body work cost estimate... is this too much??

[sixty8charger]

If I got a stripped to bare metal undercarriage & got to epoxy prime & then Undercoat thats easily a 5 hour $250 job. That will leave you with 0 hours to paint the rest meaning don't be surprised if paint hours go up or short cuts are made to make up for it. Also,  here is something nobody every talks about or Realize's. You get 2 identicle cars side by side both in same rusty condition.  You have 2 different guys restore both. When done both look the same & quality looks similar. Only the price on one is $10k & price on the other is $40k. You scratch your head wondering why one 4 times more then the other when the outcome looks identicle. The Answer. 10 years later down the road the $10k car has fallen apart & a P.O.S. while the $40k car still looks mint. Plus the $40k has 4 times more hours & work into it. Quality will last longer then Perfume on a Pig, Which do you have may not be apparent at first but will be later. LEON.

well said!

[jb666]

The one thing I can say on this situation is to listen to these guys 100%.. They know what they're talking about...

Several of the same people commenting here were giving me advice when my "project" began... I thought they were inflating things BIG TIME.. Come to find out they were dead on.. I had NO IDEA what I was getting into, and I wasn't prepared... If I were to do it again, I'd take each pc of advice as Gold...  This is one expensive hobby, and these cars are a can of worms... You open one thing to fix one problem and expose 6 more...

[bakerhillpins]

and these cars are a can of worms... You open one thing to fix one problem and expose 6 more...

Man I picked the right hobby then. After years of doing house renovations on my own I am totally prepped for getting myself an old charger to fix up. Talk about opening up one thing and finding 6 more..

[charge69]

I hope you listen to what jb666 says. He, unfortunately, had to learn the hard way and it cost him an unbelieveable amount of time and money to just FIX the misrepresesnted parts of his dream.

Whether you are just starting out in the hobby or an old hand, it usually cost more and takes a lot longer to do it and do it right than you can imagine. For most, it is a hobby and that is it. Hobbies for grown men are almost always expensive. How many new truck and new , loaded bass boats are now worth anywhere near what they are worth new. That is not to mention just taking them out. A car that gets 8 - 12 mpg still gets 4 to 5 times better mileage than a new bass boat! What does it cost just to tow it to the lake and spend a day fishing? Count up all the money spent and it is much more than you can justify if you are lucky enough to come home with that fish.

Our cars are a finite number and have taken the economic, and number-of-survivor hits and won't go much lower in value, if ever, that just about everything else takes and we are lucky enough to enjoy them too. Enjoy yours,  Shop wisely for a restoration specialist and enjoy your wonderful car knowing few are left.

[jb666]

I hope you listen to what jb666 says. He, unfortunately, had to learn the hard way and it cost him an unbelieveable amount of time and money to just FIX the misrepresesnted parts of his dream.

Truer words have never been spoken.

I remember someone (here) giving me the advice that I should "buy a clean roller and transplant my drivetrain". I wrote back something like "I'm not spending $10k on a roller when mine won't be that much to fix!". What a maroon I was... I'd have saved a TON of $$. But, my bed's made, now I'll lay in it... 

I will say, although I didn't DO the work(because I wanted it to come out RIGHT) I DO have a new appreciation for these awesome cars... There's nothing like a Charger!!!

[charge69]

Glad to see you agree jb666. You spent more on your car Than I did on mine for sure but ..... it IS just a hobby! Right!  Ha Ha, and an expensive and addicting one at that!@

By the way, since my "medical condition" has drastically changed, I do little of the  work now myself. Just was completely involved and big help in the teardown and it all changed. Now on blood thinners and cannot even use a real razor anymore for fear of a small cut. Got  those every day ,  (HAH ) just dinking around with the old girl (Charger) but ....... no more. Hate to leave my friend to do it all and I certainly will help with the reassembly but ...... my endurance is gone and strength is a fraction of what it was now, even 5 or almost 6 months after the stroke. I am very lucky to have what I have and will get better , I hope, and do see progress but ..... it is slower than I am used to and am a little impatient.

To the OP , keep your head down and keep going forward and it all will be fine. By the way, I am former military too and was REALLY poor back in the late '60's  USMC '66 - '70  RVN '67 - '68  Waaaay too long to go into now but, be positive about the future and take advantage of the luck that comes you way and it will all be fine

Carl

[clanton]

The one thing I can say on this situation is to listen to these guys 100%.. They know what they're talking about...

Several of the same people commenting here were giving me advice when my "project" began... I thought they were inflating things BIG TIME.. Come to find out they were dead on.. I had NO IDEA what I was getting into, and I wasn't prepared... If I were to do it again, I'd take each pc of advice as Gold...  This is one expensive hobby, and these cars are a can of worms... You open one thing to fix one problem and expose 6 more...

Good evidence of this is the amount of "projects" you see on Ebay. You gotta have an absolute love for these cars, and a solid vision for what you want the car to look like when you are done, and be driven by your love for these cars to finish it. These cars loooooooove money!

[sixty8charger]

To the OP , keep your head down and keep going forward and it all will be fine. By the way, I am former military too and was REALLY poor back in the late '60's  USMC '66 - '70  RVN '67 - '68  Waaaay too long to go into now but, be positive about the future and take advantage of the luck that comes you way and it will all be fine
Carl

i thank you for your advice, i am positive i will get this thing rolling.. i will just have to slow down and take my time..save save save .. "all things come to those who $ave"  its just hard to be patient some times..  I will take in all the advice dc.com can provide me and do things right

since the car is a family heirloom, and could have paid for many hospital bills, could have paid for many debts my family had collected. i have to finish it!

Thanks for your service, it's an honor to serve and follow those warriors that have paved the path for the future of america!
Semper Fidelis.

[charge69]

Thanks again and I really appreciate the respect and acknowledgement! You have the right attitude and , no matter how long it takes, keep your goal in front of you.  Believe me, I know how hard it is.

[ACUDANUT]

Think about those of us with Multiple cars that are trying to achieve the same thing....10 times more money and headaches.

[sixty8charger]

couldn't imagine doing multiple cars.. what a headache.  as much as i love them, i couldn't imagine doing another one.. going to be a while for my bank account to recover from this one.. but it will be worth it that is for sure.

[charge69]

I am with sixty8 on this one. Mine is costing so much, I cannot imagine doing more at the same time or, probably in the future. Getting just too danged old for it!!  Just hope to drive mine some and then ..... we will see what a family fight over it is stirred up.  Too much and it gets sold and the proceeds go to me and my wife as they would just sell it anyway.

My wife lets me spend the money on it and she can always spend the proceeds!! Ha.

[UH60L]

I'm a little late to the discussion, but here is what mine cost me as a reference:

1969 Dodge Charger, Chuck Dabler Auto Body in Salem Oregon.

I removed the bumpers, the seats, all the interior panels, the engine and tranny, tail lights, back-up lights, front valance, stereo, instrument cluster, and the entire wiring harness.

I got an initial quote (verbal, unfortunately) of $10,000.00 to $12,000.00.

Final body shop bill was just over $24,000.00.  That included.....

removing the glass, removing all chrome mouldings, removing the door handles and mirror, removing the headliner, removing the front grill/headlight support assembly, removing the hood, doors, window regulators and fenders; having the whole car blasted inside and out; replacing the trunk floor pans, trunk floor extensions, rear corner caps, rear valance, both quarter panels, outer wheel wells, hood, both doors, and the right front fender; welding in the 17 extra wholes in the floor, re-welding the cross support behind the rear seat to the floor, all the prep and sanding, painting, clear coating, cutting and buffing; reinstalling the doors, fenders and hood; removing, cleaning, and repainting the dash, replacing the trunk seal and latch mechanism, installing a bushing kit in the door hinges, installing "R/T" emblem on the back and "charger" emblems on the sides, and installing new chrome around the window openings and wheel openings.

I purchased and supplied all the replaced parts except the doors, which the body shop got from a wrecking yard.(several thousand more dollars not included in the above $24000.00)

You'll notice they did not put in the new glass or do anything with the grill assembly.  The door latches were loosely installed, and the some of the chrome was not installed properly.  They forgot to cut the whole for the antenna in the new fender, and the right bumper support in the trunk is welded in too high.

The moral is, yes, $1000.00 sounds cheap, and always get a written estimate.

[UH60L]

Oh, and they also removed and reinstalled the gas tank and filler tube, and replaced the gas cap (provided by me).

But it does look really nice!     

[hemi-hampton]

Oh, and they also removed and reinstalled the gas tank and filler tube, and replaced the gas cap (provided by me).

But it does look really nice!     

What do you think it would look like if they had to stick to a 10k qoute, do you still think it would look that nice?

[CornDogsCharger]

  I am also late jumping on this topic but I just finished reading it from start to finish.  It's funny reading some of the comments on here.  I'm not gonna point out anyone individual but you can really tell who here has done a REAL restoration and who has done nothing more than a backyard hack job, based on their comments.  I'm a body tech for a very reputable shop.  I usually did insurance repairs but since I'm a car-nut, I'm very meticulous, and I can't say "no"... especially to a mopar, I get all of the restorations that come into the shop.  As many mentioned already, $10k is very cheap for the amount of work that will be done on your car.  Sure, some of the numbers seemed off in the breakdown of the estimate, but all-in-all... the shop is cutting themselves short in the end.  Some things I didn't listed in the break-down is the 3+ hours it will take to blow all of the sand, soda, walnut... whatever out of the cracks and crevasses of the body.  Trust me... just when you think you got it all out, you turn the car on the rotisserie and there's a pile of media on the floor.  Masking might seem high but when you do it right, you mask and paper a lot.  Plus bagging the car many times through the process too.  That can add up.  I am currently working on a 1967 GT500 clone "Eleanor" replica.  The body was converted to a fastback from a coupe using new sheetmetal from a place out in Arizona.  They also built a rigid square tube chassis to go under it and a full custom floor with rear wheel tubs.  The body was then dipped and e-coated.  That is what I started with.  I am moulding all of the fiberglass pieces into the body, doing all mud-work, spraying a polyester coat, blocking, and priming.  You always run into problems doing a restoration or something custom.  The jacklegs in AZ welded the floorpan to the shell of the body while the shell was citing crooked on the frame.  The body was sitting 1 inch lower on the driver side than the rest of the car.  I had to cut the shell loose, jack line it back up, and re-weld it.  Here are a couple current pictures of the car.  His bill is over 15k right now.

  Unless you are very confident that you can do a good job doing some of the work yourself, then I wouldn't recommend it.  Welding, wiping body filler, and painting are all just like riding a bike.  You're not gonna master it on your first try and it takes practice, practice and more practice.  If you want to do something that might help on the cost , I would chemically strip the car yourself.  Lay down a bunch of plastic on the ground, get some goggles and gloves, pour aircraft stripper on the and remove the paint yourself.  That might help reduce the bill on the blasting but probably not by much. 

Justin
"CornDog"

[SFRT]

man that mustang look  sweeeeeeet.

[sixty8charger]

 Lay down a bunch of plastic on the ground, get some goggles and gloves, pour aircraft stripper on the and remove the paint yourself.  That might help reduce the bill on the blasting but probably not by much.  

Justin
"CornDog"

Aircraft stripper? is it safe to do in the driveway... i have never heard of this before..  if you don't mind, could you provide more information?...  i am still up in the air if i am going to have this shop do it or not..i did get their quote in writing though.. everything i listed previously was from the quote they e-mailed me.. in an official looking shop work order form... with a note that the prices are estimates.. and may increase "or decrease" based on how the vehicle looks after the blasting is conducted. i have talked to a few other shops but haven't received quotes yet.

[sixty8charger]

Oh, and they also removed and reinstalled the gas tank and filler tube, and replaced the gas cap (provided by me).

But it does look really nice!     

does look nice though.. what are the sizes on the cragers you have?.. and tires?.. would love to see the stance once it is road ready. 

[ACUDANUT]

Corndog, what does the shop you work in,  charge per hour ?

[green69rt]

Since I'm right in the middle of the "restoration" of my Charger, I can't resist throwing my two cents in the pot.

Corndog has some real good points in general and some good specific points.  Professional resorations should be (if you get the right shop!!!) top notch and will probably be better than anything you can do yourself but.....  and here's my take, if you like doing things yourself or can't afford the cost or for some other reason you have to tackle this work then you can save some bucks depending on what you want.   Corndog will probably hand you back a really nice car, maybe show quality but stand by for the bill!!!  He's right cost is pretty high to restore these old cars because it takes a lot of hours.  The right shop (good luck finding one) will do everything right and the finish should look new.

Here's my "but".  If you have a pretty good car to start with, there are a lot of things you can do yourself to save some bucks.  I've done all my own demo of the car (down to the unibody), frame repair/replacement (make up a jig for this before you start), firewall patches, rear window frame repair, new wheel wells, and made a attempt to replace the two quarters with skins.  Only problem I had is with the skins, and if you can figure out how to pay for it, let a professional do these things (worth the money.) Paint job is for the professionals also because of skill needed, facilities, etc. the finish blocking sanding, priming, final panel fitup is a good thing to farm out.

Otherwise do as much as you can, learn how to weld, it's not that hard to start and if you have someone to show you the ropes you can do ok.  I learned at the local highschool, but then had to learn how to weld sheet metal which they didn't teach in the class.  Had a professional welder stand over me and give me tips and correct mistakes.

Besides what's the fun of having someone else enjoy putting the car together and there's nothing like having your own time and effort in the final product.

So, do as much as you can, look on these forums fror help and enjoy the hot rodding hobby.

Sorry for the hijack.  Buy the way the estimate that you got will probably grow ( I think it is a little skinny) or you will get a crappy job or they will keep your car for two years before you get it back.  Ok, time to shut up.

[sixty8charger]

green,

you know that is some pretty good insight. The car is in descent shape.. just some areas that need attending to. i would like to do the majority of the work i can, like you said "what's the fun of having someone else enjoy putting the car together...."

Thinking of taking the car to get blasted.. sprayed with a quick primer to prevent (or at least slow down) the flash rust.. then do the welding at the house for the areas i might be able to do.. then once it is ready, have the shop, or another shop do the painting.

Whats a good welder.. for a residential 110 Volt system?

[CornDogsCharger]

Sorry for the delay in response.  The shop were I work charges $46hr. for regular collision work and $70hr for antiques.  You can buy Aircraft Stripper at just about any local O'Reilly Auto Parts, Auto Zone, Advanced Auto Parts, etc.  Buy it by the gallon and don't use the aerosol can; you end up wasting more than you use.  Don't get the cheap stuff.  Remember, you get what you pay for.  It is very safe to do it in your driveway.  Actually, they recommend that you do it outside because of the fumes.  Just make sure you have plenty of paper or plastic around the catch all of the the used up stripper and old paint.  Here are a few pictures from when I did the hood from a '70 Superbird.  The hood had 3 layers of thick single stage paint primer in between each coat, so it took a few rounds of the stripper to get it all off.  As you can see, once I got to the original paint, I sanded it with 80grit to get it back to the original metal.

Justin
"CornDog"

[green69rt]

Just thought of something to add to my comments.  Do you have a inside space to work in where you can leave the car for a year or more?  I know it sounds like a long time but these projects can take a long time.  Even professional shops can take months!  Mine's been in my shop for almost 3 years and I'm a little more than half way done with the sheet metal (I'm reaaaally slow!!)

I have a Hobart 140 and it's worked fine for everything I need.  Get the gas kit ( you can try to do flux wire welding but you'll learn soon enough that you hate it, get a bottle of argon/CO2 mix.  I have used .025 wire for everything and it works great.  Total cost was about $650 including the bottle, cart, welder, mask, gas kit.  Lots of info on this site about welders and welding techniques.

[UH60L]

Oh, and they also removed and reinstalled the gas tank and filler tube, and replaced the gas cap (provided by me).

But it does look really nice!     

does look nice though.. what are the sizes on the cragers you have?.. and tires?.. would love to see the stance once it is road ready. 

Sorry, my motherboard died and I only have access to the net at work until the new parts for my computer show up.

It's been about 4 years, so without asking my Les Schwab dealer or checking the paperwork at home, I don't remember the size on the wheels, but I am pretty sure the rear tires are 295/60/15s, about 11 inches wide at the tread.


I can't complain about how the paint looks, but there are a few minor issues that need fixing, and when the body shop gave me the car back, I got cardboard boxes full of "stuff", not marked, not bagged, just thrown in boxes.  I didn't take the car apart for the most part, and don't know what alot of it is or where it came from.  I work on helicopters for a living and we bag and tag everything, so I was a little miffed about that stuff just being chucked in boxes.

I got the engine and tranny back in the car now, but still don't have the grill or the radiator or bumpers installed.  The stance is starting to even out now.  Of course I have new leaf spings to install that will bring up the back just a smidge from where it sat when I got it.