My Charger came home today!!!!!!!

[RTPTRON]

I brought my Charger home for the first time since February 2005 today.  The light and my picture taking skills aren't great but here are a few pictures if anyone is interested.

It was painted TT1 Medium Green Poly and now has a new Green vinyl top.  That makes me triple green jr, right Mark.

As you can see I have the same issue with storage space for my toys that I had whan I had the Coronet and the Charger here last year.

My Charger had not met the Grand National that I purchased while she was out.  I hope they get along OK in the tight garage.

[RTPTRON]

The person in the last picture is Jeff, the shop owner of the shop that painted my car.

[haueter66]

nice lookin car!!

[ChargerAndy]

Sweet! Congrats on getting your baby home    Was it a total restoration?  Is that the factory original color?  Oh yea, more pics pleeze!  Andy

[DC_1]

Sweet!!!!!

[RTPTRON]

Thanks for the kind comments ChargerAndy.

We did start out with the PPG Code for TT1 which was the original color.   I have been told that the Base Coat/Clear Coat that we used may not match the exact color of the paint used back in 1968.

It was not a complete restoration.   We did a fair amount of body work to clean up some rust in the lower doors and quarters. There were a fair number of dings that had to be removed and there was a stress fracture in the passenger side quater that had to be welded up.   All of the emblems, gas cab, door handles, outside mirrors, side market lights and hood signal lights are new aftermarket parts mostly from YearOne.   The bumpers were rechromed by Art Brass in Seattle.   Exhibition Auto did the paint and body work in Kent, Washington.   I took the original tail lights and another set that I purchased on ebay and made one fair set of tail lights.

And oh ya Andy, here are some pictures from the day it was painted.

[RTPTRON]

For some reason my pictures did not come through on that last post

[Charger_Fan]

Congrats!!!
Your Charger's looking great!! It looks cozy in the garage too.


I'm thinkin' you could us an avatar about now.

[TruckDriver]

nice lookin car!!

You can always bring it to me if your GN needs space

[472 R/T SE]

It looks like it turned out great Ron.  I can hardly wait to see it in person.  Pictures just aren't giving it any justice.  That's the green color that alomst looks silver in certain light, right? 
I'd be scared to death of something falling off your wall onto the car.

Someone in Washington rechromes, could I get their info.?

[RTPTRON]

It looks like it turned out great Ron.   I can hardly wait to see it in person.   Pictures just aren't giving it any justice.   That's the green color that almost looks silver in certain light, right?  
I'd be scared to death of something falling off your wall onto the car.

Someone in Washington re chromes, could I get their info.?

AllBlueRT, first off congratulations on your good news.  Most of us take things like being able to walk around for granted.  We need to understand that it is a blessing that we should all be very thankfull for.  You're the man.  Get er Done!!!

Art Brass did my bumpers.  They are in south Seattle at 3rd Avenue and Findlay.  I don't have the contact information handy but they are very well known.

[8WHEELER]

  Right on Ron, I thought you were going to cruise over to my place first
before you put it away, heck the weather has evan been nice, hard to believe 
Oh well I guess I will have to wait.

Oh and by the way you are 3x senior, you have the 440 Magnum 
Hope that car cover gets there fast, looks kind of scary to me.

Dan

[Danny Gutierrez]

  What a beautiful car!!!!!!!  Congrats on the new body work and paint!!!!!

[bull]

Looks good, Ron. Now I have an idea what mine must have looked like new. Although I have seen a few others repainted in TT-1 and they looked similar to yours but none seem to look like the original factory TT-1 from what I can tell. There was a '68 Barracuda at Spring Roundup two years ago that I think still had the original TT-1 paint and it looked darker than yours. I guess it's one color that can't really be reproduced any longer. I'm reluctant to paint mine TT-1 because I have no vinyl top or R/T stripes to break it up like you. That would be a lot of green.

[SuBLimE 69]

That green looks fantastic.  Nice job Ron 

[wetfeetmi]

I love the '68s. That one of yours looks fantastic. I like GNs too! You have great taste in cars. ( that is quite the motorhome!)

[greenpigs]

I LOVE the look of a wet paint job.

[hemi68charger]

Congrad's !!!! I know it's gotta be a good feelilng.....  Looking great.....

Troy

[hydroforce]

CONGRATS!!!!!!
can't wait to be at that point myself

[694spdRT]

The car looks great..congratulations. I really like that color green. 

[THE COLONEL]

Awesome looking car there!!!!!

[triple_green]

Hi Ron,

I stopped by and saw the car when it was at Jeff's shop. He did a GREAT job. Your car looks fananstic!

I really like the color too! The base/clear was the right decision.

Congrats and hope to see you out cruzin'

3X

[Nupe]

Nice car!   Color looks great also and I don't even like green.     

[RD]

i am not sure if its been said, but I know wakko would love that pic of the GN/Charger garage photo!

great looking car, glad you can enjoy it now.

[41husk]

Congratulations, now you will be itching for some good weather!

[DC_1]

I love the color!......mine was originally green but I was looking at going black for the color since I am not going for the complete factory resto.. After seeing that color green I am rethinking what color I will go now.

[89MOPAR]

Looks Great!

Can you divulge how much it cost $$ for the bodywork / paint / vinyl    - so boardmembers can have an idea how much $$ a quality paintjob costs ?

Or for those in the Washignton area looking for a bodyman ?

[RTPTRON]

Looks Great!

Can you divulge how much it cost $$ for the bodywork / paint / vinyl      - so boardmembers can have an idea how much $$ a quality paintjob costs ?

Or for those in the Washington area looking for a bodyman ?

I spent about $9,500 but I got a great deal on the paint and body part.  The bumpers were around $700 From Art Brass is Seattle.  The top installation was $275 and the top was from year one.  All of the parts from yearOne, ebay, Charger Specialties, etc were around $2,000.  Glass work (we pulled the back and quarter Glass) was around $145.  If you want to do some of the work yourself you could save some money on Vinyl top installation, disassembly and reassembly.  I chose to write some big checks so that it would be done right.

I saved money by making a deal with a collision shop but the price you pay is having to give up your car for a while.  Mine went in the shop back in February and I brought it home this past weekend.  If you understand that going in it is a lot easier.  I purchased my Grand National in the Spring and had a ball with it this Summer.  The Shop is Exhibition Auto in Kent, Washington.  Jeff is the owner.  Jeff took this shop over about two months before I made my deal with him.  He has turned a failing shop into one of the leading collision shops in the area.  He don't know MoPars like a a specialty shop would but I know a little bit and what I did not know people like Dan on this site and others helped me out so I could help him.  I am very happy with the job they did.  The shop is about a mile from my house so I visited the shop at least a few times per week.  I could just walk back to the shop area and visit with my car and talk with the shop people.  That helped a lot.

I did not have to replace any floor panels or major body panels.  Just some door and quarter corners.  We had a few dents and one quarter had been fillled with bondo to repair some dents that should have been pulled out.  They ground out the bondo and pulled the dents.  Of course there is still some filler in the quarter but not anything like there was.  All and all the car was in pretty good shape going in.  Understand what I had done is simply a high end paint job, not a restoration.  You can get to $50k PLUS real fast if you totally rebuild the car.

The only regreat I have is that I did not do the engine compartment.  It looks great until you raise the hood.  My engine is in good shape so I decided to wait until I need engine work outside of the car to do the under hood treatment.

In short expect to spend from $9 K to $15 K for a high end paint Job.  You can save a lot of money if you can do the prep and reassembly work yourself.  Don't forget that the little stuff like Gas Cap, emblems, mirrors and door handles will cost more than you think.  Make sure you develop a good relationship with the shop owner and workers.  I lucked up and became good friends with Jeff.  He loved the car and made sure that his people went that extra mile to do it right.

Exhibition Auto -- highly reccomended
Art Brass -- Highly Reccomended
YearOne -- OK
ebay -- dangerous but they have everything pretty much you are looking for.

I hope this is what you were looking for.

[89MOPAR]

 Sure was RTPTRON -
Thanks for the description and prices , a lot of guys are squeamish about $$ figures , so it's cool you were willing to lay it out.
Seems like you lucked into the body shop at just the right time, before his reputation started shining and longer timetable to get your car in.
Excellent that you were able to check in on it so often !

[Silver R/T]

clean charger