As I mentioned in an earlier post, I sent some pictures to my body shop and had some sticker shock. I understand he is just making a general assessment based on pictures and I plan to trailer the car to him soon but his first assessment was to replace the entire qtr panel. I wanted to get the forum's opinion of how bad these qtr panels look. Again, the car will be a sunday driver, garaged, never see rain. Originally a 2v302 car. Driver side is worse than passenger. TIA








from the trunk

 

You are looking at at least a partial quarter replacement, and my guess is that you will probably need to repair or replace the rockers also.

Evaluate the whole car, check the floors, the cowl, rockers, etc. the parts that need replacing will dictate hot to proceed.

 

First off, describe sticker shock, how much were you quoted?

As said above you got minimal quarter panel replacement parts, wheel well patches in parts or sheet metal, possible rocker panel fixing. Rust is always worse then it looks and you can almost always X the spot to fix by 3 times to get to good metal.

The other side will probably need the same in parts at minimum.

After doing my own quarters and knowing the labor involved to fix them, I'll guess at least $1500-$2000 including parts but with out paint to fix them.
Lynn

 

If you want to get a piece of mind, replace it with a full face skin at least.
If your shop know what they're doing, it's less work than patching the whole wheel housing and bottom area...
Also, it's almost certain that your outer housing is badly rusted as well so you'll have to address that issue too.

 

We didnt talk exact numbers and this was based on pics that I have posted here. Both quarters are in similar shape although the ones above are the worst. I also sent the pics of the shock towers which he agreed were repairable and of the floor pan which only appears bad in the driver foot well.

When I asked if this was a closer to a $5k job or a $10k job for panel replacement and paint. He said closer to $10k. Again, he hasnt seen the car in person yet. And he has done some work for me on another car and did a great job and was very reasonable. He's been recommended by quite a few people in the DFW area, blah blah blah. I will run this by 2 other shops I've been recommended to validate.

Underneath the car is solid (or at least appears solid). I have scrubbed the entire thing clean and found no weak spots only some slight surface rust.

I have the entire inside stripped and so I can put my hand on most of the outer wheel well and it appears solid (except of course where it meets the qtr panel).

A few things that I am concerned about and not sure how to check are: the cowl, rocker panels and torque boxes. Any way to visually inspect those to get a good idea of what to expect?

 

Holy CRAP! $5k for that.... Does the the $10k include a top of the line show quality paint job (Block sanding etc)? In Maryland, I had the rear qtrs and outer rear wells replaced for $1200 per side not including paint (that was before I knew anything). On another mustang, for the same work, it was $600 a side. And the $600 job was better quality work. And I think I supplied the all the parts.

On a 69 fastback I think I paid around $1,200 a side but that included Inner and Outer wheel wells, Full qtr, and some rear frame rail repair on both sides.

If your going to keep the car for some time and want a solid restoration, replace the whole qtr panel.

To make a long story short, shop around. Your body shop may have become too comfortable with you and think they can get away with over charging.

To check the cowl quickly, pour some water down the cowl vent. That will tell you quickly. If water comes into the car, you have a problem. Or remove the heater box and look at the cowl cutout/air intake. Doing this, I was able to immediately tell my cowl was done.

 

10K is not unreasonable. If the guy at the body shop knows and cares what he is doing, he damn well knows (judging from the pictures) that from the knee down, much if not most of the sheet metal is going to have to go.

In other words, if the body shop guy quotes 6K to replace the quarters, repair the shock towers, fix the toe board and throw a paint job on the car, then "finds" that the floors, frame rails, cowl, etc. need replacing as well. Lets not forget that this work will involve taking the entire freaking car apart, near every nut and bolt, every piece of trim, every piece of interior... (then all of this stuff has to be put together)... what kind of shape is the wiring in? Is the shop going to assemble the car over crap wires? Is this car going to be assembled without painting the interior panels and jambs? What about the brittle and worn pieces that break on dis-assembly? What about the "come backs" for a rattles, or now my heater blower doesn't work? How about removing and replacing the glass to check for rust in the windshield and back glass channels?

I don't want to be a downer here, but imo, the bill for a "good" paint job on top of all of the rust repair that is going to need to be done, it will be closer to 15K, or even 25K or more for a "show" paint job, (if the shop is good enough to check and correctly repair everything mentioned above).

Counting shop hours on a project like this ain't even comparable to "Joe car guy" doing the work in his garage.

So how about a 35K "old" Mustang? Sounds outrageous! but the funny thing is that it ain't outrageous to pay 45 or 50K for a new car that depreciates 33% as soon as it crosses the curb at the dealership.... Think about it..

 

JDM, don't you own a body shop? I agree with your for the stand point from the view of a business owner, you have to pay the bills!....... But, sorry, I wouldn't pay those prices.

I have built 6 mustangs that have been concurs quality and haven't even came close $15k -$25k for body work and paint. All of the cars needed qtrs, floors, a frame rail or two, cowls, etc. as a matter of fact, Currently working on a 67 eleanor fastback, had the qtrs, roof, frame rails, trunk, all fiberglass work for the body kit to be put on and paint. Got about $12k in the body work and paint. the paint is show quality too.... I guess that is the difference between going to a professional big show and a small one man body shop. (I will say that it did take 2 years to get the car back though)

69Volunteer- Put the car on a trailer and take it to several body shops. Definitely shop around and definitely see what kind of work they turn out.

 

I know that sky is the limit when it comes to bodywork and paint, so I understand what kind of can I have opened here. I do plan to keep this car in the family since I am the second owner.

What we have discussed is getting new sheet metal and prime the car then take a break so that I can put the motor and trans and re-do the front suspension (rear is already done).

In an effort to not be surprised, is there a good way to check the inner rockers? Are we talking about just crawling under the car and poking around?

I'll definitely get multiple prices.

 

I know a few guys that restore mustangs up here and minnesota. And JMD is spot on i didnt think the price is that crazy, im sure the shop is anticipating other things. Up here a family friend restores cars for a living and most of the cars restored ended up being worth half as much as the restoration cost. He aways has work tho it seems like, i guess some people like the peace of mind knowing what was done and that everything is right. When i got rear ended the quote for my 65 for a tail panel and rear valance and bumper, installed and painted was 2k and i didnt think it was all that crazy i have seen their work top notch.