opinion on bodyvwork buget

[deanj309]

hey everyone, i have 68 charger. the car needs some sheetmetal done.i have everything stock piled ready to be put on car.i have a budget of 10g... i need full rear quarters,roof skin,rear window chanel replaced dutchmen panel.would my buget be sufficient. to get the sheet metal done amd completed to final blocking? thx everyone!

[green69rt]

I hope what I say doesn't discourage you from getting this car done but here goes.

I don't know if anyone could say yes or no with this info.  Having said that, it will almost certainly cost more.  The question is how much.  What can you do yourself?  Can you do some demo, what shape is the car in now.  Stripped, bare shell, rolling body?  To get it down to ready for blocking you need all the demo, panel replacement (this is really the big IF!).  Is the body straight now?  Body seam sealed,body plugs.  You going to do the blocking?  The whole car will need multiple coats of primer, filler, and high build primer.  What level of restoration are you looking at?  It's funny how these projects grow out of control.  (not funny/ha ha but funny/odd.)

Maybe a better plan is to tackle one thing at a time.  Getting the rear quarters can lead to trunk floor extensions, gutters, dutchman supports, work around the tail light panel.  

Got any pictures of the work that needs to be done?

Edit, well, I can see that I did not answer your question at all.  Sometimes you just have to start and see what happens.

[gtx6970]

So , its 2 quarter panels , a roof skin and rear dutchman panel ?
No trunk floor or trunk extensions, outer wheel houses repairs/replacements I assume ?

If the answer to both is Yes. I think you in the ball park going to depend a lot on WHY it need the panels replaced, damage? Rust ? previous repairs done bad ?

if its rust be ready when they tell you it needs metal and/or repairs you didnt budget for

[green69rt]

What's the hourly rate at the shop you plan on using?  It will make a big diff.  I've heard of anywhere from $45 to $100/hr.  The shop I used charged $70/hr.

[71charger_fan]

I had a shop quote me $18K to fix a few rust spots and do a color change to my '71. The billed me considerably more than that when the job was done. I believe they took advantage of me because I was overseas at the time and had a second shop send the job to them. By the time I found out how much they were billing me, the job was done. They wound up taking about $10k off of the bill and it was still way more than they quoted. Unfortunately, they were out of business before I saw it in the sun and realized what a crap job they did on the paint. Now it's at another shop getting done right.

[deanj309]

Hi everyone. thanks green for trying to tackle my question.Im not sure where to begin with but here goes...as the car presently sits has new rear crossmember,rear lower valance.full rear trunk pan .new footwell and full floor pan..as it sits,its a full rolling body./shell.. the rear quarters driver side has one spot of rust and some small dings and passenger side has a crease along the quarter.sorry camt post pics..lower upper amd lower rockers ate not rusted..the wheel wells also are not rusted out..the rear window upper and lower wimdow chanel  are shot and about twobinches of inner frame..this was suposed to be builder.now feels like saver.however im to deep to quit not..im not discouraged one bit

[deanj309]

this car has never had any previous body work all original metel.tree or something fell on roof and then sat for years and it got rained in amd ruined floor pan and trunk pan ect..

[green69rt]

Where you located?  There are members all over the world.  Maybe someone is close? 

Who did you current work, if you, then, you've got a big leg up on how to do these things!

[Bronzedodge]

If you can work out the dents, the original metal fits best.  Better to trim down a new repo panel to a small size than cut away good metal.

[Mike DC]

If you can work out the dents, the original metal fits best.  Better to trim down a new repo panel to a small size than cut away good metal.

This.  


If a shop is doing your work, make it very clear that you want the best sheetmetal work you can get.  You DO NOT EVER want a shop rushing through the metal work for the sake of allowing more finish work time.  

If they do good sheetmetal work and then run out of budget/time to finish it off, then you end up with 50% of a good repair job.  If they rush the sheetmetal work for the sake of the finish work, then you end up with 100% of a bad repair.  Better to have the first one.  

[Kern Dog]

OP disappeared like a Politician after election day.