AMD Installation Center/ Auto Metal Direct

[RUNCHARGER]

Interesting post.

[71GranCoupe]

Interesting post.

Good stuff for sure, thanks for posting all the info!

[soundcontrol]

Great post! Paint it yourself and do a complete writeup here so we can learn. 
I wanna paint mine in a few years, I painted a Dart 20 years ago, came out nice.
I also bought a gun (just a cheap one for now) and I'm painting smaller stuff now.

[Chaos-N-Mayhem]

If I do paint it myself I will definitely do a write up on it, as I will likely need advice along the way. I'm still at the point of getting paint quotes from reputable shops as well.

[jimynick]

" I'm still at the point of getting paint quotes from reputable shops as well."  - that may give you the impetus to do it yourself if nothing else! Good luck and keep us posted please. 

[Cuda Cody]

Glad to see that E-Body get saved.  And this is a great post.  Very interesting. 

Let me know if I can be any help with your paint.  As you know I do not paint cars for anyone, but I will offer free tips and tricks if you want to do it yourself.

[Brads70]

Wow what a cool experience! Closest us guys have to giving birth! LOL  I was excited for you just watching the video ! Thanks for recording that! 

[Chaos-N-Mayhem]

Now fast forward several months and I called down to Craig Hopkins at the AMD Installation Center and informed him I would like to bring the car down at the beginning of November. I wanted to beat the snow as some of those mountain roads could be sketchy with a car in tow. He was fine with bringing the car a little early and said he would make the necessary room. The first week of November I took the car down there but wanted to try a different route from Missouri. This time I went further south toward Atlanta and worked my way back up. Its probably an extra 45mins but avoided a few hours in the mountains. This also gave us a chance to stop by Auto Metal Direct on the way.

[Chaos-N-Mayhem]

We found our way to Auto Metal Direct and was shocked at the size of the place. It's huge. We parked in front of the doors and like dorks wanted to take some photographs. Seemed only right since the car was being rebuilt with all AMD sheet metal. We went inside and found they had a front show room with various painted hoods and display vehicles. There was a friendly young guy at the front who greeted us and asked if we were here to pick up parts. We chatted for a bit and he said the big wigs were out at a show or something but seemed cool with us just looking around. We looked at some of their displays and got a few more photos. My buddy even poked his head through the racks to take a look at the behind the scenes warehouse. It seemed to go on forever. If you need something for your mopar, its there on those shelves. If you like Chevys they can help you too.

[Chaos-N-Mayhem]

When I was down there last summer, Craig and I discussed fitting the front end sheet metal with reasonable gaps. This is something they normally don't do as it doesn't require any spot welding and typically is what a traditional bodyman would tackle as part of getting the exterior straight and ready for paint. However, for me I wanted that instant wow factor when I picked up the car and a very quick way to tell if the car was put together right. I felt one way to do that is by seeing all the panels on the car at the time of pick up and would keep me from second guessing the work should I install them later and have any issues. Craig and I bantered about that for a bit, but when I showed up with the car on a trailer he realized I was serious about hammering out the details and reluctantly gave me a price to do it. We settled on $700 to hang and align the exterior that I would also buy from him. However, I told him, I would let him know when I dropped the car off if I was adding that additional work. My main concern was making sure I could come up with the cash for any work I authorized.


After leaving Auto Metal Direct we took a short 24min up to the AMD Installation Center. Like before the guys stopped what they were doing to help unload the car off the trailer. I had brought the new AMD parts I had already purchased for the car with me, along with my door shells, and various bagged hardware. Thank god when I took the car apart I had bagged and labeled the parts in ziplock bags and boxes. However, as a tip, if I was to do it again I would also keep a ledger of what specific parts were in each bag. This will help you identify things without having to look through each bag. Craig and I went through my container of ziplocked hardware and parts and he tried to keep anything he thought they would need. As part of their process, they photograph all your parts while unloading to avoid any confusion down the road as to whether something was or was not dropped off with the car. They are very organized. Cars and parts are given a customer number to prevent it from being misplaced or used on a different car. When walking through the shop you see they have a dedicated parts rack for each customer project they are working on.

Craig and I sat down in his office and discussed the work. I came prepared with my notes from our conversations and print outs of the various spreadsheet changes we were working from. We went over the most current spreadsheet line by line. I took out one or two items and added a few. Biggest thing was to add in the exterior sheet metal and lining up the doors, fenders, shaker hood, valances, and trunk lid. Craig printed me out a final spreadsheet and a handshake deal was made. I cut Craig a check on the spot for sheet metal he was to pre-order. This was roughly a 1/3 of the total bill upfront and was expected. 

[Cuda Cody]

LOVE hearing stories like this.     AMD is doing great things for the hobby and sounds like they are treating people right.   

[CudaMoparRay]

Great detail and pictures to go along with it. AMD might be were I'll have to order my 1971  gill fenders from, thanks

[RUNCHARGER]

Great thread: I like the way they are doing business and you as well. When you give clear expectations the other party has a lot better chance of meeting those expectations.

[RusTy/SE]

I appreciate taking the time to write up and share your experiences  @Chaos-N-Mayhem

Being a ways off from my car heading up I85 to their shop, this will be one of the next two steps for me - couldn't be more excited though!

Looking forward to how your convertible turned out

[anlauto]

I believe another member @Car-nutt is sending his Cuda there too.