Cost of a typical restoration (metal work body prep and paint)?

[willhaven]

Just wondering how much some of you have paid to get your E bodies repaired and painted. I may be getting my first in 3-6 months and I'm just looking to get some ballpark figures so I can have an idea of what I'd be getting into.

I'd like to hear your experiences... what model and year you've got, what needed replacing, if you did the work yourself or paid to have it done for you, etc. I'd really like to know how many first timers did the metal work themselves and how it turned out. I'm fairly good with my hands and I'm a big perfectionist, but I'm still worried about my ability to do a real restoration.

Most of the cars I see that are somewhat affordable have quarter/rocker/rear window/floor/trunk rust of some sort. Is it worth repairing or are you better off finding something that's already been restored so you can have a clean slate to work from there?

To be clear, I'd like to start with a non-numbers base car (originally a 318 or /6 '71 Barracuda) and do a custom. Shaved signals and door handles, better suspension, etc. The chances of finding a solid or restored 1971 318 or /6 car that hasn't been turned into a 440-6 or Hemi clone seem fairly remote. I'm fairly certain that I will need to do some body work if I don't want to invest a lot of money in an already completed car (whether or not it's numbers or not).

Thoughts would be appreciated. 

[moparguy01]

a easy "scuff and shoot" paint job with minimal amount of rust repair would run you around 4500 or so. If it needs quarter panels, and floors, and fenders patched, it will go up ALOT. It would not be absurd to expect a bill around 15-20k if it needs ALOT of work.

basically you can spend as much as you want to spend, unfortunately its never as little as you want to spend.
I work at a restoration shop so I have some idea what it costs to do people's cars.

[Total BS]

willhaven,

I have a 71 Cuda at the resto shop now. They replaced one rear quarter, full trunk floor, drivers floor, inner fender aprons plus a lot of little patches and miscellaneous things.  Once it is painted I figure it was total out at about $13K. That is just the labor and the paint, I supplied all the new panels.  Hope that helps.

[Lunchbox]

I called Aloha Dream Cars and they said $15-17K body work and $22K for paint 

I also talked to Muscle Car Restorations and they wanted like $8k jsut to dip the car, I am sure its a really good process but jeez.

[ArcticCuda]

Wow, for that money (over 15.000usd) you can fix 2 or 3 cars here in Europe.

[wiging19]

a easy "scuff and shoot" paint job with minimal amount of rust repair would run you around 4500 or so. If it needs quarter panels, and floors, and fenders patched, it will go up ALOT. It would not be absurd to expect a bill around 15-20k if it needs ALOT of work.

basically you can spend as much as you want to spend, unfortunately its never as little as you want to spend.
I work at a restoration shop so I have some idea what it costs to do people's cars.

  My experience agrees with this statement.   

[fishn4cuda]

And I have guys (usually local) griping when the bill is 10G with steel replacement, painted and buffed out the door.  I think I need to increase my rates...BUT, I won't cause I have a dream job and enjoy every one of these cars coming into the shop. It's cool to walk into my shop and see 4 to 5 musclecars beeing worked on at one time and of course no new stuff!

[willhaven]

So for a car that maybe needs moderate rust repair (say quarter patches, floors & trunk and not too much custom patch fabrication) and a drivers quality paint job it'd probably be somewhere in the 8K-12K range depending on the panels required? Just looking for a guesstimate.

Also, how long does it usually take to get the job done? Are we talking a month for moderate work and paint... 6? I haven't the slightest clue.

Thanks for the replies so far though. I've been lurking on Charger/Cuda/Challenger boards for nearly 2 years now anticipating being able to afford one of these. Now the time may be nearing so I should really start testing the waters to make sure this is the right thing to do. It sounds like a lot of fun and I get really excited when I see the custom builder TV shows and when I see the G machine type cars being built on this board. I just hope I have the nerve to stay that excited while/if I do the work myself.

[willhaven]

willhaven,

I have a 71 Cuda at the resto shop now. They replaced one rear quarter, full trunk floor, drivers floor, inner fender aprons plus a lot of little patches and miscellaneous things.  Once it is painted I figure it was total out at about $13K. That is just the labor and the paint, I supplied all the new panels.  Hope that helps.

Ah! I remember your ride now. It looks like a kickass job for 13K.

How much did the panels cost you?

[72hemi]

The cost of the job and the time required to do it all require on the condition of the car to begin with and how "perfect" you want the car. If you are going to go all "custom" with the car, my recommendation is to take a 72-74 and convert it to look like a 71. It would be cheaper because you can get a lot nicer of a car to start with requiring less body work, they are easier to find, and since your going custom anyways it doesn't really matter what it started out as. As far as cost that really depends on the shape of the car. I know a guy who has a shop and just charged a customer 115K to do a full restoration on a 70 hemi cuda. Personally I do most all of my own work and the most recent project (which pictures of it from start to finish are on this site) a 71 cuda clone, took 11 months to do. I was also in school, taking 18 units and have a 1.5 hour commute and I was working on the weekends. The car needed both rear quarters and wheelwell housings, 2 floor boards replaced and front and rear lower window channels repaired. It had a fair amount of other bodywork needed and everything else had to be gone through. On the other hand I have seen cars (not as nice as mine) finished that the body shop had for 14-18 months (and that was just paint and body work not to mention everything else). I hope this helps.

[73EStroker]

 :canada:From Canada. These quotes are in line with north of the 49th parallel. In Canada I paid $17K CDN (around $15KUS$) for a total restoration including new floor, trunk floor, full quarter, half quarter, lower front fenders, fender braces, left inner front fender (by hood hinge),panel just below rear window, outer wheel houses L/R, L/R trunk extensions. Sandblasting and base clear paint. Even a 74 car that looks good shows it's age when a body guy starts digging and there are always rotten pieces showing up that wasn't counted at first. A good body guy will only give an estimate not a quote. If you get a quote and hold the body guy to it through and through he will have to make short cuts to get the job done within budget. If you get an estimate then I suggest you allow 40% extra (yes 40%) then there will be no surprises in the end and you will end up happy with the finished product.

[Stacked440]

It depends if your doing it yourself.  We did all our body work by ourselves(metal work, bondo work, and the first 2 layers of sandable primer)  Panels and such ran us about $1200 bucks for quarters, 120 for a rear floorpan, 200 for both trunk extensions, i (think)300 for trunk floors, annnddd...100 bucks for a good solid used roof skin.  Bondo work was about...24 bucks for 1.5 gallons of bondo(probably a full gallon ended up as dust on the floor! )  The primer and such I dont remember exact prices but i beleive with reducer activator and the actual primer maybe 900 for epoxy over the bare metal and then urethane over thatx2.  So...if you don't want to do the work yourself your gonna have to pay big time for just labor.  My car im not going for a quick enamel shoot either so, it all depends what your going for on your car, whether its gonna be a daily driver, drag car, show stopper, or just a once a year cruiser.  We aren't doing the final coat of paint, we don't have a paint booth and wanted to do a truly spectacular job, so we sent it off to my dad's cousin.  We will probably end up paying another 4000-5500 just for final primer coat, sanding, sealer coat, color coat, clear, and then the sanding and buffing of the clearcoat.  So...yah...lots of money haha

[RDF]

Be smart and look around for deals!  I know it sounds cheap, but it works.  I found a guy at a local MAACO shop that is restoring a 73 just like mine.  His is all apart and needs TONS of work, but he also needs parts.  So I agreed to give him my rear valance (b/c I am getting a new one) and my steering column once I go to a manual shift and he agreed to do a strip down of my car, metal patch any bondo areas and paint/clearcoat for 2k.  I also agreed to take off all the chrome myself and put back on.  I know some are thinking that Maaco paint jobs are lousey, but this guy knows the value of a Cuda and he's got one of his own, so he won't mess it up b/c of his reputation.

It may take a while to find something like that, but keep looking, you never know where you'll find a good deal.

[matt63]

The prices look pretty indicative of what I've seen around here (Canada).  Last week I a backyard bodyman quoted me $4 - 7K to paint a car that already had the bodywork done depending on how much "correcting and blocking" work was required.  I feel pretty lucky that I got my '73 Cuda for $6K and the body work and paint was professionally done.  That price included the car, lots of new parts, a disassembled 340 and "some assembly required"!

[willhaven]

So, assuming I went for a 72-74 that was already restored, what do you all think it would take to get the front grille and tail panel swapped to 71 style (just parts required and their prices)? I know that original 71 grilles and hardware are hard to find and are also expensive, but I've also seen that reproduction pieces are being made now. Are reproduction parts currently available for everything I would need (buckets and mounting hardware, wiring, etc), or would I have to scavenge parts from high priced part vendors?

Keep in mind that I would probably want no fender gills, turn signals or door handles, so that hardware shouldn't be calculated in any estimates.

Thanks again! I'll have to be sure to save this thread to my hard drive before I forget about it.