My Charger came home today!!!!!!!

[DC_1]

I love the color!......mine was originally green but I was looking at going black for the color since I am not going for the complete factory resto.. After seeing that color green I am rethinking what color I will go now.

[89MOPAR]

Looks Great!

Can you divulge how much it cost $$ for the bodywork / paint / vinyl    - so boardmembers can have an idea how much $$ a quality paintjob costs ?

Or for those in the Washignton area looking for a bodyman ?

[RTPTRON]

Looks Great!

Can you divulge how much it cost $$ for the bodywork / paint / vinyl      - so boardmembers can have an idea how much $$ a quality paintjob costs ?

Or for those in the Washington area looking for a bodyman ?

I spent about $9,500 but I got a great deal on the paint and body part.  The bumpers were around $700 From Art Brass is Seattle.  The top installation was $275 and the top was from year one.  All of the parts from yearOne, ebay, Charger Specialties, etc were around $2,000.  Glass work (we pulled the back and quarter Glass) was around $145.  If you want to do some of the work yourself you could save some money on Vinyl top installation, disassembly and reassembly.  I chose to write some big checks so that it would be done right.

I saved money by making a deal with a collision shop but the price you pay is having to give up your car for a while.  Mine went in the shop back in February and I brought it home this past weekend.  If you understand that going in it is a lot easier.  I purchased my Grand National in the Spring and had a ball with it this Summer.  The Shop is Exhibition Auto in Kent, Washington.  Jeff is the owner.  Jeff took this shop over about two months before I made my deal with him.  He has turned a failing shop into one of the leading collision shops in the area.  He don't know MoPars like a a specialty shop would but I know a little bit and what I did not know people like Dan on this site and others helped me out so I could help him.  I am very happy with the job they did.  The shop is about a mile from my house so I visited the shop at least a few times per week.  I could just walk back to the shop area and visit with my car and talk with the shop people.  That helped a lot.

I did not have to replace any floor panels or major body panels.  Just some door and quarter corners.  We had a few dents and one quarter had been fillled with bondo to repair some dents that should have been pulled out.  They ground out the bondo and pulled the dents.  Of course there is still some filler in the quarter but not anything like there was.  All and all the car was in pretty good shape going in.  Understand what I had done is simply a high end paint job, not a restoration.  You can get to $50k PLUS real fast if you totally rebuild the car.

The only regreat I have is that I did not do the engine compartment.  It looks great until you raise the hood.  My engine is in good shape so I decided to wait until I need engine work outside of the car to do the under hood treatment.

In short expect to spend from $9 K to $15 K for a high end paint Job.  You can save a lot of money if you can do the prep and reassembly work yourself.  Don't forget that the little stuff like Gas Cap, emblems, mirrors and door handles will cost more than you think.  Make sure you develop a good relationship with the shop owner and workers.  I lucked up and became good friends with Jeff.  He loved the car and made sure that his people went that extra mile to do it right.

Exhibition Auto -- highly reccomended
Art Brass -- Highly Reccomended
YearOne -- OK
ebay -- dangerous but they have everything pretty much you are looking for.

I hope this is what you were looking for.

[89MOPAR]

 Sure was RTPTRON -
Thanks for the description and prices , a lot of guys are squeamish about $$ figures , so it's cool you were willing to lay it out.
Seems like you lucked into the body shop at just the right time, before his reputation started shining and longer timetable to get your car in.
Excellent that you were able to check in on it so often !

[Silver R/T]

clean charger