I bought a 93 Z this weekend for a project. It needs a new engine and before I start investing money in it, please take a look at the pictures and let me know what you think. It has these two dents on both sides of the car. A little bit more noticeable on the driver side. The car is also a t-top car. Do you think it could be frame damage or someone may have just ran a speed bump or something at a higher speed and it was an impact/instantaneous thing?
As per the previous owner, these have been on the car ever since he bought it (at ~70K miles) and he didn't think this is damage, he thought that's how they're supposed to be, which is why he failed to mention it when I sent the deposit.

Let me know what you think.
Thanks.

Pic of the Z
Pic of the driver side dent
Pic of the passenger side dent

 

i cant believe the guy honestly thought those dents where supposed to be there.. what a moron or lier! you might have already done this but take a look under the car near the gas tank at those 2 supports near the crush zones at the bumper for any signs of it being hit in the rear. otherwise that speedbump theory sounds possible to me. my car was hit in the rear with probably 2k on it according to car fax since the car been sold to the 2nd owner at that time and he never was aware of it being in a wreck anyway i couldnt really tell besides a few subtle things here n there but the true sign was a slightly crushed support directly behind the gas tank.

 

Carfax is/was clean, that's why I sent the deposit. Plus these weren't visible on the pictures he had. Let's take a good guess why.
I already looked briefly underneath the car and didn't notice anything wrong, but I'll take a better look tonight.
Thanks Brad.

PS. I just dropped your chip in the mail.

 

ill be waitin for that chip... thanks!

my carfax was clean too. i only really noticed the damage when a friends car was sitting next to mine so the differences were a little more obvious.

 

I don't understand how those dents could be caused by hitting a speed bump too fast... They look like they were created by pushing the rear down and forward... How do you do that on a speed bump? I would think a speed bump issue might cause the rear to move up and rearward...

I'm not a professional, but it looks to me almost like it was backed into something.

 

Just went there to take a look at it again and yes, it's been hit. I can't beleive I didn't pay that much attention to this when I bought it. That day has been hell and I guess I didn't care anymore. I only noticed the dent on the driver side (the car was in a dark area) and I thought it was just hit in that spot.

I looked underneath the car's rear bumper and one of the supports (driver side) has a dent in it. I never removed a rear bumper on these cars so I don't know the construction of those supports, but I'm guessing that could actually be the frame.

It must've not been too bad because I didn't even notice spiderwebbing on the bumper until I just looked closely right now and it's just on the driver side corner.

So what do you think I should do? The good thing is that I didn't pay much for it so I could get my money back, but I don't know if I want to keep it for myself anymore. I was going to drop in a '96 LT1 in it but now I might just put in a new shortblock and sell it...
Other than that, it has a few other little things that need to be fixed but I can take care of those cheap....

 

[/QUOTE] well if you didnt pay much for the car, and the rear isnt bent, or nothing major wrong ide keep it, take your time and build it up

 

Madwolf,Same problem here only its on the driverside!Take a look at where you are suppose to jack the car up from.The previous owner of my car did not completely put the jack under the correct spot.This is what happened to my car.

BTW,My car fax came back clean also!

 

Someone jacked the f@#$ out of my car on the passenger side in that area, thinking it was 'the frame'.... fortunately it's not very visible without getting down on the ground... so that is a possibility... or a shop putting the lift pads in the wrong place... I'd say 50% or more of shops don't know how to properly lift an f-body. I had my 2000 Z28 front fender mounts damaged the second week I owned the car (it was new, in 2000) by a muffler shop!

Anyway, whether to keep it or demand your money back would depend, IMO, on how much you paid and what it will cost to repair the damage. Maybe have a frame shop give you a free estimate and go from there.... f-bodies are pliable, so they're not hard to bend back into place, and if it's a cheap project car and you don't demand 100% perfection in everything ,then go for it...

My car has been hit front & rear (I think in the SAME wreck) and even has a rebuilt title, heh, but I knew this going into it... .and it's not 100% perfect, but it looks fine, and I paid less than market value, so I'm happy...

Good luck in your choice. If ya keep it, please fix it

-Michael

 

how do the body lines look? If they are tight at the top or bottom it would be a sing of frame damage but I have never seen a f-body buckel there from a rear hit. and I do this every day.if you can take some pics of the renforcement so I could see the damage. but even then the rails could be fine. from the pics looks like it all can be repaired.I say keep it.

 

I'd say you should just pass the good deal on to me. I've got an extra LT1 sitting here without a home..

 

Sean,
Here's a picture of the rear passenger side. The axle looks like it's a little closer to the back.

Here's a picture of the passenger side of the frame...

and here's the driver side that has the visible damage.

Let me know what you guys think.

 

I'm no expert, but in that last picture it sure looks like frame damage to me.

 

WOW that thing is defintly bent you might want to try to get your money back and give the car back but If you want to keep it take it to a colsion shop have them do an estimate on it and work something out but with the car not running that seems like alot of work. They might want to replace the rail. most likely section it in.After I seen that pic I would try to get my money back and the reason I dont like carfax if the car is wreced and they dont go threw the insurance company carfax wont know.

 

Sorry you found this out late. IMO, there are so many unbent ones out there, why buy a bent one?