Auto Rust Tech?

[MoparManJim]

I was looking at there web site, my charger rear needing some work done that is more then just trunk pans. Well I have a question or maybe someone here can tell me, these http://www.autorust.com/k_22b.html full rear frame, is this the whole frame rail from just under the back seat out to the rear bumper? 

Also if anyone had use any of these kind of pieces can you post a photo so I can see what they look like.

Jim

[Sweet T]

I saw a car they had on display at moparfest in New Hamburg.  It looked like they had pieces to cap all the rails.

[daytonalo]

I don't know who sells them , but I have seen replacement rails that have a stepped down section so it can be slid into the cut off section and welded. Those caps are for armatures , and they look like shit

[hemi-hampton]

Had to replace some rear frame rails on a 70 cuda recently. Owner had allready bought those you mentioned. They were complete but not quite up to my standards if you want a showcar. SO, I bought the shorter Sherman & Associates rear frame rails. Shorter but much more factory appearing & stamped one peice instead of homemade 3 peice. The home made 3 peice will work on a daily driver if you want to heavy duty undercoat it to hide it but would not recommend on any quality showcar. Just my opinion. Been there done that. LATER.

[AutoRust]

We are very understanding of peoples desire to make there cars " show cars "   We dont sell them with that in mind. We sell them to people that want to repair there "driver".  A lot of people are very creative and can blend the kits in so that you can not tell there is one there, not always using lots of undercoating either, just weld and grind a bit.
We started welding them internally now, we had a heck of a time developing a technique to do that, but they look really clean now.
And they are heavier gauge steel then the factory, so if your building a street car, with a big motor, these are a great way to reinforce the frame. Who likes to launch it once and a while and then start seeing stress cracks in some odd places.

[hemi-hampton]

Autorust, When you say We who is We? Are you from Autorust Technitions? I agree with you 100% that some people cant afford show Quality parts. Problem is, that I run into being a Auto Restorer is that no matter what someone pays, has to pay or wants to pay from a $1,000 resto to a $100,000+ resto no matter what they are paying they are bitching & complaining if they dont have a flawless 100 point showcar when done. In a nutshell most of the Public out there is not aware of the fact that if you bring someone a total rustbucket basket case & want a show car you can expect to spend $100,000+ but instead these same people think it will cost them $2,000 & be done in 2 weeks & if they willing to pay $10,000 instead of $2,000 then they are expecting a Showcar. $10,000 is about $90,000 short of a showcar. Nowadays 2 NOS 1/4's could cost you $10,000?  Problem is if you only want to pay $2,000 on a Earl Scheibed Maaco hacked out garbage resto then you get what you pay for. Some people need to get a Clue.

[AutoRust]

Hemi-Hampton, Yes, I am Dave, from Auto Rust Technicians. I run the shop and handle the Safe-T-Cap frame repair kits, as well as the full show schedule.
I agree people in the hobby have a strange misconception about what they will get for there money. We have been in business for 29 years, and remember  Earl Schribe paint jobs, and the horrors that Maaco use to put out there.
We are somewhat lucky in we do not do "restorations", we only fix rust. We dont do motor work, we dont do convertible tops, we dont supply new chrome, we just fix rust. Our biggest roadblock is when we find rust that was not quoted when we estimated the car. Its not like we created the problem, we just find it. Now if we quoted 2500 to replace a trunk, and then when we need to attach the trunk extensions to the lower quarters, we find lots of foam and bondo and window screen. Do I fix the lower quarters and run up the bill, or do I leave it alone, then hear we didnt fix "all " the rust.
We had a customer bring in his older restored Mustang convertible, he thought it was a cream puff but his doors didnt close well.. I think he was driving his 401K. He wanted the rust fixed, we quoted it to fix the underbody, floors rockers and all. He got cheap, nickel and dime about this and that, aint that bad, blah, blah blah. So we set a fixed price, and did the complete center of the car. He drove it away and was impressed the way it drove so much better. Now 3 months later he shows up in an uproar with his wife, or Mom. He was trying to sell it as a " rust Free" Mustang, ( like there is such a thing) He was ticked off because he thought we fixed every single little rust spot, on the lower doors, on the lower quarters, on the lower fenders, all the little spots that bubble up from the bondo over rust. He was baffled, what did I pay you to do? Because he didnt see what we did, he didnt understand the amount of work we had to do and didnt understand his budget would have doubled if we dug into alll the rust, and then he would need to go and have a good paint job done, so his out of pocket cost would have gone from $4000 to 10 or $12,000, and he was still thinking we didnt do a good job?
I would much rather deal with the guys that know what it takes to do it. Thats why there not doing it.
We are a very specialized company in the sense its all we do is rust. Nothing more. I dont think our business model would work in many places, maybe PA, or Mich, or maybe Ohio, somewhere in the "Rustbelt". And then it still takes 10 years before people trust you to do what you say you are going to do.

[daytonalo]

Do you do body work and paint or just weld in panels and kick the customer out the door ?

[hemi-hampton]

Daytonalo? Who are you asking your Question to? Me or Autorust? I do both Paint & Bodywork. Like Autorust said I rather deal with someone who knows how much time & money it takes to do a resto as 9 out of 10 have no clue, They figure 2 weeks & 2 grand & instant showcar out of their Rustbucket basket case. The 70 Cuda I'm restoring now the Customer allready bought every undercarriage frame peice available from Autorust. This would be fine except this guys wants a finely detailed & fully painted flawless undercarriage, I got about 2 weeks into just priming & sanding his undercarriage, not including the many weeks installing trunk floor, extensions, rear frame rails, torques boxes, subframe connectors, Keisler 6 speed trans tunnel, ect, ect. Plus the guy wants to be a tightwad. Or so the boss gives that impression. I posted a pic of this cuda in that Torque Box Question someone asked. I'll try to post another. LEON.

[hemi-hampton]

Heres a Pic of Undercarriage of Cuda. Undercarriage so full of rust pits really needs to be reprimed a second time & another 2 weeks of sanding but this would add a few grand more to job. I had to do that to a Black 70 T/A Challenger I restored. This Undercarriage getting painted tomorrow hopefully. Will be PPG B5 Blue base coat clear coat. Now this guy is being a total nitpicker at any micro flaw. For these type of people only 2 solutions. Buy 100% rust free car like my Charger I have. Buy only NOS parts. 3rd option buy a Roger Gibson 100 point showcar for $300,000. Now when This Cuda guy buys all these parts from you (autorust) do you say is this intended for a daily driver, winter beater or showcar with painted detailed flawless undercarriage? NO, You dont ask that Question but if you did & he said flawless painted showcar undercarriage would you still offer to sell him your Parts??

[daytonalo]

I was speaking to auto-rust , I got the impresson that they only welded in sheetmetal !

[nh_mopar_fan]

That is all they do according to their webpage.

[AutoRust]

We make it very clear on our web site that our parts are for cars that are driven. We dont advertise them as for 100 point show car registration. We try to tell people, read the name of the product, "frame repair kit" Thats as clear as I can make it, we dont tell people they are replacements nor do we tell them its a beautiful show quality frame. Its a frame repair kit. I have a lot of shops in the midwest that are selling our kits to people with drivers that have big fat motorsand they want to reinforce the chassis as much as possible. People can write checks for some serious horsepower nowadays. Our kits help the structural integrity of the chassis.
Our company was built on the concept that cars are for driving. We do not do rotisserie restorations, and most real customers can not afford to pay someone to do them.Not at $65 per hour. I know there are people that do spend the money like that, but I dont think they are real "car guys" in the sense they dont tune the carb, pour the antifreeze, change the seat belts, blah blah blah. They just have a lot of money, and are trying to do the right thing as they know it. Hey it takes all kinds, and there is room for everybody.
We have been in the rust repair business for  29 years now. We only do rust. We do not paint cars in our shop, as we don't really know how to, the best we do is prepare it to go to paint, we weld on sheet metal, blend the seams, then prime. I certainly do not consider that " kicking them out the door"  If someone wants to pay, we will go further and send it out to be sprayed. here is a car we did that to
http://autorust.com/gl0.html
the customer was just happy that the car was getting completed. It had spent 23 months in a body shop, getting milked along, made him buy 2500 worth of sheet metal, then stroked along till they told him the rear frame was rotted, and the car wasn't worth fixing !
We had the car for about 4 months. He got new floors, trunks rear frame caps, new fenders, as well as a lot of time preparing the body. He was pleased so he asked us to continue. He had the car back, painted and ready to drive in 4 months. Sure his bill was up there, but he wanted it done.
Typically though, we don't like to get involved in finish paint work, its just to much bull sh*t to go through.  We prefer to just fix the metal, do rough finish work then prime it. We are very busy and don't like to wander far from our core business, fixing rust.

[BigBlockSam]

 

[hemi-hampton]

Hi Dave, You dont have to convince me, I know what a Cap or frame repair kit is. Problem is most individuals like my Cuda guy, bought those parts not knowing the differance between a driver & show car. Guess he thinks they are one in the same? Only way to explain him buying all those parts from you but wanting a showcar, like most wanting a resto has NO Clue whats going on. Since most people have NO clue you have to explain every little detail to them & hope they can grasp what you are trying to say & then unlkikely as you experianced with you Mustang Convertible guy. This makes the whole Resto experiance for me very Frustrating, trying to get people to Understand. Yes, I seen your Work you do, This is all fine for many people. Unfortunately for me I can not get away with that type of work (no insult intended) as my customers are to nitpicky. LEON.