Newbie needs body work advice please

[Matt70]

When I got my Challenger it had these fender flairs welded on. I would really like to have them removed. I have no experience with body work. My question is can they be removed, if so will the entire fender/quarter need to be painted or just touched up? If not is my only other option fenders and quarters? Any idea what it would cost? I do have fenders, the quarters I have are in pretty bad shape. Thanks ,  Matt

 

[67vertman]

It looks like they trimmed the original wheel lip off.  So you will need to replace them, which can be done.  How is the rest of the quarter panel? is it rusty or damaged? If so you may want to replace the whole QP.  If not, you can replace the wheel trim area only.

[Challenger III]

Since you know you want the flares off, the first you need to do is get all the bondo out of there. You can probably carefully cut the welds at the flares, and repair anything that may have been "altered" with the original wheel openings. You don't necessarily need to remanufacture all the factory design in my opinion, Just re-gain the original appearance. It's only metal after all.   

[Matt70]

Thanks for the input guys, The fenders and quarters are in good shape, I would like to try and save them. Do you think this is something I can do my self? (no body work experience) Or should I take it to a body shop? How much do you think a job like this would be? I would like to learn how to do this stuff but I don't want the Challenger to be my first attempt (little nervious lol)  Matt

[femtnmax]

Don't be suprised if when you get into it, that there is/was rust around the wheelwell openings (common on E-bodies), and the flares were put on in part to hide the rust rather than having to replace metal.  There could be bondo in places you have not noticed.
Take a weak magnet with tape over it (to not scratch the paint) and see if the magnet sticks as well half way up the quarter panel vs aft of the rear wheel opening near bottom of quarter panel.  Just suggesting one area to check.
Do you have place to work on the car out of the weather with room around the vehicle, a mig welder and other metal working tools, LOTS of time to devote to the task, a desire to tackle every obstical that arises as the job progresses??  IF yes, then consider doing the job yourself.  Just some ideas to think about.

[67vertman]

If this is your first attempt at bodywork, I will suggest that you take it to a auto body repair shop.  Go to some local cars shows and ask around on who locally does work on older cars.  As most new shops won't even touch a car more that 15 years old.  Depending on any surprises with rust, and where you live, you should be able to get the work done for $800 - $1200, without paint matching.

[Matt70]

Thanks for the advice guys. I think I'll take 67vertman's advice and look for a good body shop. I would spend as much on tools as the work would cost. Having no experience at this kind of stuff I think that is best. Femtnmax good idea with the magnet I'll do that today. Anybody know of any good body shops in the Colorado Springs area? Thanks all.  Matt

[Matt70]

Went to several body shops today. Quotes anywhere from $5600 for labor and paint, this would be quarter skins, outer wheel well, front fenders (my set) hung and painted to $2700 for cutting out the quarter flairs and repairing it, my fenders would be hung and painted. So maybe I'll learn body work after all.    I know I can do the fenders, just need them to paint em. Thanks for the help guys I'll let you know what happens.   Matt

[torredcuda]

The original lips are probably gone and not worth repairing IMO.Get some new or good used fenders and have the quarters replaced or repaired with skins.Keep looking for a good shop that doesn`t charge thoose expensive prices!!

[Matt70]

Yeah the lips are gone, have to say I was surprised the prices were so high. I'm going to try and do the fenders myself. I'll keep looking for a reasonable body shop to do the quarters. Thanks for all the input everyone

[wally426ci]

Id do it myself but i have experience. I will say that the hardest time you will have is matching the old paint.

You'll have to blend the paint into the existing.

I would also start with cutting the welds, then sand along the painted side of the flares until you see where the putty is. This way you wont crack it out further then it needs to be, and you may even be able to keep some of the old filler (not that thats the best thing, but would limit the amount of work)

 

[Matt70]

Thanks for the advice Wally426ci. So you think I can save the fenders and quarters? Do you think it would be possible to cut the flairs off with a cut off tool, then grind it down until I get it back to somewhat of a factory look? (I think that is what you are saying.) Sorry body work is not in my skill set lol, but I want to learn. Your right about the paint, all the body shops said the same thing.

[dutch]

if you really want to learn, go chop it up....  the worst that could happen would be replacing the parts after all... probably still cheaper than having this repair done by a bodyshop. If you don`t have any bodywork experience, this will be a huge job, but you will learn a thing or 2 along the way. Looking at the pics, I think I would replace the outer halfs of the wheelwells first. This will get you a good reference point where to go with the new metal.  If you don`t know how to weld, practice first... a lot.  too much heat will be your biggest enemy. maybe you can find the lips for the quarters in decent/ repairable shape... that would make things a lot easier, but if you have to fabricate them, start building in small pieces. With no experience I don`t think you want to try making them in one piece.

[Matt70]

Thanks Dutch, I have a spare set of fenders that are in good shape so I can get them cleaned up and painted by the shop. Then I could just concentrate on the quarters. When you say "replace the outer wheel wells" should I just start cutting the flair out and try and get to the lip if it is still there? I really would like to try and tackle this myself, just don't want to get in over my head.   Matt

[Matt70]

Can someone post a close up pics of Challenger front and rear wheel wells? I could really use it as a reference. Thanks guys,  Matt