Will this look ok? 73 charger

[euroZ06]

Hi,

So my 73 has some rust that started coming out at the bottom of the doors (restoration was 5yrs ago). On the one side its already becoming a hole and went down past the door. Im affraid if i dont take care of it soon it will get worse.

So body shop told me they will cut those parts out and weld in new metal. Now i have two options for paint, one option is that that they will paint it back to original color, but would have to paint the whole door and up the quarter panel. Which neddless to say is pricey... Second option is the same fix, but instead of matching the original paint, they can paint the bottom of the car flat black (below the crease, front fender all the way down past the wheel well). So ideally id go with original color, but u always risk that it will be visible that it was repainted. Also, by going black ill save 35% on the price. ($1500 vs $900). Car already kind of has red/black theme going...

Maybe someone good with photoshop could help me out and give me an idea of what it would look like?

Is going black going to ruin the look of the car?

[Ghoste]

Personally I'd keep the red.

[jaak]

Just my opinion, I don't think it would look good. I would have it blended with red. Or just live with it like it is for a few years, save up your money, have the repairs made, and whole car repainted.

That being said, do what makes you happy or is best for you and your budget.

Jason

[euroZ06]

Something like this (my photoshop skills suck).
So once rust starts, how fast does it spread? I dont mind not doing anything, as its not visible unless ur looking up close... How can i stop it without going all out? Is spraying that stop rust thing effective?

[fy469rtse]

spend the extra and paint red,
after painted , keep your door panel off , clean up debris inside vacuum out paint and most important hang your doors open and drown the insides in fish oil,
let it soak through to where the skins of door are meeting inside,
i leave the doors open so drips dont get on anything else,
ggod protection for preventing the rust coming back 

[ODZKing]

Yeah, I vote for red as well. A good place can paint at the crease and you'll never see it.

[JB400]

Ask another body shop for an opinion and quote.  Also, keep the red.

[euroZ06]

Yeah, I vote for red as well. A good place can paint at the crease and you'll never see it.

Im in the are where there are shady specialists... They all try and rape you out of ur money. 3 different shops told me that they have to paint the area around it (some said just the door, some said part of the quarter panel, some said the whole quarter panel up to the roofline...

I mean, i think u r right, they should be able to paint it below the crease, even if its a little off, it wont be noticable, right?

I do agree that the way it is now is ideal, but its extra $600 i have to take care of couple of the other things on it so would really not spend the extra money...

[bill440rt]

I vote red as well. 

Euro, where are you from? I see you have a NJ plate up front, and that car looks awfully familiar... 

[euroZ06]

Well it was in east brunswick for about 6 months, but i just had it shipped to cali...

[euroZ06]

Here is a pic of the right side (left side is not as bad)... Im really digging the idea that they should be able to blend it in under that line, anyone else thinks so?

[bill440rt]

Well it was in east brunswick for about 6 months, but i just had it shipped to cali...

If it's the same car I'm thinking of it was in the Middlesex, NJ area, which is not too far from E.Brunswick. 

[Grim Jhaixus]

They only need to paint it on the areas they are repairing. There's no way they can't paint just the bottom portions of the doors.

The fish oil is a solid recommendation for rust prevention. Personally I've become a huge fan of the spray on liners and intend to get very nearly my entire car hosed with it. I've had bad experiences with most of the over the counter rust preventatives in a can, but I hear the "salt air" that comes with living in a beachside town eats protective coatings  

[pmike]

They definitely should be able to paint only the repaired area and blend it with the rest.

In fact, even you could probably diy that reasonably well if you'd get it welded somewhere, and then bondoed and sanded it and got a spray can filled with correct two component paint shade.

Edit; although there is always a chance that current paint is not "compatible" with the new paint and will boil, and then it could not be painted straight over..

[euroZ06]

Ok,
I talked to them again, and after some negotiations they said they will fix and paint both sides (under the crease) for $900... Is that reasonable price?

[ODZKing]

Paint itself isn't cheap anymore, and red is probably one of the more expensive colors.
If these guys do GOOD work, yes, it's worth it.

[workworkwork]

Is that red the original red paint color? I recently purchased a 74 and it has a different color red in the door jambs than the outside of the car. The paint in the door jambs seems a little more orangy than the outside red. I think they picked a different red than the car was originally painted on mine. I am wondering how you and others like the original red verses any other red. I am going to get my whole car repainted and I was going to go with the original red from 74. Anyone have thoughts on that red? Also for your question I would not go with black on the bottom.

[ODZKing]

Even back in the day with my original 73 I never liked the 73 red. After the car faded a bit it was orangy as you mentioned.
My 67 is the original color PP1 Bright Red (it's called).  I get compliments on it all the time because it is not maroon but a deeper red than a cherry red for example.  Hard to explain but Mopar used the color 66-68 if I remember correctly.
Hard to tell on a computer, but but it is same as my 67. Anyway, my 

[workworkwork]

That red looks pretty nice on both of your chargers. I don't think the orangy red for 73 would go well with a white top. The red you painted it looks better with the white top. Orangy red and white just don't seem to go together that well.

[tor-redaar]

I restore classic cars for a living, and yes, stick with the red. A good shop can roll an edge off the bodyline and spray it. A light wet sand and polish will make it nearly impossible to see, as long as the color match is good. The only problem you might find is that the rust on the backside of a hole like that is usually 2-3x larger than whats showing on the outside. As long as they can cut out ALL of the rust there and still be below your line with enough room to prime and then paint, you'll be okay. Make sure they keep and show you the piece they cut out and you will see exactly what was removed. Some lesser shops may do a quick repair and hide your issue without properly repairing it. If they just catch the rust thats showing without taking out enough to get rid of the hidden rust, you will be re doing this repair in a couple years. The adjacent rust will keep on working and you'll end up with rust bubbles juuust past your nice new metal. A proper repair on that door should include a patch that wraps around to the inside of the door, mimicking the original lip. Those areas rust because of sandwiched layers, and if they just fix the outter layer, it's only a matter of time before it comes back again... just my opinion. I always want to notify my customers of how and why things happen, and the consequences of doing a half assed repair just to keep things cheap. In restoration, all things kept equal, you get what you pay for. Hope this helps. 

Dallas

[Patronus]

just be sure you understand completely how much metal they'll be replacing.... red yes, black no