Repair or Replace?

[johnnyseville]

My friend picked up a 69 Charger R/T, 440, 4 spd, Dana, all numbers matching.  Car had been redone back in the 80's.  Lots of bondo over the whole car, though not cracking or anything, and and quarter panel skins put on, though not right.  The car has all the other original panels, other than the QP skins.  My friend does not want to bother to strip and redo each panel, hood, trunk, fenders etc, since he does not know what lies beneath.  He wants to take the replacement approach, just take it off and put on a repro panel.  I tend to disagree, unless he was replacing with NOS (which I am sure would need work anyway from being kicked around), I feel it will reduce the value of the car, and not sure if it will look right, since I really doubt these panels are exact. I just feel he should try and save as much original panels as possible.  I told him I would post this and see what the experts have to say, so I know he will be checking this.  So sound off your opinions.  Thanks.

[green69rt]

Since AMD has started up, the concerns about poor fitting or poor quality replacement metal is pretty much gone, not entirely but almost.  It still takes work to make them fit.  AMD does make full replacement quarters, as well as "skins" and replacement panels.  Impact on the value of the car should be very little if any, especially if it has some poor repairs to start with.       I interested in what other folks, on this forum, think.

[Rallyecharger]

 I agree with green69rt, the access to AMD panels has changed the game and taken the worry out of replacement panels.
However, until your buddy actually strips the car down and media blasts it, no one will know for sure the extent of correction required on the car. Often times there is more hidden by "bondo artists" and sadly the best way to assess is to properly strip the car down and then see where it goes from there. 

[Mike DC]

  
It's not that the remaining NOS stuff today is damaged.  It's that the NOS stuff is only as good as it ever was.

The tolerances on these cars just weren't great to begin with.  Even 100% original condition panels would still not be perfect enough to slide together without some work.  They were banging & pulling things into place on the assembly lines 45 years ago.  



I might wanna hold off on tearing the body down just because it's more fun (and cheaper) to enjoy the car for a while as it is.  Once cars get torn down the projects have habit of snowballing.   But the quality of the AMD panels wouldn't factor into my decision not to tear it down.  They have flaws and wavy spots that need block sanding but they are lightyears different from what we had 10 years ago.  The mis-alignments are measured in millimeters instead of inches now.  And the metal thickness/alloy is much better too.  

[Scaregrabber]

I'd plan on full quarters and outer wheelhouses for sure. Other than that, strip the paint off and see what's what. If the seams are bulging on the doors and other panels then I wouldn't strip that part, I'd order a new one.

Sheldon

[JB400]

I have no problem with replacing parts with aftermarket pieces, but wouldn't it make more sense to strip your panels first and see what you have first?  Replacement parts don't come cheap.  I'd strip what I have first and replace as necessary.  I'm all for saving a buck when you can.

[tan top]

i'm all for keeping as much of the original  sheet  metal as possible ,   but with all these new panels etc now , original rotted beaten up sheet metal is still exactly that  , new is new  , & if you have to spend a day aligning , cutting , splicing re shaping  to make them fit  , so be it !!  a new panel is a new panel    , wish they would been out when i done mine  ,  would of saved me loads of time making the stuff  , trunk gutters etc etc,  in fact seeing  with all this sheet metal from AMD , is making me want to go & buy a rotted out charger , if they were not over priced  &  use all the new panels


getting back on track with your buddys 69 charger ,

  would strip &  check all the panels first ,   but if the quarters have had skins previously , no telling how good it was done ,     will still strip them & investigate , but think i would put new quarters on  , or just new skins  ,  may sound silly i know , but least you  know whats behind them & how well its all been done   

[Cooter]

Show me a car that doesn't have some filler all over it for minor imperfections.....
Even Brand new panels will need "Mudding" to get perfectly flat. (Which these cars weren't new)..
Original sheetmetal doesn't mean anything if the car was rewworked with filler over rust in the 80's...Besides, haven't you heard? These cars aren't worth much more than $10K fully restored in this economy.

[Lennard]

In my opinion a '69 Charger R/T 440 4 speed with Dana 60 all numbers matching is worth a full restoration done right which means strpping it down to bare metal and go from there.

[Hard Charger]

replace if you have the cash, you will always be sorry you did not.