Restoring you Charger, what is your skill level?

[Back N Black]

Just wondering what the average skill level is when restoring you Charger? For me i did about 80% the final body and paint was done by the pros.  

[69bronzeT5]

Well, I can do all of the assembly and disassembly and restoring smaller parts and my dad does a lot of mechanical stuff however body, paint and engine machining work will be left to the professionals.

[HANDM]

I've done everything myself, can you say "learning curve" 

[HOTROD]

I do 90% cut, weld, rattle can spray and engine work but never have sprayed  a car or body work (puttey) I just hate sanding and sanding !!

[68blue]

I've done a lot of the work, mechanical and interior. No place to exterior paint or do body work so that has been split between friends and pros. Painting smaller items and doing sub assemblies like the grill and dash I was able to do in my garage. Looking forward to getting the car back from the paint shop and completing the assembly.

[six-tee-nine]

I do all my restoring myself except for spraying paint.
However, I had most of my sanding and body straightening work checked by a pro before paint.

On the other side I'm thinking about picking up the glove on painting cars myself. If you have patience a paint booth is not a must.....so I might buy myself some old hoods and doors to give it a try.

Mecanical stuff my job so on these old cars there are'nt many things that surprise me anymore.......

[Patronus]

nobody will touch my cars

[Bossman963]

I do as much as possible- most likely 90%, have a bud who teaching me body work- wow what a pain in the ass- now i know why they charge so much, I restored  in various stages - about 35 cars
I enjoy the mechanical, paint small stuff etc- but ya the complete paint - take to a pro !

[tan top]

 

nobody will touch my cars

do all my own work  !!  
only thing i did not do was replate the bumpers , wish i would of done the prep !!   , thats another story    

& put the tires on the wheels &  balance ,    was going to do that but got a buddy to do it !!  & has the  latest balancing machine  

oh & any engine machining , balancing , boring etc etc  

[71_Charger_R/T]

I'm not sure where I'd fit in on the survey...... I do more than 75% but can't say I do it all. The things I farmed out were: radiator recore, Machine work to the block and heads and I had the automatic transmission rebuilt.   And that's because: Lack of supplier,  Lack of equipment and lack of knowledge, in that order...... to me, it's Voodoo that goes on inside an automatic transmission.   I'd like to learn more about autos but too busy and too intimidated at this point!

[Nacho-RT74]

if I have the tools, I could do everything.

[Troy]

I have no skill - yet I seem to insist on doing everything I can on my own. I also have too many cars to pay someone else to do them. I'm trying to stay away from doing the paint and body but some of the basics (stripping paint and undercoating, shooting primer, hammering dents that are accessible from the back, grinding welds. etc.) really aren't that difficult.

Troy

[six-tee-nine]

I started my first resto at the age of 17 and I also was unskilled at the time. However by screwing up ALOT you eventually learn to to the job good.....

[lisiecki1]

I voted for 75%....probably closer to 90% for me....the last 10% is simply a lack of funds for the neccessary equipment to do everything.....I have the knowledge, but don't have the tooling (lathe's/mills/etc.)

[Richard Cranium]

I go by what Clint says............

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VrFV5r8cs0

[Brock Samson]

 It's been over 20 years since i went to junkyards and unbolted stuff from the two parts cars and then re-bolted it to my car,.. the engine was farmed out to a pro race motor builder,.. the paint, headliner and V. top were done by pros too. i bought only the front bumper guards and wheel well moldings over the internet.
I forget thankfully now - just how much trouble it all was, working on a steep hill with virtually no proper tools and in a dim garage with less then six inches of clearance on one side only, and for good reason too.

[kab69440]

My skill level  far exceeds my income level.

[gtx6970]

I can do and have done  everything,,, except exterior body and paint which I have actually done to some degree,, but prefer to pay someone who knows what there doing .

[Magnumcharger]

I do it all.

[Cooter]

Paint and body
Engine/trans
Rearend
electrical
Dash-A/C-Heater
I do it all.
I work on everybody else's junk during the day, I figure I might as well work on my own junk on MY time..

[Ghoste]

I do it all but since I screw up about 25% of the time it made the choice an easy one. 

[greenpigs]

I will do some bodywork, the parking lot rash, but will have the quarters replaced by a shop & painted also. Except for setting the rear gears I have done all the mechanical work myself so far.

[jb666]

Back in my Chevy days, I would do all my own work. I took my Camaro down to nothing and did everything except spray it. Same with a couple of bikes...

These days I've lost my self confidence, my patience and most of my common sense, so I pay the pros to do it (right).

[bull]

Well, I can do all of the assembly and disassembly and restoring smaller parts and my dad does a lot of mechanical stuff however body, paint and engine machining work will be left to the professionals.

Same here. Although I probably can do all that stuff, especially the engine work, I don't really want to. I don't do this stuff enough to feel confident doing it to a 68 Charger. Maybe a 93 Neon or something but the Charger is something I want done right. That doesn't necessarily mean the "professionals" get it right all the time but their results are usually better than mine. Escpecially when it comes to body/paint.

[BlueSS454]

nobody will touch my cars

Same here, been burned twice, never again.  I do sheet metal replacement, bodywork & paint including color sanding & buffing.  I also do suspension, brakes, rear axles, interiors, engines, and electrical.  The only thing I can't do, YET, is automatic transmissions.  I haven't had to mess with one yet. 

[Supercharged Riot]

I can do my own body work and paint.

And I can do some light duty mechanical work because I dont have that many tools (yet)

[resq302]

There is a lot of stuff that I try to do and if it doesn't turn out like I wanted, I either retry it again or just call a professional to do.  I tried to do my headliner once, went in decent but was not happy with the over all outcome.  Now Im going to pay someone $300 to come to my house and do it.  A lot of the stuff on the car I've learned by doing or watching someone do it.  Hell, I had ot replace my windshield last year and paid someone the $200 to install it.  After seeing how easy it was (and getting pissed off that the guy did not install the sealant) after he left, I waited two hours to cool down and ended up popping out the windshield myself and sealed it up, then reinstalled the windshield.  That was something I always had someone do.  I think now on (not that Im planning on doing it anytime soon) I can do that part of the charger myself.   

[UH60L]

I've attempted body work a couple times on my old ford truck, and it didn't turn out well.  In one case, the bondo literally fell off of the truck a week after I had painted it!

So, for my charger, i let a shop do it so it would look decent.   

[NHCharger]

I'm at 75%. When I started with my first Charger 16 years ago my skill and confidence level were probably 25%. I'm at the point now where I enjoy working on the Chargers as much as driving them.

[Long Island RT]

I did everything myself except the final paint. 
It's not like I didn't try - but you really need a professional shop with a spray booth and super clean air to get an excellent paint job....

[69 OUR/TEA]

There is a lot of stuff that I try to do and if it doesn't turn out like I wanted, I either retry it again or just call a professional to do.  I tried to do my headliner once, went in decent but was not happy with the over all outcome.  Now Im going to pay someone $300 to come to my house and do it.  A lot of the stuff on the car I've learned by doing or watching someone do it.  Hell, I had ot replace my windshield last year and paid someone the $200 to install it.  After seeing how easy it was (and getting pissed off that the guy did not install the sealant) after he left, I waited two hours to cool down and ended up popping out the windshield myself and sealed it up, then reinstalled the windshield.  That was something I always had someone do.  I think now on (not that Im planning on doing it anytime soon) I can do that part of the charger myself.   

Brian,I thought you did the body and paint on your car,but then ent it out to get assembled and the detail work done?

[resq302]

Nope, body and paint on my charger were done prior to me purchasing the car in July of 2000.  The only thing that had been done was some repair work on the fenders from an incident with my lift.  All that I have done to the charger body wise is clay bar, polish, and wax it.  Now the under carriage, engine, and detail work is all me   

[bill440rt]

I voted for "I can do most". I probably can do a little more than 75% myself, but there are other things that you need 2 people for. Such as putting on a hood or installing an engine.

Other than that, I'm a retard when it comes to electrical.   

[triple_green]

I get by with a little help from my friends.....

Amazing how much of the restoration you can do with mininal mechanical and paint/bodywork skills.

But I do get help on the "big stuff" in both of those areas.

3X

[71ChallengeHer]

I can change my oil and tune up my Chally.  Yesterday ,I was over at the garage standing in the motor compartment( in a neck collar  ) sanding. I've pulled motors and trannys. As far as building the motor and trans, I'll leave that to the pros.

[hemi68charger]

I pretty much can do everything other than the paint and body. I'm learning the later and hopefully will be able to experiment more on the 500............

[troutstreamnm]

I've done about everything short of paint/body and internals on the engine and transmission.  I want to learn to rebuild an engine so maybe that will be my next project...with a little help from my friends 

[Belgium R/T -68]

Everything but body and paint.

Per

[71wrenchhead]

not that skilled but i learn by doing whatever i need to do on my truck,

oh and the wife is working on making my seat covers......does that count

[RusTy/SE]

not that skilled but i learn by doing whatever i need to do on my truck,

x2

[rt green]

i took mine apart and am still looking at it  lol

[charger490]

i cant do any of the work so i just send it out and pay to get it all done.thatway it dont have to sit in my garage for five years waiting to get done. than i play the stock market to make the money to pay for it.i have done well in the market so i think i will keep it up.

[pipeliner]

i took mine apart and am still looking at it  lol

U2,lol.Ive seen so many get their butts burnt that I try to do most of it myself.I do all of the supension,welding body panels,putting the engine and tranny back in and odd and ends.I dont do final body and paint,engine and tranny building and upholstery.

[HeavyFuel]

Wow, I feel like a slacker compared to you guys.

I'm not a mechanic, but I am mechanically inclined, so I'm doing all of the tear down and reassemby myself.

The major mechanical / paint work goes to the "pros".  Minor mechanical I'm trying to tackle myself.

Like this rearend.  I removed it, disassembled it, detailed it, then took it to a shop for new bearings, etc.

[472 R/T SE]

I'm not a mechanic, but I am mechanically inclined, so I'm doing all of the tear down and reassemby myself.

The major mechanical / paint work goes to the "pros".  Minor mechanical I'm trying to tackle myself.

Like this rearend.  I removed it, disassembled it, detailed it, then took it to a shop for new bearings, etc.

Nice job!   

I used to do a lot of stuff, probably in over my head more than anything.  I pulled the motor, sanded the engine bay down to metal, repainted every thing & put it all back together by myself with a '67 Coronet.  I did have a couple friends come over to help me initially stab the motor but I did every thing else.  My wife helped put the hood on.

I did a lot of detail work on my blue Charger.

But now it absolutely sucks when I have to pay someone to do what I once did.  Although I still can do a lot, I hate watching someone work on my junk.  You know how it is, the other person never does it the way you want.

[Wicked72]

I can do and have done everything. However I am limited to the tools and machines I can fit in my garage, now that ive moved from the shop I worked at.

[six-tee-nine]

Well it's not just about skill level i guess......

I have the "let's tear it apart, we"ll see what happens" attitude. I learned alot that way and get alot of stuff fixed that others throw away. on the other hand I have had several things that were complete junk after I got it in my hands because i'd better left it alone, or I better bought a new part in the first place rather than trying to fix the unrepairable.....

I guess it just a part of the "getting skilled" process