Silver R/T body work

[T16]

Wow,
  This is a brutal thread. I think an arm wrestling match is in order here.
Thank god I did not post any of my body work pic's, you guys would have chewed me a new hole.

Agree.. Give the guy a break!

[Charger-Bodie]

its not how you do it, it's how it is when its done that's all that matters.

im not gonna touch anything else about this thread but , every step is important to the end result, and if it wernt you should have just filled it full of filler and shot it cause there is no step thats any more important than the next or prior!!

[bill440rt]

I'm gonna tread carefully with this one...

If I were doing that car, YES, I'd try to find a full 1/4. It looks like there's at least 1/2 inch of Bondo in there, even on the top by the fuel door. If that part were good, of course I'd say skins are fine. I did one on my '69 with no problem. That 1/4 on your car is wasted.

Silver, since you have a '68, you may not have seen those holes in the valance before. They are for backup lamps on a '69 or '70. I guess the repop people just left those holes in there. You'll have to patch them shut, they don't belong there.

What baffles me most, is why you didn't take off any of the trim, tail lights, mouldings, etc??    I mean, you even left the side marker lamp still attached to the 1/4 when you cut it off???   

[Todd Wilson]

 

[Silver R/T]

I'm gonna tread carefully with this one...

If I were doing that car, YES, I'd try to find a full 1/4. It looks like there's at least 1/2 inch of Bondo in there, even on the top by the fuel door. If that part were good, of course I'd say skins are fine. I did one on my '69 with no problem. That 1/4 on your car is wasted.

Silver, since you have a '68, you may not have seen those holes in the valance before. They are for backup lamps on a '69 or '70. I guess the repop people just left those holes in there. You'll have to patch them shut, they don't belong there.

What baffles me most, is why you didn't take off any of the trim, tail lights, mouldings, etc?? I mean, you even left the side marker lamp still attached to the 1/4 when you cut it off???

Ive removed parts and will remove more as needed, trim, taillights, wiring.

[Todd Wilson]

 

[hemi-hampton]

Yeah, First thing I would do is remove rear Bumper, Tailights, ect, ect. If I know I'm going to be cutting a 1/4 off. As they say though, more ways then one to skin a Cat (or 1/4 in this case).

[TUFCAT]

Whoa - - that quarter panel!!!  I have to agree...if this was my car, I'D GO NUTS if somebody attemted what you are doing with two sections like that. Its a MAJOR undertaking to do correctly. Find a rust free donor car for that job dude, its too nice of a car to go without.  I'm afraid that will be a wavy mess when its done because of the size .  With the money and hassle (that you will have invested) in getting this thing straight....  stop now and save your money. Wait for the full quarter replacements to come out, or find a decent one that was correctly cut off a donor car.   

[Silver R/T]

Whoa - - that quarter panel!!!  I have to agree...if this was my car, I'D GO NUTS if somebody attemted what you are doing with two sections like that. Its a MAJOR undertaking to do correctly. Find a rust free donor car for that job dude, its too nice of a car to go without.  I'm afraid that will be a wavy mess when its done because of the size .  With the money and hassle (that you will have invested) in getting this thing straight....  stop now and save your money. Wait for the full quarter replacements to come out, or find a decent one that was correctly cut off a donor car.   

Repro quarters are out already. At $2500 not many will be sold, I won't be one of the buyers I can tell you that. Finding a rust free 2nd gen Charger FULL quarter is impossible

[hemi-hampton]

If that place in Georgia reproducing that Tailight panel can reproduce the 1/4's as they say for much cheaper then this would be a good alternative. LEON.

[TUFCAT]

Sure it sounds expensive as hell, and especially when you don't have the $2500 burning a hole in your pocket! But given the fact that these cars are now well worth into the 30K range when properly done, your car is an actual investment.  Just like anything, you get what you pay for in the long run...remember "time" is money also.  Just my two cents. That's why my car isn't done yet - (I'm picky) - and not rich!  However.....I've been known to spend more than I should for top quality parts when it comes to my cars 

[Todd Wilson]

 

[Mike DC]

 
Yeah, it's been covered on a bunch of other threads already. 
$1500 for a set of full-coverage quarters would probably still sell a lot, but $2500 is past the tipping point for most people.

 

[Silver R/T]

 

[Recharger]

Why are you sitting around eating popcorn?     Get back to work!   

[FJ6N96]

I found this a few months ago months ago.  I am not trying to make anyone mad or choose a side so please no nasty replys.

http://www.moparmusclemagazine.com/techarticles/mopp_0506_panel_rust_removal/

FJ6N96

[hemi-hampton]

The full set (2, one left & one right) is not $1,500 or $2,500 as mentioned but $2,300 each or $4,600 for a full set of 2. Thats alot for 2 1/4 panels considering $4,600 is more then alot of people want to pay for a entire Resto. LEON.

[Silver R/T]

$4600 is bit cheap for entire resto but again that depends how bad is your Charger. I just spent $100 on trunk pan extension, many more $100's to go

[hemi-hampton]

If you ever worked in a Body shop you would have to see all the people that come in & say or think or figure Hey, If Maaco can paint my car for $300 then for $3,000 I should get a full blown Rotisserrie 100 point showcar. OR, I want my car restored. Then they say how long how much, 2 grand & 2 weeks. I feel like saying heres a Quarter, Buy yourself a Clue but you dont want to insult the Customer. If you dare say something like $50,000+ they get this really weird sour look on there face & call you crazy. Been there done that a million times. Really gets tiresome. I'm sure some of you out there know what I'm talking about? LEON.

[Silver R/T]

ya I know, most people don't realize how much work is involved in painting a car, doing all the prep, masking, wet sanding, buffing.

[Troy]

Ok, I gotta comment...

Find a rust free donor car

Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha! If there's a "rust-free" 68-70 Charger out there then it's worth waaaaaaaay too much to hack the quarter off. Maybe to restore a Hemi car? If you were talking floor pans or inner fenders then I'd agree because you could use a cheap(er) Satellite or Belvedere. Of course, I have a cut off factory quarter but it's for the other side and it cost more than my entire parts car (which has little usable sheet metal but isn't too bad). It'd be cheaper in this case to buy the $2,300 repro BUT they aren't available. You can't buy phantom parts and expect results. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do and, at this point, the only feasible method seems to be splicing two pieces (unless someone wants to donate this magical rust-free factory quarter). The other option is to wait a year and hope for the best but I do believe this car was drivable before the work started. I'd rather drive mine looking like crap than see them sit in the garage in pieces. I have all four of mine like that now and I'm about to the point of making parts out of cardboard and stiff glue as long as paint will stick. 

Troy

[Charger1973]

I'd rather drive mine looking like crap than see them sit in the garage in pieces. I have all four of mine like that now and I'm about to the point of making parts out of cardboard and stiff glue as long as paint will stick. 

Troy

I have been working on mine non stop since I got it but I am making sure to keep it driveable as much as I can.  It didnt need the coat of primer I put on it either but it covers up my ugly faded brown paint, green drivers door, green front valance, and my yellow rear valance.  Alot of things get temporary fixes right now too, because I cant afford to do it all show quality yet.  But when the time comes for it to go to the bodyshop, I will have all my parts rounded up and a complete car to work with. 

[Todd Wilson]

 

[hemi-hampton]

 

[TUFCAT]

Hemi-Hampton is right!! 

HACK-JOB.

I don't care what you say.....still a hack-job  But true. THIS CAR NOW NEEDS A NEW QUARTER Period!    .....remember "time" is money also.


There.... I said it    Go ahead and hate me.