Should I wait before buying sheetmetal?

[69bronzeT5]

As of this moment, I DO NOT have a body shop for my car yet. I dont know where its going or when. Hopefully before summer it'll go to a body shop. Now heres my question, would it be a smart idea buying sheetmetal now or should I wait until its in the body shop and let the guys there point me as what to buy. 

[Rack]

Were you planning on getting it blasted? If so, you should wait till after cuz you won't know for sure all you're gonna need till after it's blasted.

[69bronzeT5]

We I mean stuff that I know I need. I know for sure that I need front floor pans, a rear valance and quarters

[Rack]

Might not be a bad idea, but you might get a discount if you make one big bulk order. 

[Mopar2Ya]

Are you thinking full qtrs or skins?

[69bronzeT5]

skins for sure, cant afford full ones

[Mopar2Ya]

AMD's full qtrs will be out soon, hopefully. IIRC, they are around $700 ea. I had skins done a few yrs ago, but I'm not happy w/the body work. I hope you have better luck than I did. I guess I'd wait until you know when the car goes into the shop. Another thought is that the sections you are sure need replaced border/attach to other sections that may be easier to replace than salvage/etc(of course this could be endless replacement). How's your trunk pan?

[69bronzeT5]

How's your trunk pan?

Really good. All I need is trunk extensions

[bull]

I would wait and let your body shop decide what you need for two reasons: I bought some parts that I didn't need and some others that the body guy didn't like so I took a loss on some of that stuff (I bought a front valance and he was able to fix my original, also I needed a larger quarter panel piece than what I assumed I needed). Also, the shop might be able to get you a better deal on some parts because they buy in bulk and can save money on shipping. Or it may be a wash but you don't have to deal with handling the parts until they use them. Believe me, it can be well worth it to pay and extra $25-$50 per part if you never have to touch and store some of it. Overall it's just better if he can look the car over after it's been blasted and tell you exactly what you need and don't need.

[69bronzeT5]

Thanks guys for the info. Its very helpful

[BRS]

I would wait until you've got your soda blasting done and the car in sealer. Lots of "money" body shops want to throw on a bunch of new metal. You want to replace the least amount of metal that you have to. There is no sense in cutting a whole quater off the car when all it needs is a small patch. A real body guy can make a lot of the channels and wheel openings without any trouble. Unless the quaters are completely shot (and you won't know until it's blasted) I would never cut them off the car. and even then you cut only what you have to.

[69bronzeT5]

Well on the quarters, I circled the problem sections

[Rack]

There might end up being more problem areas you won't find out about till after you get it blasted.

[BRS]

I agree with Rack....get it blasted first. Use soda or walnut shells though. Sand will warp the thin metal and you will never be able to get it all out. Blasting will expose all problem areas. Just because you have bondo in an area doesn't mean it can't be repaired. Maybe somebody did a garbage repair and just slapped a wad of bondo in an area that should have been pull and shaped. Whenever you cut large sections of metal out you messing with the integridy of the car.

[bull]

Is your rear window still in place? Looks like it is in the pictures, anyway, you need to pull that out and get a look at the rear window channel. I bet you $20 you've got cancer there. God know what all you're going to find when you blast it but as mentioned you need to do that first. Might as well let the body shop do it or have their "guy" do it so they can get a look, take some pictures and then cover it back up with epoxy primer before it rusts from sitting around in bare metal.

[69bronzeT5]

Yep, its still in there. $20 bucks theres cancer there hey? Ok, deal

[BigBlockSam]

if i replace quarters i always do the outer wheel houses . there usually pretty rusty. Rene