69 Charger body damage

[XP29H9]

Ok, so here's what we're workin' with.  These pictures are of the problem areas on my Charger that's been sitting outside in the back yard since 95 and in someone else's back yard since 1988.  I don't know if the body pieces that have corners and bottoms rusted out of them will have to be completely replaced or not.  One quarter is pretty bad and the rear floor pans have holes through them along with the trunk pan.  And the typical window/sail panel rot, but I have seen it worse. Again, I don't know how much new metal that's going to take.

This is where I'm at though as far as known body issues.  There's no telling what I'm going to find as time goes on.  Hopefully not tooooo many more problems though!

So here's the pictures.  Tell me what your thinkin!  please 

[XP29H9]

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[XP29H9]

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[XP29H9]

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[XP29H9]

Floor and trunk rot

#1 - driver side rear floor panel.

#2 - rear of driver side rear floor panel

#3 - driver side trunk rot near quarter

#4 - passenger side trunk rot

[greenpigs]

Get an another door & the fender you should be able to fix but your going to need too pull it off.

Everything else needs cut out and replaced. Not sure where you should start but since the gas tank needs dropped the trunk floor is as good a place as any to start.

[XP29H9]

Can the inner part of the door be salvaged or will it need to be a whole new door with my panel, glass, and components on it?  I'm really wanting to get the Charger in somewhere that's covered for me to work on it before I start cutting on it though.  I think I'm going to be needing to know a really good welder in the near future lol.


Here's a picture of the drivers side rear quarter as it was before I started on it.  Untouched.

[Daytona R/T SE]

1. Get that car inside, where it can be kept dry and safe for years and years while you perform the Resurrection on it.

2. Sell your soul to the Devil to get the huge amount of money it's going to take to bring this one back from the dead.

3. Reskin the entire car. You might be able to save an original panel or two, but in the long run, just buy the new stuff:   http://www.autometaldirect.com/

4. NEVER cut an old panel off until you have the new panel in hand.

5. Be prepared for rotted frame rails, torsion bar crossmembers, and other hidden treats.

6. Brace yourself for years of late nights out slaving away alone in the garage, empty pockets, lost girlfriends, opportunities in life passing you by, pissed off neighbors, male pattern baldness, alcoholism, and the spontaneous obesity that goes along with a project of this magnitude...

...Being found nude, under the car, in the fetal position, rocking back and forth violently while sobbing uncontrollably, muttering "car evil" "car evil" "car evil" under your breath is not unheard of.

Welcome aboard...

[440]

 

...Being found nude, under the car, in the fetal position, rocking back and forth violently while sobbing uncontrollably, muttering "car evil" "car evil" "car evil" under your breath is not unheard of.

Oh wait.... I've done that before 

[resq302]

AMD makes a lot of nice repro sheet metal for our cars.  You should be able to just replace the outer skin of the door and save the inner frame.  Main thing is to take your time and do it right.  There are a bunch of very knowledgeable people on here who have replaced panels themselves.  Me, personally, I'll bring my car to someone to do that!

[SFRT]

it will cost you 60-80 grand and take a couple of  years to make it 'really nice to perfect' .

if your lucky.

[tan top]

1. Get that car inside, where it can be kept dry and safe for years and years while you perform the Resurrection on it.

2. Sell your soul to the Devil to get the huge amount of money it's going to take to bring this one back from the dead.

3. Reskin the entire car. You might be able to save an original panel or two, but in the long run, just buy the new stuff:   http://www.autometaldirect.com/

4. NEVER cut an old panel off until you have the new panel in hand.

5. Be prepared for rotted frame rails, torsion bar crossmembers, and other hidden treats.

6. Brace yourself for years of late nights out slaving away alone in the garage, empty pockets, lost girlfriends, opportunities in life passing you by, pissed off neighbors, male pattern baldness, alcoholism, and the spontaneous obesity that goes along with a project of this magnitude...

...Being found nude, under the car, in the fetal position, rocking back and forth violently while sobbing uncontrollably, muttering "car evil" "car evil" "car evil" under your breath is not unheard of.

Welcome aboard...

yep all true  to a lesser or greater extent  


first job  is number one   then strip the car of everything & keep  all the parts & stuff out & away from the body , last thing you want to worry about is a mig splatter going in a box of parts &  setting it on fire , or damaging rare to find parts , only stuff you want in there with you is tools to do body work etc etc & parts other than sheet metal like body bumpers & door, deck lid latches etc etc

[bill440rt]

Daytona RT/SE nailed it on the head. 


If you've NEVER done bodywork before, that's not the car to start experimenting on. Get an AMD catalog. Most sheetmetal parts that you'll ever need will be in there. From the pictures you've posted, you're gonna need both 1/4's, rear body panel, lower valence & corners, trunk floor, trunk floor extentions, and at least one inner & outer wheelhouse. Might be able to save the roof. You'll spend more time in labor trying to save the crumpled fender than replacing it, it's double-walled in the front part of the fender, hard fix. Bumpers are available repro, easy phone call. Grille looks like it can be repaired & saved.

Get a catalog, & start pricing out what you need. Find a REPUTABLE shop in your area, research several. You may have to travel to find the right one willing to take on a project of that magnitude AND that knows what they're doing. Show them the catalog & parts price list you came up with to assist them in giving you an estimate, most modern shops probably don't know where to find parts for these cars.

Then, grit your teeth & bear it, it's gonna be a long haul with lotsa money spent.
Good luck!

[twodko]

You must embrace and become one with AMD Grasshopper.

[chargerhunter]

About 9K in all panels. That's what my buddy spent and replaced EVERYTHING

[ChgrSteve67]

I would give CornDog a ring and see when he can fit you in.

[69 OUR/TEA]

What Bill440rt said,and more.I'd be taking off the roof skin to.Be preparred to spend lots of money,time and aggravation.Now,is it worth it????Seen alot of peoples "gotta save it" intentions lately,and just do the math on the venture you would start,and be positive it is what you want to do,and have strong dedication to it.Good luck!

[hemi-hampton]

Read the Ridelikehell thread are you scared & figure your about in for the same treatment. Are you up to it? LEON.

[elitecustombody]

You'd have to be very seriously dedicated to take on a project of this magnitude ,lots of patience and good chunk of change. Invest in a solid carport,close it up and get to work. If you need a great deal on AMD parts, just send me email,I'll hook you up

[XP29H9]

Yeah ya'll are pretty much right.  I'm sure I'm not about to drop $100K on getting this charger back to original.  I'm only 22 and can barely afford the spray paint I used on the wheels!  I'd be happy to just get the motor back running and see if I can make it mechanically sound.  I'd drive it the way it is if it had brakes and would start.  Anything more than what's already done to it is progress to me, no matter what it is.  To consider cutting the roof off and re-skinning it right now is, for me, a little too much for the time being.  I'm just happy doing things like sanding and spray painting my wheels for now.  Thanks for letting me know that doing a full-on body restoration on a classic car is going to cost a lot of money, I appreciate it.  I sure am glad to have some new contacts on 69 charger stuff now though.  Your knowledge and access to parts/suppliers is much appreciated and will be very useful!

     

[resq302]

Just to give you a heads up, the car you see to the left took me about 6-8 years to get it pretty much done to my liking and that was with a body that did not need really anything externally on it done.  You could do what I did.  One year pic something like the engine and get that done.  Following year, redo the trans or interior.  Do one project at a time and you will be pleased with the progress.  Rome wasn't built in a day (granted our cars were but that was also an assembly line) so take your time and learn and get to know your car.

[terrible one]

Hey man, I've been reading your threads, looks like we are definitely in a similar situation both age and budget-wise. I came here at age 15 knowing nothing about these cars and everyone here guided me through every step and taught me 95% of what I know about Chargers. These guys are absolutely right about the restoration costs, especially if you aren't doing the metalwork yourself. I just have to say don't let the fact that you can't restore it right now discourage you. Everyone here will agree (and has already said) that sitting out is the worst thing for your '69. What you've done already is an improvement. If the structural parts of the unibody are sound and you have solid rails, there's no reason why you can't get it running and on the road, and do what you can when money allows. My car is in very similar shape body-wise and I didn't do anything with it but grind some of the bondo off and spray-paint it all one color. I then focused on the drivetrain, suspension, wiring, plumbing . . . basically everything BUT the body and after a few years and $13k, car included, I have a reliable driver that I can enjoy, slowly improve, and don't have to worry about dings, dents, and scratches. And I started with a very incomplete car, no drivetrain either.

I say you take your focus off of the sheetmetal (aside from preventing further rust, of course) and start with bolting on that carburetor and getting it to start, then take small steps toward making it roadworthy again from there. Engine running, then go through the brakes, then start on electrical and get everything working, etc. etc. As you can tell you've got a huge community here to help you every step of the way.

[TX9H6E4CUDA]

I agree with all the posters above. Right now get it running and driving and have fun with it. I would get a set of old mags, put back the pieces you already have taken off (even if they are damaged) apply a painted on bumble bee stripe on the back ( try make it look patena looking) find some beat up R/T badges and have fun with it. That is the best because you don't have to worry about it getting damaged or dinged. What part of the world are you from? I have a set of old school super wide cragers that have some rust that would look perfect on that car. Trust me you can do this car so it will turn heads because it will looks like a street suvivor with all of its battle scars.

[Ants]

Hay one day at a time and one thing at a time. I got my first 69 when i was 15 and the only reason i got my first job was to start restoring it.

I'll help you get started, I got a set of AMD rear frame rails, trunk brace, rear crossmember.  I'll donate them to your cause All you have to do is pick them up.
pm me if you need them.

[XP29H9]

Thanks for the encouragement terrible one!  That sounds more-so along the lines of where I'm wanting to go with this!  I'll definitely post some updated pics once I get the carb back on!

TX9H6E4CUDA - I'm in Nashville, Tennessee USA.  Where abouts are you at?  Those wheels sound like they'd be pretty cool!  They sound like the kind of look I'm wanting to go for too!

Ants - One day at a time, one thing at a time for sure.  Just keeping myself occupied and trying not to move too fast.  I really appreciate your generosity!!  I think my frame rails are fine from the looks of it.  I'll post some pictures and you can let me know what you think.  That trunk brace and rear cross member sound like something I might need though!  Just not quite sure what exactly they look like.  I'll also post a pic of the inside of my trunk and we can decide if those pieces are rusted out or not.  Thanks for the help though!  It's much appreciated!!

[RIDELIKEHELL]

Get you wallet ready

[RIDELIKEHELL]

Read the Ridelikehell thread are you scared & figure your about in for the same treatment. Are you up to it? LEON.

your inbox is full LEON

[hemi-hampton]

Read the Ridelikehell thread are you scared & figure your about in for the same treatment. Are you up to it? LEON.

your inbox is full LEON

I emptied some so should be OK to send Messages. THANKS, LEON.

[flyboyedwards]

Did someone give you this car? If so, just think to yourself............I am thousands ahead! I just bought my 69 in January, and have found much to do also. I know it may sound silly, but just pick one small project at a time, and eventually, you will have an awesome car.
I try to keep the momentum up by either pricing and buying "needed small parts", to keep the costs low. I bought some DA sanding pads, and got a door down to bare metal, and one fender too. once I epoxy prime them, it will "appear" that I made some big strides!
I know a LOT of the posts here seem like "doomsday" posts, because it DOES take awhile, but keep the faith! You can and WILL have a classic! And think about it this way.............At least it's NOT a mustang!
Best wishes!
Jason.

[chargerhunter]

I had to wait until I was in my 30's before I could even think about buying one..congrats on the car. It can become overwhelming sometimes but like the previous post says..just take it one step at a time.

[djcarguy]

  WELL DO YOU HAVE IT RUNNING YET?  FORGET BOUT DOOR,FENDER AND BODY FOR NOW..

    DOES ENGINE TURN BY HAND OR WITH SOCKET ON CRANK BOLT????BLOW OR WASH ALL DIRT OFF ENGINE WITH OUT FILLING IT WITH WATER...  TURN IT OVER.... PULL SPARK PLUG AND DO COMPRESS TEST AND SHOOT OIL IN CYLINDER TO SOAK RING.......INSTALL CARB AND JUST GET 4 FEET GAS LINE AND SUCK GAS OUT OF 5 GAL GAS CAN.....   GET THE BEAST RUNNING???
     GET WHEELS TURNING AND ADD BRAKE FLUID AND PUMP TILL LEG FALLS OFF,HAHAHAHA.CHECK FLUID LEVELS CHECK FOR LEAKS AND PUMP SOME MORE........GET TIRES THAT HOLD AIR.....
    WELL BEEN A MONTH WHATS THE NEWS?

[MaximRecoil]

There's more than one way to skin a cat. It seems that most of these threads like this are full of doom and gloom posts, talking about many tens of thousands of dollars and years of time. Well, that's true for most any restoration, no matter what you start with. For example:

it will cost you 60-80 grand and take a couple of  years to make it 'really nice to perfect' .

if your lucky.

He based that post on only seeing pictures of the body. So if you started with an undamaged body you could subtract say $10K, and that brings his estimate to 50-70 grand; not much of a difference.

However, you don't have to restore the car (many people on here seem to think that is the only option). Safely driveable but ugly is a much cheaper option. Safely drivable and halfway decent looking is another much cheaper option. Only rich people or people willing to go into debt and/or stretch it out over many years can afford to restore cars.

[hemi-hampton]

There's more than one way to skin a cat. It seems that most of these threads like this are full of doom and gloom posts, talking about many tens of thousands of dollars and years of time. Well, that's true for most any restoration, no matter what you start with. For example:

it will cost you 60-80 grand and take a couple of  years to make it 'really nice to perfect' .

if your lucky.

He based that post on only seeing pictures of the body. So if you started with an undamaged body you could subtract say $10K, and that brings his estimate to 50-70 grand; not much of a difference.

However, you don't have to restore the car (many people on here seem to think that is the only option). Safely driveable but ugly is a much cheaper option. Safely drivable and halfway decent looking is another much cheaper option. Only rich people or people willing to go into debt and/or stretch it out over many years can afford to restore cars.

Your right, you could get it running & just take it to Earl Scheib or Maaco for quicky body work & paint. If that will make you happy go for it. LEON.