off.

don't rush the drilling part as you can tear the metal.

[dazl71]

We have a couple of bonnets in stock at the minute

[alanjuggler]

gaz - cheers for that - I'm planning to ask slide to get the front corner off theirs for breaking - will do that Monday.

I've got the whole front on order from Nissan along with a crash bar - we'll see how it goes from there.

daz - cheers for that, will give you a bell shortly - just need somewhere to store all the parts

[cleanhands]

Sorry to see this. Looks very similar to mine;



It was easier for me just to get a new front end, £280 from Nissan, but mine was more squashed than moved back.



Best of luck to you.

[alanjuggler]

cheers chap - your info was helpful - ordered the front end based on a post of yours from a couple of years ago

All being well, it should be in next week - apparently a lead time of a week on the bits.

the bumper is the only thing I haven't really figured out - I'd really like to replace it with a proper plastic kouki bumper so it stays as it should but struggling to find one.

[pointz]

Sorry to go off topic Alan but are the ends of your chassis legs plated over? I was thinking of doing this but wasn't sure if they benefit'd in anyway from the airflow?

[alanjuggler]

I did it because I am(was) using a plastic kouki bumper and they're exposed to the front muck far more than with the UK bumper.

I didn't do it for any other reason than trying to prolong the state of the front chassis rails

[alanjuggler]

update..

thanks to the nice lady at Chorley Nissan in Wigan I have new stuff.



Got to ring Slide & GDUK tomorrow for the bonnet and the other bit of the body, so we'll see how it goes.

[alanjuggler]

well, bugger, the front is gone off the 13 at Slide. off to send some PMs - if anyone has the passenger side inner wing of an S13 lying around, let me know

[pointz]

update..

thanks to the nice lady at Chorley Nissan in Wigan I have new stuff.



Got to ring Slide & GDUK tomorrow for the bonnet and the other bit of the body, so we'll see how it goes.

Wish i'd of known nossan can still get the complete front panel a few years ago! Would of saved me hours of work.

Bet it cost a tidy sum though?

[green_rs13]

paint the inside before you weld it on.

[skyshack]

Wax the lower x-member.

[Jonny Wilkinson]

Really sorry to see this Alan Glad to hear you got out in one piece though.

I don't have any big panels but I've got quite a few bits and bobs left so if you find yourself short of a bolt, a bulb or clip or two, I might be able to help.

Wax the lower x-member.

...on the outside...
Lower cross member usually rots due to trapped leaves in front of the radiator making a nice sponge for salt water to eat through from the top down.

EDIT: Oh, just remembered, I've got most of the headlight parts to (except the plastic surrounds).

[green_rs13]

his is a 180sx so has different headlamps to uk spec cars.
they don't stick out as much

if the crossmembers are like micra ones just weld up all the unused holes on the top/front/back.