Estimated cost for a fender replacement

[jlemler]

I know before I start this is a, "it depends" question.  Where I live, what kind of paint,exctera, exctera. I live in the northeast.  I am looking to repalce the passenger side fender and have the replacement painted B5 blue.  Before I start riding all over the place for an estimate on the work, what would be a resonable cost for the replacement on my 70 Cuda?  Agian I realize this would be a guesstimate.

[torredcuda]

Clean or needing work factory original fender or aftermarket? Level of work - driver or show quality? Probably need to blend into the hood and door so at least 10-12 hours of prep/paint time MINIMUM.

[anlauto]

Super hard colour to get a good paint match, you'll need to pick a really qualified body shop. Buying and AMD fender and swapping it out yourself wouldn't be that hard with basic tools

[Rich G.]

Good luck even finding someone willing to do the job! Most shops only want to do collision work.

[Xghobo]

I have a B5 charger and if you want it to blend in with the rest of the car it is a lot of work. Very hard color to work with. Is replacement an original or Amd? Either will take work just in different ways. If you got estimates under 2k in the northeast I would be surprised

[jlemler]

I have an original fender from an AAR on it.  A hole was drilled into it for a fender. It is truly a mess.  I was planning on putting an AMD fender on it.  An oringal fender in decent shape is still hard to find.  I believe.  If it comes in under or near 2500 I would be happy.

[jimynick]

As a licenced bodyman/painter who spent 35 years as an appraiser, it's still rough to give a good fair-to-all figure due to the amount of variables. Here in south western Ontario, a going door rate of $70/hr and $50/hr paint materials is average. A lot of the cost is dictated by the skill of the painter. Some guys have a good eye and can colour match pretty good and some can't. They're the ones who want to blend everything everywhere, with the attendant costs. Back in the day the allowance to paint a fender ran 2.1 to 2.6 hrs and you'd give the guy an hour to shoot some cards and do some tinting to get the best match available. They now have colour computers with readers which makes the job easier. If you let this guy go nuts, you'll be into the hood and door with all the attendant R&I and possible further damage while doing it. I'd ask around at the upper end dealers as to who they use. Get a few names and go talk to the shops and try to speak with the painter and make an informed decision. While there's no doubt you can spend $2500 getting a fender painted, the real question is why. Good luck!

[torredcuda]

There are only a couple collision shops I would trust working on any classic car as most would treat it just like any other vehicle. I would make sure whatever shop you use has experience working on classics and treats them as such. Of course color matching is #1 concern, it helps if you know what brand paint was used on it and if it was the stock code mix or tinted to match factory. Resto shops rates here in the northeast are generally higher, locally they are $100-150/hour so I don`t think $2-2500 would be unreasonable.

[jlemler]

The why is simple, here goes.  In a time long ago, before AMD, my father and I were in search of fenders for a 1970 Cuda.  Those who have been around for awhile can recall the price of fenders at that time, outrageous, high, and most needed work of some sort.  We found the drivers fender in real decent shape for the time.  Passengers of workable condition was impossible to find.  My father and I took our annual pilgrimage to Carlisle with the expressed condition of find the all-elusive passenger side fender.  We walked up and down every isle in oppressive heat.  We found a rust-free passenger side fender.  Problem was, it was for an AAR Cuda. No hole for an antenna and rolled lip on the wheel well.  Price, 1500.00.  Purchase, put it on painted the car.  The gaps were great.  When it came time for finish work, splash shield, attaching the headlight bezel it became apparent that there was damage on the inside of the fender.  The front splash shield would not fit, too narrow and the headlight bezel was seriously off leaving a massive gap between the bottom headlight bezel and bottom of the grille like two inches.  My father tweak it and brought it down to about an inch; however, the chrome trim is way off.  So the why is the fact that I don't like the look.  It literally took my two days to get the fender, headlight bezel, and grille to come together after putting the LED headlights in.  I finally said I am going to bite the bullet and get it right.  So there is the story.

[jlemler]

So the answer so far is zip, zero, nada.  No one will touch it.  American Muscle, Mike Mancini, is backed up 1 1/2 years.  The search continues.