whats the biggest mistake made while restoring your charger

[Mike DC]

Aside from money, my biggest problem has always been not having enough shop and storage space.  It constantly leads to indirect expenditures that shouldn't have been there. 

 

[skip68]

Me doing some of the work myself.  That's been my problem.   

[moparstuart]

Me doing some of the work myself.  That's been my problem.   

yeah dont even let chuck look at your car , let alone touch it . 

[skip68]

    It's true.  I should not play with tools.   

[jb666]

I was just curious about what peoples biggest mistake made while restoring there charger themselves

Buying mine...

[aone415]

Hiring someone to do the body work and paint thinking it would cost $25,000 and paying $55,000.

Yup that and the rear valence fiasco... 

[BB1]

Trusting people to do the job right. Never again  

Do not pay up front 

Get the work in writing 

[resq302]

1- not robbing a bank to have enough money to do it all at once.
2- not having the know how to do it all myself. I am sure some of us have run into situations where we could have done it better than the "professional" who did the job for us and took our money!
3-not having a bigger garage to work in

[TylerCharger69]

Biggest mistake???...Well....listening to people who claim to be knowledgeable, only to find out they don't know only one tenth  of what they say they do...then realizing that their answer to everything is "Bondo".  What morons!!!  That was and IS a costly mistake.   I guess if ya want something done right, ya must do it yourself....Thankfully...I found this forum a few years back, and I can get questions answered!!!

[69bronzeT5]

I haven't really made any mistakes....yet

[Brock Samson]

 I have to agree with the not enough room problem, I didn't/dont even have any level ground within a city block, I simply didn't/don't have a choice (economicly) to rent a garage or any other such fix... on the good side it meant it had to be running car,.. a garage queen simply wasn't an option, I took it to a friends dads' work space (he's a trucker) and with their space, help, tools and cherry picker we broke the doner car down and installed a drivetrain in about three full days,.. I can see in retrospect where if i had had room to store and take stuff apart and jack it up and such, it would have become a looooooooong term project and such as I tore into stuff,.. I didn't realize that then though. The S.E. interior stuff I did in my own driveway and even that was pretty cramped.
So I guess in a very positive way, not having any space meant it had to be a running licenced driver.
  and yes detail all the work to be done in writing with a specified time frame and with a punch list and never pay up front, only as you go and check everything. plenty of folks have complained about expensive stuff incl. entire cars (and shops' owners and workers) dissappering.
  Often Shops with give you a unrealistic estimate for both when the job will start, how long it will take and how much it will cost.
Best to get all the correct pieces stockpiled and paid for before they go on the car...
so you don't have to wait, and even then stuff will have to be found, ordered and waited on...
my rule of thumb is three times longer and three times more expensive then whatever estimate anyone (including yourself) figgures... 
 

[greatwn73]

 The biggest mistake was selling the Charger to finance the new money pit occupying my garage. The Charger was driveable and reliable, a few things needed to be redone and fresh paint would have helped but could still be taken to cruises and shows.
I'm missing the whole year working on a shell that I only seem to get a piece a day installed.
  I guess today I'm pissed because I took off more parts than I put on. 

[1969chargerrtse]

   It's true.  I should not play with tools.   

That's to funny, honest but funny.

[jaak]

Starting the resto....I think Id rather be driving it looking like a POS than just having it sitting.

Jason

[SFRT]

accidentally stepping on one of my new hubcaps. i got it looking almost ok, but, its bugging me,getting a scrape on the freshly painted hood, putting disc brakes on the back I should have just done the fronts, it was such a pain in the ass.

[The70RT]

Having some bastards media blast my car (Surface Prep in Topeka, Kansas) They tried to charge me twice as much as they quoted then telling me they don't remember quoting me that price or me coming in prior to having the car dropped off. I ended up reworking the roof after these F-ing morons warped it. 

[G-man]

I get others to restore the vehicle as I dont know but...

I have a drivable car which I want restored - so I figure this is valid info

1) Taking the car off the road based on a companies promise to have all the parts I asked for in 4 weeks. Well Its been 6 months now and I just got the parts. Lesson: Dont take the car off the road UNTIL and I mean UNTIL you have every single part and every single nut and bolt ready to complete the vehicle. Even if you have 1 bolt missing do not start on the car, that bolt may take you 6 moths to get!

2) Paying the mechanic to DO the job, to only get told once you aquired the parts that he is doing someone elses vehicle or vehicles while having waited for your parts, has family issues and doesnt wanna know about your car for next 6 months.

Or 2nd experience in number 2, paying for a rear quarter to be fixed in August 2005, and now in 2009 it STILL isnt done.

PAY AFTER JOB IS DONE NOT BEFORE!

[ODZKing]

i would have to say, not keeping a tight leash on the shops that did work on my car,.. some of it was communication Bad communication,.. and I have to take half the responsibility for not breathing down the managers' necks while the work was going on,..

And not redoing the floorboards and bumpers while the car was in the shop.  They had to be done later ... should have done it at once instead of taking things apart twice. 

[Blown70]

WOW all of the above.  Always learn about what your going to have worked on, ask questions, and dont pay all up front even if they demand so....

I personally would suggest doing as MUCH as you can on your own, and hover over YOUR project like a hawk.  Ask others in your area for references so you know the work these people do..... and be CAUTIOUS....

Good luck

[oldrock]

this is my son and my first restoration and even though we spend alot more time than we should on some projects with the charger, we are both having alot of fun. Mistakes are sure to happen but as long as we are having fun and spending some good father son time on the restoration, it is all good 

[BROCK]

While I haven't actually started the resto - I did make a bad blunder.
I thought sanding the thin paint/rusted areas down to bare metal &
priming them was good.  Little did I know that primer actually absorbs
moisture

[G-man]

Maybe the biggest mistake is... Starting to restore 1.

[chargergirl]

this is my son and my first restoration and even though we spend alot more time than we should on some projects with the charger, we are both having alot of fun. Mistakes are sure to happen but as long as we are having fun and spending some good father son time on the restoration, it is all good 

Research parts and such that you are going to need and buy them when you see them at a bargain price. "We don't need that part yet", can be a very expensive statement. We just bought high end plug wires for my '66 and the engine isn't even near the car. Go to swap meets, having done your research and pick up stuff. Check these boards for parts. This is my first restoration however not Marks first. Don't do your own paint unless you REALLY know how to paint. He does a beautiful job on smaller parts, engine pieces etc. But that whole car painting is best left to pros. Go to the swap meets and car shows and discuss with the locals who they used, experience, etc. Great project together and these boards have a lot to offer. The four guys I know are very learned about Mopar...they still bounce stuff each other and ask questions about things they never dealt with before.

[riggs626]

I havent really messed up yet (just started the restoration myself) but am second guessing the new frame rails that I put on, But I too have never had any luck getting the  "professionals" to do there job correctly

[Bob]

   It's true.  I should not play with tools.   

Your work looks fine to me.