Charger Specialties Sheetmetal

[MM1R/T]

Has anyone here used any of the sheetmetal that Charger Specialties sells? They claim that they make it themselves. I'm mostly interested in the sail panels and the filler panel between the rear window and the trunk.

Is their stuff any more accurate than what comes from Goodmark, for example?

[Troy]

I've heard it's nice but I've also heard that the sail panels at least are out of stock. I tried to confirm that today but couldn't. Most of the time a decent welder can fix the rust without buying the pieces but if your car has a LOT of rust them the entire replacement panels make sense.

Troy

[squeakfinder]

I used the dutchmen panel (the one between rear window and trunk) from Charger specialties and am happy with results.

[Zentelis]

I bought the sail panels, rear deck-lid (between the trunk and rear glass), and rear-valence corners from them.
I haven't seem the fitted up yet, but my body shop guy said they were really good and won't need any "tweaking" to get them to fit correctly.

The first time the sail panels shipped, UPS bent them in half (yes..the box showed up with a 30 degree bend in it).
Charger Specialties took care of it and sent me another set pretty quick. They also reinforced the box (it was almost a solid block of cardboard  )

So, my own personal experience has been pretty good..I'll make a more concrete decision once I see the parts fitted on the Charger

[MM1R/T]

Thanks guys. Looks like I'll give them a try.

[nh_mopar_fan]

Do these guys sell floor pans as well? My buddy is finally starting on his 68 R/T and is need of a couple front pans.

[bill440rt]

Just a few FYI's about the corner caps & the filler panel:
If you look closely at the factory filler panel, you'll see it curves up slightly as it meets the sail panels on either end. The repro panel is flat, it does not curve upwards on the sides.
The corner caps fit poorly, but it's all that is available unless you can find clean used ones (yeah, right!), or NOS ones (yeah, RIGHT!). You can get them to work, but some finessing is needed. The angles are wrong where they meet the rear valence & 1/4 panels. I installed them on my '69 project. Some guys cut the new corner pieces & weld in strips of metal to make up the difference. I installed mine centered in the "V" opening, & made up the gap with a skim of reinforced fiberglass filler. I used masking tape as a guide for the gap lines. They came out just fine.

[Troy]

I bought the sail panels, rear deck-lid (between the trunk and rear glass), and rear-valence corners from them.
I haven't seem the fitted up yet, but my body shop guy said they were really good and won't need any "tweaking" to get them to fit correctly.

I agree with Bill (and many others) on the valence corners. If your body guy thinks they are really good then you may want to consider another body guy... 69 hemi has a section of his site dedicated to making them work. I took Doc74's set over to the body shop where my car was and those guys could spot the difference when I was still 5 feet from the car. Thankfully I don't need them for that car but I do for the others. It will be a lot more work than just welding them on but they are the only option at this point.

Troy

[MM1R/T]

I really lucked out and got a pair of nearly perfect valence corners almost by accident.

Bill440RT:  Thanks for the heads up on the filler panel ends. Any tips or tricks for reproducing the curve, or is it something I'll have to live with?

[bill440rt]

I really lucked out and got a pair of nearly perfect valence corners almost by accident.

Bill440RT:  Thanks for the heads up on the filler panel ends. Any tips or tricks for reproducing the curve, or is it something I'll have to live with?

Your welcome!!
Whether you want to live without the curve or not is entirely up to you. I never had the experience of installing one, however a buddy of mine did on his '69. He is able to live with it. I couldn't, but I'm a fussy s.o.b.
If your ends are good on your original panel (probably not, or else you wouldn't be asking  ), you may be able to just section the new one in keeping the ends original. Or, use it for small patch panels. I simply made metal angled patch panels to repair my lower window channel, & kept the filler panel original. The channel was pretty rotted, however I fixed it by using 2 patches on either lower corner, & one longer one in the center. Came out good.
You could possibly cut notches in the window channel on the new piece, and then use a sheetmetal brake or a long piece of wood to finesse the ends with the right curve. It would take some skill to do this, though.

[squeakfinder]

Maybe I'm not understanding whats being said about the panel between the rear window and trunk. But the panel I installed has a slight curve upwards on the ends. As it goes back toward the trunk I think it flattens out a little. I was actually surprised how well it butted up against the sail panels for a smooth seem. Also something to think about, the old panel I cut out did not have paint on the inside, so it was pretty rusty.

[bill440rt]

Maybe they redesigned this panel? 
The one my buddy used was from Auto Body Specialties, & it did not curve on the ends like you described. That would be awesome if they made this improvement on a repro part. 

[blackcharger]

I got one of their panels that goes between the rear glass and decklid, about 15 years ago. Nothing but a flat piece of metal with a small strip of angle  for $75. Hope they do better now.

[squeakfinder]

OK. I got mine from Charger Specialties not autobdy specialties. I talked to them on the phone and Charger Specialties make the panels themselves. I'll try and get some pictures on here of the results this weekend, unless somebody beats me to it.

[MM1R/T]

Rotsparts:

Pics would be greatly appreciated, especially of the previously discussed areas.

[Zentelis]

If your body guy thinks they are really good then you may want to consider another body guy...

*sigh* figures..
If my luck could get any worse with these cars, let me know..

I'm going to send my body guy 69hemi's write up on fitting those corners.

[squeakfinder]

Hope this works.....

[squeakfinder]

 Sorry the awfull looking trim is in the way.

[MM1R/T]

Thanks. That helps.

As to your poll question, if you are not going to install the vinyl, I'd lose the trim, too.