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Central PA body shops?

JKCuda

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Looking to get some body work done on my 72 Cuda. Rear quarters, inner fenders and braces, probably need some firewall patching or replacement as well. Rockers have a some bubbling under the paint, not sure if that will be repairable or need replaced.

Anyone know of any reputable shops or people in the Central Pennsylvania area? I've called a few shops around here and so far I've either been told minimum 1-2 years or I had one guy tell me it was likely to be 40-50k (insane). Any tips would be great! I tried to locate some vendors at Chryslers at Carlisle this past weekend with no luck...
 

moparlee

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Looking to get some body work done on my 72 Cuda. Rear quarters, inner fenders and braces, probably need some firewall patching or replacement as well. Rockers have a some bubbling under the paint, not sure if that will be repairable or need replaced.

Anyone know of any reputable shops or people in the Central Pennsylvania area? I've called a few shops around here and so far I've either been told minimum 1-2 years or I had one guy tell me it was likely to be 40-50k (insane). Any tips would be great! I tried to locate some vendors at Chryslers at Carlisle this past weekend with no luck...
If they are telling you 1 to 2 yrs, it will realistically be more like 2 to 4.
 

340challconvert

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JK
As you are finding out, the cost of body and paint work is astronomical in today's context. I worked as a mechanic 50 years ago but never did body work. Took my car out of 35 year storage; My car didn't need extensive metal work; trunk floor and extensions, bottom/ back of quarter panels and some floor patching. Framing and firewall were in excellent shape.

When I saw the cost of having this work done, I bought a mig welder and started watching U tube videos on metal body repairs, reading what I could that could improve my skills. I bought AMD patch panels and slowly worked at repairing sections of the car. Took my time and became a decent welder on the thin sheet metal patches. Not perfect, but decent results which saves me a ton of money.
Everyone has different skills levels, but I thought I would give it a shot. If you are comfortable, you could try doing some of the work yourself and save some money. Cheaper to buy a welder, materials and practice rather then paying the high work costs. Just my thoughts. Good luck with your project.

Pic of my work with a qtr patch (before and after)

1658492812181.jpeg

1658492929279.jpeg
 
Last edited:

JKCuda

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JK
As you are finding out, the cost of body and paint work is astronomical in today's context. I worked as a mechanic 50 years ago but never did body work. Took my car out of 35 year storage; My car didn't need extensive metal work; trunk floor and extensions, bottom/ back of quarter panels and some floor patching. Framing and firewall were in excellent shape.

When I saw the cost of having this work done, I bought a mig welder and started watching U tube videos on metal body repairs, reading what I could that could improve my skills. I bought AMD patch panels and slowly worked at repairing sections of the car. Took my time and became a decent welder on the thin sheet metal patches. Not prefect, but decent results which saves me a ton of money.
Everyone has different skills levels, but I thought I would give it a shot. If you are comfortable, you could try doing some of the work yourself and save some money. Cheaper to buy a welder, materials and practice rather then paying the high work costs. Just my thoughts. Good luck with your project.

Pic of my work with a qtr patch (before and after)

View attachment 95846
View attachment 95847

Thanks for sharing. I contemplated this for quite some time but ultimately found someone local that a friend has some work done by who gave me what I consider to be a pretty fair price. I'm sure I could learn it, but for me it's a matter of not having the time between work and family life (2 small kids). My wife has some medical issues that could potentially be serious over the next few years so I want to get the job completed as soon as possible so we can enjoy the car... Hopefully the issue doesn't get any worse, but I don't want to wait just in case.
 

340challconvert

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Hope your wife is ok!
Family is always more important.
Looking forward to seeing your friend’s work.
Thank you. Date codes appear to have some difference's between plants.
But Im just learning date codes and assembly line time's.

Thanks for sharing. I contemplated this for quite some time but ultimately found someone local that a friend has some work done by who gave me what I consider to be a pretty fair price. I'm sure I could learn it, but for me it's a matter of not having the time between work and family life (2 small kids). My wife has some medical issues that could potentially be serious over the next few years so I want to get the job completed as soon as possible so we can enjoy the car... Hopefully the issue doesn't get any worse, but I don't want to wait just in case.
 

JKCuda

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Mechanicsburg, PA
Hope your wife is ok!
Family is always more important.
Looking forward to seeing your friend’s work.
Thank you. She's OK for now and hopefully we won't have any more issues down the road. I'm stripping the car down next week then off to the body shop it goes!
 
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