Beyond the day job

Rebuilding a wrecked Nissan 370Z, start to finish

Outside of software, I like building things with my hands. This 370Z came to me as a salvage-title car with serious front-end collision damage, structural frame work, a torn-apart engine bay, and a stack of damaged body panels. I brought it back to a clean, complete car, including doing the body work and paint myself in my own garage.

I took this on after watching a lot of YouTube. It's stuck with me since as proof that if you're curious enough and willing to put in the time, you can take on almost anything. I like challenging myself with projects like this, and this one was a particularly fun one.

The rebuild

From salvage shell to finished car.

Collage of the wrecked 370Z, frame repair on a shop rack, and the reassembled car in primer — Damage assessment through reassembly

The car as purchased with front-end collision damage, frame straightening at a shop, and the first reassembly with mismatched primer and OEM panels.

Front and rear bumper covers in gray primer on paint stands in the garage — Body work, in the garage

Replacement bumpers and panels prepped and primed by hand before paint.

Freshly painted red hood and fender panels drying in the garage — Paint

Hood and fenders sprayed to match the car's factory red, drying before final reassembly.

The finished, fully reassembled and painted red Nissan 370Z — Finished

Back together, painted, and road-ready.

Rebuilding a wrecked Nissan 370Z, start to finish

The rebuild

Damage assessment through reassembly

Body work, in the garage

Paint

Finished