Thanks for the comments

[8WHEELER]

First off I bought this car in 2001 just 20 minutes away. He had it on ebay twice with no luck hitting
his reserve. I had checked out the car, and ran the numbers and everything checked out, but
his reserve was way to high for the rust factor, so after the second try on ebay I went and
made him an offer, 2k and I bought my self my first rust bucket, probably the worst purchase
I have ever made, but I loved the color combo, live and learn...............

The last time this car was tabbed was in 1978, and somebody had already painted it green,
that 70's thing  

It is a QQ1 Blue 68 RT Charger, with no vinyl top, and Pearl white and blue interior, console
shift 440 car with 323 sure grip, factory magnums and redline car.

The ''individual'' I bought it from talked me into letting him restore it. Well long story short, he
told me it would be done in 3 months, because it was going to be the only car he worked on,
because he only has a two car garage. Five years later, 20 of us went down to his house
loaded the car on the trailer and all the parts and brought it back to my house.

He had painted it twice in that little garage in 20 degree weather with no heat in the garage.
The body work was so bad I can't believe he painted it, there was thousands of paint bubbles
and bugs and debris. So we had the discussion and he agreed to redo it, well it sat outside
in the rain here in WA for 4 of the five years he had the car, 3 years after the first paint, I
talked to this guy every way I could possibly think of, to get him to finish it, and finish it correctly.
But he had my money, so after about a year he did not care, and just kept saying two more
weeks and he will start on it again, I heard that at least 1000 times  

Some pics of how I bought it, and some work getting done.

It has been back in my garage for 4 years and I did not touch it, I had lost so much money
it was ob-seen, and I was just pissed.

Dan

[8WHEELER]

Some interior shots, they had also painted most of the interior black   :shruggy

[8WHEELER]

Work is started with the first guy.

Dan

[8WHEELER]

New quarters, new trunk pans, new trunk extentions, new rear valance and corners, and not one
weld in the hole job except for the top quarter panel welds, and it is so warped a wavy it looks like
a three year old did it......... trunk pans and all were put together with a liquid metal bond, not one weld.

Dan

[8WHEELER]

This was his two car shop, and actual work getting done ''but not correctly''.

Dan

[elacruze]

Great to see you're moving forward. Everybody has a sucky story, hopefully your drama is over. Keep the pictures coming.

[8WHEELER]

Here is the reason it came home, the new rear valance corners were a full half inch off, not evan
close to level, or lining up with the quarter panel body line, and the second repaint is half sanded off.

Dan

[8WHEELER]

Evan the trunk is a wash board........... and that was the third one I gave him, and his was very happy with it.

Dan

[8WHEELER]

OK, The car left here two weeks ago, I will have better luck with this guy    But I am
getting all new sheet metal, full quarters this time, yes all of the back end ''from the doors back'' is
getting all ripped off, and all new AMD sheet metal is getting welded in. He will have to heat up all
of that ''new'' sheet metal to get it all off, so the job can be done right.

Dan

[8WHEELER]

No, this is not my truck or trailer, I don't have a trailer, so he picked the car up for me.

BY BY   

Dan

[jeryst]

Glad to see you got it home. You have a heck of a lot more patience than I do, cause I would never let anyone have a car for that long.

Any time I need work done, I go over everything with whoever is doing the work. I make them give me firm time commitments, and
they get paid for work that has been done, not what will be done. The only money I will give them up front is what they need for materials,
and they need to show that to me with an estimate.

I look at it this way. I get paid for work that I do, not work that I say I'll do. I expect everyone else to be the same way. You want
paid every day? Fine. Show me what you did yesterday, and I'll pay you for it today. I have no problem with that. You know you are
getting your money. I know work is getting done. If I'm not satisfied with it, we stop right now and discuss it. If a problem is encountered,
call me, we'll discuss it, and come up with a plan. If we cant come to an agreement, or if the work is not getting done, the car leaves.
Simple as that. It has worked out quite well for me. I've never had a car in a body shop for more than a month, and I've have some extensive
work done. They know I'll pay, and that they are not going to take advantage of me, or use my money to party or pay todays bills, then put my work aside
while they work on someone elses car to pay tomorrows bills. I'm not a cow, so dont expect to milk me.

Here's an example.
About five years ago, I had a car that needed a LOT of work. Whole new quarters, new roof, new floor pans, new trunk pan and extensions,
various patch panels, trunk gutters, blasting, and paint. I took it to a guy and told him I wasnt going to wait forever on the car. He told me that he had four guys
working for him, and that they only work on one thing at a time. Business was slow, and they were looking for projects, so I would only have to wait about a month
before bringing the car in. The whole interior, drive train, bumpers, grill, lights, trim, etc, had already been removed, so he basically had a rolling
shell to work with. Other than the rusted areas, the rest of the metal was very straight and in good shape with no dents, dings, etc.

I took the car and replacement parts to him on a Saturday, and he said they would start it on Monday. He asked for $500 up front for materials,
which I though was reasonable.

On Monday, I realized that I had forgotten a quarter panel, so I called and told him I would bring it down later in the week. On Thusday,
I arrived to find that the car had been disassembled and all of the paint had been removed. The new floors were in, the new roof was on, the
new trunk pans and extensions were in, the one quarter was on, and the pieces that didnt need any work were already smoothed and primered. All of
the pieces were welded in, with beautiful, professional looking welds, and everything looked like it fit perfectly (Mostly AMD metal). It was quite an atmosphere.
All of the guys were joking around and laughing, talking, etc, but they were all busy working while doing so. Nobody was standing around or goofing off.
Reminded me of ants on a breadcrumb. The owner told me that all of his guys were experienced in every phase of body work, welding, fabrication etc.
He himself did all of the primering/painting. I was totally amazed.

The following Thursday, the owner called me to tell me that the rest of the work had been finished, the rest of the car had been primered,
the whole thing was painted (BC/CC), assembled, and ready to go. I went down that Saturday to pick it up, and was totally blown away by how gorgeous it was.
The paint was so smooth, shiny, and deep that the whole car (including inside trunk and engine compartment) looked like a mirror. Not even a spec of dust that I could find
.
So it was there for two weeks, and my total bill was $500 deposit, $1500 for paint and additional supplies, and $8500 for labor.
He told me originally that it would be around $10k for everything, and he hit it dead on. Now that is a professional. I swear this guy should have had his own
TV show. They were already well into their next project when I picked mine up.

It's too easy for a lot of these body shop hacks to overbook work, then keep robbing Peter to pay Paul.
The problem with that, is that it makes Peter sore, and nobody wants a sore Peter.

[hemi68charger]

Dan !!!  Looking good !   

[nh_mopar_fan]

Love that color. 

[bull]

I hope it works out for you. There are way too many horror stories regarding restoration attempts on our poor Chargers. If I could go back in time I'd sure change a few things about the choices I made too.

[RallyeMike]

I hate to ask the question, Dan, but are the valance corners not fitting because the quarters are put on wrong?
With all the rest of the questionable work, does this mean the quarters and trunk pan are going to be done again?

It will be a very cool car when complete. QQ1 on white. Yea!

[Nacho-RT74]

I and Pearl white and blue interior,

that interior combo is not pretty common, right ? I allways have seen the tipical white with blacks around, but not blue. sounds REALLY NICE.

Once I though to do it on that way myself, being originally my car was fully blue interior, but console was really damaged and paint a console on a third gen is a peel off guarantee. Found a NOS black console section and a good used dash pad, and went black then ( and white of course )

[Highbanked Hauler]

   I am NOT standing up for the guy but those valance corners (not AMD) were a bitch to put in the car I did. I had everything loose to get it aligned and I spent EIGHT hours on each one each side to get everything together with the right spaces. I had to cut and add metal to each one to get the right fit and alignment with the valance panel and quarters.

 Did you get a drive train with the car??

[8WHEELER]

I hate to ask the question, Dan, but are the valance corners not fitting because the quarters are put on wrong?
With all the rest of the questionable work, does this mean the quarters and trunk pan are going to be done again?

It will be a very cool car when complete. QQ1 on white. Yea!

Hey Mike
I am not at all sure the quarters were put on right, they do come pretty close to lining up, but not sure.
I know the new quarter extentions are about an inch off, you can tell from the underside they are
not put on right, but I think the combination of the two not being right is probably the main problem.

I am sure if he knew what he was doing, and took the time it takes to make those rear corners
fit right ''they are a pain'' they would not be one of my main problems.

So this problem and the fact everything is bonded, is the reason we have to take heat to the hole
back end and let it melt off, we don't have to worry about welds 

So all the new parts he put on are coming off, now I need more
New full quarters
New trunk pan
New trunk extentions
New rear valance
New Valance corners
New trunk lid, I have another mint one, still don't know how he messed up the one on the car.

And an asprin the size of a hockey puck............

The parts should be here any day.

Dan

[8WHEELER]

This is one of my main concerns with bonding, if done wrong you have a pile of metal. Note
the main seam down the center is already coming apart, and it does not evan have an engine yet.

Dan

[tricky lugnuts]

Glad to see you making a go of it.

Love that color on that year Charger, and with a white interior, 440 and redline tires, it sure is going to be a sharp car... Best of luck going forward and getting it back in your garage in the condition it deserves. 

The bonding stuff has always scared me, too. Some people swear by it. But give me a good solid weld any day of the week!

[aone415]

Dan, been there and done that with the valence corners... ours will be getting done over again in the near future. 

[General_01]

Good luck this time around. That car is gonna be sweet when it is done.

[1969chargerrtse]

   Liquid weld? You got to be kidding.  Like the idiots that just tapped/compound my sheet rock walls in my bathroom with no tape. 

[8WHEELER]

I and Pearl white and blue interior,

that interior combo is not pretty common, right ? I allways have seen the tipical white with blacks around, but not blue. sounds REALLY NICE.

Once I though to do it on that way myself, being originally my car was fully blue interior, but console was really damaged and paint a console on a third gen is a peel off guarantee. Found a NOS black console section and a good used dash pad, and went black then ( and white of course )

Very true, I have only seen one other 68 interior pearl white and blue. The common color combo with a pearl white interior would
be black dash pads, console and carpet. Plus the pearl white ''67-68 only'' is very sweet looking 

Dan

[motorcitydak]

Check out classic body designs for some of your resto parts. You will not find nicer stuff than that

[472 R/T SE]

Well I knew there was a reason the blue car was never talked about.  I didn't know it was this extensive.  It sounds like the guy you bought it from got his original asking price & then some. 
I know a couple shops down here, Bill Dallas (guy that had two silver '69s) that would have done ya' right.  Except Bill's not cheap, you get what you pay for though & no one's better down here. 

You & jb have been through way too much.  Sorry 'bout all that man.

I have a feeling if you had the use of your legs the guy never would have strung you along like he did.  From the pix of you pre 'chair I'd be scared to death of you dotting my eye if I tried to pull one over on you.

[RallyeMike]

So all the new parts he put on are coming off, now I need more
New full quarters
New trunk pan
New trunk extentions
New rear valance
New Valance corners
New trunk lid, I have another mint one, still don't know how he messed up the one on the car.

Oh, crap. Sorry to hear that. I guess just focus on how pretty it will be when done.

[8WHEELER]

Well I knew there was a reason the blue car was never talked about.  I didn't know it was this extensive.  It sounds like the guy you bought it from got his original asking price & then some.  
I know a couple shops down here, Bill Dallas (guy that had two silver '69s) that would have done ya' right.  Except Bill's not cheap, you get what you pay for though & no one's better down here.  

You & jb have been through way too much.  Sorry 'bout all that man.

I have a feeling if you had the use of your legs the guy never would have strung you along like he did.  From the pix of you pre 'chair I'd be scared to death of you dotting my eye if I tried to pull one over on you.

 And if I talked about the blue charger it was not a pleasant conversation, but that is going to change.

I have the blue charger with the same guy that painted the wife's charger, so I am feeling just fine.

I paid that first thief 14k to do a complete body resto on this blue charger, and that was labor only.
The last two years he had it, he basically did nothing, and I had already gave him the 14k he had asked for.
But I am out well over 20k counting buying all new metal, and parts that got damaged in his possession.

Your right, being paralyzed in a wheel chair, allows scum bags like this to have there way, but its not like
a lot of people are this way, I am not saying that. Most people a more than nice to me.............

But back before I was paralyzed, I never had any problems at all really maybe a minor thing. From high school until
I got paralyzed at age 24, I was 6'1'' and 298lbs, football and weight lifting bulked me up. When ever my friends
needed help, or backup in a situation they called me  

My wife took this of me one month before my accident, we were up four wheeling   and my 62 Dart.

Dan

[8WHEELER]

I think I am going to leave the engine bay as is. It is pretty close to QQ1 blue, and I don't
think people will notice the change going into the engine bay. This will save money and taking
everything back off, he used POR-15 on the engine bay before he painted it, it feels a little
like sand paper when you touch it, but it looks pretty good   

Dan