My mustang is in need of the rear passenger quarter to be replaced along with the passenger door due to rust.

The builder of the car has offered to do this for roughly 2k parts/labor for both quarters, and a bit more for the door.

Is this a decent deal, or should I buy a welder and start learning to weld via classes/practice?

 

If he does it right, that's a very good deal. As to the other, when you're bragging about the car, what would you rather say?

"I replaced every bit myself."

or

"I wrote the check with a flourish."

 

IMO its a little high just for a quarter panel replacement. I did both rear quarters on my car and it only took about 5 or 6 hours. Regardless though if you plan on restoring cars as a hobby you should get a welder and take some classes. Farming out work like this is expensive and its not that hard to do it yourself. I'm not a professional welder by any means, the majority of the welding I've done has been on my car. I've also never taken a welding class so I don't have a whole lot of experience and I think my quarters came out great.

Here is how it turned out. The first picture show the butt weld the full length of the seam which was done by over lapping tack welds to prevent any warping. The next two pictures is after grinding the weld down. As you can see the repair is barely noticeable and will require very little filler. And this was my first time with this kind of work.

 

Your time was low because you skinned them, you didn't replace the full panel, which I would recommend.

Your welding advice is dead-right on.

This is full panel replacement:

 

You can get a mig welder at a good price. I agree with the guys above, get a welder and do it yourself. You can get the welder and several other parts for 2k +.

 

I prefer the skins myself. You're right doing full quarters would take more time and cost more but I think its more trouble for not much gain. If the skins are done right you shouldn't be able to tell the difference anyway. My skins cost $200 shipped and were installed in a day. Full quarters would have cost $600-700 shipped, I don't know how fast I could have put them on since I haven't done it but it probably would take 3x as long.

So its about triple the time/cost to go with full quarters doing it on your own. Might be worth it for a show car but for my daily driver? No way, I don't have much more than that in my whole build and I dropped in a 4.6 dohc, irs ect.

If that quote was for the full quarters it isn't a bad price but for some reason I assumed skins when I read it.

 

I have to say that if skins took care of the issues, when done correctly, skins are just fine...

Of course this being a car forum,,,, there will be those who will disagree....

 

If you buy a welder, get something descent. I realize the harbor freight special seems nice, but I would NEVER spend less then 350-450 bucks for a welder. You also want to get something that can run gas. This will open your options up for expansion and so on. I never thought I would be welding like I do now... Aluminum, stainless, and steel all through a MIG. Ive welded with flux and gas, obviously gas is better and cleaner but there is nothing wrong with a flux wire starting out. You will want to move up if as you get more experience. The only way to learn is to practice practice and more practice. And dont worry about what your first welds look like they all look bad when starting out.

 

Yea, on the welder, save your $ and buy a Miller,,, IMO they offer the best bang for the buck, the Millermatics are a great little machine for a really good price. IMO they are good enough for moderate production at a price the hobbiest can afford.

Back to the OP question, if the seller does a good job I think the deal may be pretty good.... provided he buys descent parts...

I have to wonder why the seller did not do it already, for that reason, even though the deal ain't bad, I say "pass" on the fix.

You still have the option of having a collision/restoration shop do the job.

At least, if a shop you take it to f's it up or takes a lifetime you might have some recourse....

Just smells bad... lots of chance for things to go wrong..

 

Definitely do it yourself. Welding and replacing at least one panel on a classic is on the "checklist for true manliness" and you want to complete as many of these as possible before you die.

I come from the school that says replace as little of the original metal as possible. For quarters, I purchase the skin, cut out all the rust from the original pnel retaining as much pure metal as possible, trim the skin for a perfect fit, and butt weld it together.

+1 on a great mig and avoid crap. I bought my first mig 15 years ago from a place called TIP in Ohio. It was a cheap Italian made model that served me well for a long time. Last year, I bought a Millermatic and the difference is huge. I worked hard for good welds with the old unit. I get great welds now with little effort. Buy a good mig and you will never regret it.