Challenger body panels

[R/T hedkace]

Well I"m finally getting to the point of ordering some body panels for my R/T. Just looking for some advice on the good, or bad. Year One/Sherman/Goodmark etc...
 I need the rear window to trunk lid piece, trunk lid, quarter panel, trunk floor etc...
Thanks in advance all 

[Steve]

For the most part, there are two types of body panels "MOPAR AUTHENTIC RESTORATION PRODUCT" and the others. Goodmark Industries (www.goodmarkindustries.com) carries many of these panels, including full OEM quarters and the decklid. Some have complained that the reproduction decklids are made of thinner steel than the originals and tend to flex, but I don't have experience with them. I bought a used lid that needed only minor work (well, minor to me). Also, many have complained about the fit of these panels, to which my response is that even NOS or original pieces are likely to fit poorly given that the unibody has had 35 years to flex and the fit of the cars from the factory was poor to begin with!

As for the other non-AUTHENTIC parts, they're pretty much all made by the same place in Taiwan. Go for the lowest price. I used http://www.autobodyspecialt.com/ and was very happy with their price and service. The trunk pans and extensions are going to be a lot of work and the reproductions don't exactly match the originals in terms of creases and contours. Plus, you will have to create your own drain holes and fuel filler hole. I had to square off the center of the pans right out of the box. This is not a perfect fit type of situation...you will be doing a lot of work on the pans themselves!

The metal between the rear window and the trunk lip is called a Dutchman Panel...and Autobody Specialties should have that.

Good luck!

[4Cruizn]

I bought all my metal from Sherman's and had no problems . . . but now that I'm thinking about it,    I believe I ordered my floor pans somewhere else because one vender had longer floor pans than the other and that helped my situation.       Forgot about that until now . . .

[R/T hedkace]

Thanks Steve, and 4c, appreciate the input 
Glad to see that at least 2 people out of over 3000 members have purchased challenger parts   
Steve, the quality from autobodyspecialties was worth it? I just ask because I could save on shipping. They're not too far from me. Thanks again

[71340RT]

Most of the parts you will need come from the same supplier so I would go with the lowest price I would check on shipping as sometimes the good price is made up for in extra shipping charges. I'm not sure where your located but I actually went and picked up most of my challenger parts as they wanted way to much to ship the Quarters and trunk lid. I have also had the same problem with the trunk lid. I would say the metal is thinner as it tends to flex alot more than a factory original. Some of the panels I bought such as the lower quarter extensions, the below rear window dutchman panel, floor pans, and my front inner fender panels were all made in USA. I know the quarters, outer wheel house, trunk lid, rear valance, and I think the rocker panel were made in tiawan. Most fit ok with the biggest problem being the fit of the quarters to the rear valance and the outer wheel house's which leave some room for improvement. Long as you go with the new Goodmark full quarters I think the fit will be alot better on them.

[Steve]

I liked the stuff I got from autobodyspecialties. I believe that the trunk pans and extensions are all the same. It seems that there are some floor pans that are longer than others. Note that there are "full-length" front pans and 3/4 length front pans. Depending on the amount of rot you have, you might need only the 3/4 pans or you might need more.  Also note that there is a factory seem between the front and rear pans where they overlap. From the underside, you will see a "vent" of sorts, probably designed to let water drain out? Also note that the rear pans will substantially overlap with the full front pans. What I did was use a full front pan and a rear pan on one side and a 3/4 front pan and a rear pan on the other side. What ended up happening is that the rear pans have enough material on them to go past that original overlap layer, meaning that the "vent" at the factory front/rear pan seam is replaced with a single piece of metal, eliminating the vent. See pics. In the top pic, the "vent" is not present. This is because I didn't really think it through when I used the entire rear pan piece in conjunction with a 3/4 front piece. The bottom pic shows a "full" length front pan welded in along with the needed portion from the rear pan piece. The brace you see in the bottom piece is the NEW sub-frame connectors from USCar Tools that has a profile to match the floor pan!

So, my advice...

1. Yes, order the stuff from autobodyspecialties.
2. If your floors are really bad, front and rear, order up full-length front pans and rear pans and make sure to cut length to fit on the rear pans, not the front pans.

3. As for the trunk....bring your patience! Get a good set of spot weld cutters and a pnuematic right-angle drill from Harbor Freight. Also get a center punch. Cut the old trunk pans parrallel to the rear subframe members. This will allow you better access in the trunk. You can grind down the spot welds and use a chisel to pry up the trunk pan portions attached to the rear subframe or you can drill the spot welds. For drilling, Center punch the spot weld and take your time with the cutter. Some of the welds are in tight spaces, which is why you need the right angle air drill. Keep the old trunk pans for locating the drain holes that you will need to drill in the pans. If you have cut the quarters off the car, you can weld up the center sections together and install as one unit. If not, you will have to weld the center sections together in the car. Note that the trunk pans were designed with enough metal to do a flange weld in the center. I trimmed my pans along the center line and welded them up on the garage floor. Also note that the areas on the pans at the wheel wells will need to be worked. In my case, I had to cut an inch or two out and put in a new 90 bend around the wheel wells. The extension pieces will be a bear to get out with the quarters on. The pans will not go all the way to the tail panel. If you have rot at the base of the tail panel, you will have to fabricate an extension piece to be butt welded to the new pans.

Good luck!

[R/T hedkace]

Thanks guys for the help 
By the way Steve, where ya from? Could really use a neighbor like you 
 Your advice is way over my head right now    but I'll get there someday. The more I learn from all of you, the better I'll be when the time comes around. Thanks for taking the time 

[Steve]

I'm in Orlando!

Trust me, as you do more, you'll know more. You'll get to experience all the fun! Ask one of us here first, because many of us learned the hard way!

[RUSTY Cuda]

" because many of us learned the hard way! "
Dang Steve, thats my motto, but it is true, as you get into it, weld in hidden places(like floor pans -after a lot of scrap practice) & the more you do the better you get at it, as stated in other posts, it's a ton of work, nothing ever gets done in the time you think it should take, working part time it's not gonna be a quick thing, I'm into mine 4 years & have more free time to work on it than most, of course I've done a lot of things 2 & 3 times before I got it somewhere near right, so maybe 2or 3 years for someone who has some experiance, but i've got about 2 to go, I started thinking about 3 years, well it's gonna be 6, but for me it's the building, doing it myself, when you shoot paint on that 1st quarter you ever did, well it's a cool feeling!
Jump in, ask a ton of questions & have a ball! Rich.

[R/T hedkace]

Orlando?.......... now I'll never get it done 

Thanks Rusty, I think I'm going to leave my R/T to the pros, but I am definitely going to jump in head first (without helmet of course) into the 69 Barracuda I picked up last week.
 This will be the car that tells me that either I suck    or I can actually pull this off 

[RUSTY Cuda]

Yep thats why I started on a rotted out no option clone but I wanted to learn, the car will be at best a ten footer, but I hope to have learned enough to do the 74 as a 5 footer, if I'm still alive after that I'll go for something a little more exotic, say a sox & martin hemi 'Cuda clone(well I can dream can't I!)    Rich.

[Rough 71 RT]

I used Goodmark quarters and they were a dream to install. I removed one quarter and left one on for reference for the rest of the sheetmetal, I also installed the dutchman panel from sherman and associates as well as the complete trunk and both extensions.  it can get a little overwelming when you have everything off the back of the car except 2 frame rails sticking out, but if you leave something for reference the rest of the car goes back together pretty easy. As far as the goodmark quarters go, once i had the spot welds cleaned up the new quarter sat right on the car where it should be, there was no persueding it to be somewhere it wasn't supposed to be. Then I placed the dutchman panel in place, follwed by the trunk floor which I welded top and botton and slid in from the back, I had the tail panel off the car as well. This made putting the trunk floor in a snap. I had everything in place and set the trunk lid on the car to make sure all the gaps were correct and everything lined up and then I tack welded and then finish welded. if I can do this anybody can.Here are my results so far.   Dave    I tryed to get some before and after pic's on here but apparently they're to big and the session gets timed out before they load so I will try again later