Work Estimate

[usraptor]

I don't know if there is a difference in prices for body work vs paint work, but the shop that did my 'Cudas paint prep, block sanding, panel alignment, etc. and two stage paint job, normally charges $95 and hour plus materials.     Fortunately my best friend worked at the shop so I got a discount.

[76orangewagon]

Here is the AMD installation center link that will give you a good estimate of price on the labor and parts. 

https://www.amdinstallation.com/estimator/index.html#/

That estimate page seems to do only the inner fenders...
Would be cool to see what they charge for quarters and trunk floors etc.

Its all there you need to scroll down the page... full quarter panel cost $600 and $750 installation, full floor $500 and $995 installation...ect

[anlauto]

       I recall a place in North Carolina that several years ago would do a complete "body in White" for 14K for basically anything it needed rust wise.. a quick search took me to US Cartool    https://uscartool.com/   The link to the program didn't work for me today....

I could never understand how that program worked and maybe that's why it's no longer around.

Lets say a metal shop looks very closely at your car and says....Okay we can return a "body in white" for $15000.00 (in their minds, they figure 200 hours at $75/hr), but all they say to you is $15K not a penny more.

Then they get into the car, and it's a bit more work....they get to the 200 hour mark but are only 7/8 finished....being a man of their word they go ahead and finish the car for the $15K....How much effort, how many corners were cut in the last 1/8 of a car it took it finish ???
...and then I bet with the second car they do, they learn a lot more tricks to cutting corners to save hours...

[soundcontrol]

Here is the AMD installation center link that will give you a good estimate of price on the labor and parts. 

https://www.amdinstallation.com/estimator/index.html#/

That estimate page seems to do only the inner fenders...
Would be cool to see what they charge for quarters and trunk floors etc.

Its all there you need to scroll down the page... full quarter panel cost $600 and $750 installation, full floor $500 and $995 installation...ect

Yes! It was my browser that blocked it (built-in ad blocker). I can see it now, Thanks!

[Moprr]

A guy by me had uscartool do the body in white on his 1974 cuda that was a total basketcase (the worst car they have done at that point) the price was the price and he was happy with what he got this was when the canadian dollar was much higher.  He had them also do the final paint and body  after so they made some money back.

[R/T's 4 R/P]

So with AMD installation center how do they handle the Cowl and upper radiator support Vin numbers?
If you remove sheet metal in advance is that better, as in, reducing the price?
Do they allow you to bring in your own sheet metal?
Do they epoxy prime the car once all welding is complete?

[ek3]

there is an abundance of issues with metal... you should decide how perfect you expect things to be . there is no way to guess unless you just stop at a point " you " think is good. replacing the metal in a car is filled with variables . the repro. fire wall   needs work just to make it correct. before its even  installed. if you are welding door gaps, blocking, proper seam sealers, proper spot welds ?  it gets pricey ! 15-20 k can be cheap if its done correctly. there is always more rust in these cars than what we think .my opinion is  in the end  the best advice would be " rust free and solid body and paint are the core of the car". most everything else bolts on... decide what level the car needs to be for your satisfaction and go from there. you can spend way to much on an average car than you will ever get back out of it. not all but, many hi end cars will have more in them than they are worth....

[Challenger in NC]

So with AMD installation center how do they handle the Cowl and upper radiator support Vin numbers?
If you remove sheet metal in advance is that better, as in, reducing the price?
Do they allow you to bring in your own sheet metal?
Do they epoxy prime the car once all welding is complete?

They will replace the cowl but they will leave it to you to patch in your VIN from the original panel. My radiator support did not need to be replaced but I would think the same would apply.
I had removed a lot of the rusted pieces (roof, A-pillar, cowl etc) but there was no discount given.
Bringing your own sheetmetal was generally acceptable, I had a bunch I had already purchased with the intention of replacing them myself, most were AMD panels, but one was a Goodmark.
They removed panels that are obviously bad, blast the car, check for any other problem areas (remove any other bad metal) and epoxy prime it. Generally they do whole panel replacement and limit patching. They will do some minor patching for areas where replacement metal is not available (like roof structure).

[docmel]

Someone qouted $50 an hr:  PLEASE let me know where that shop is because that is CHEAP........  Try more like $90 and higher   

Bottom line, go to a few shops and get thier qoutes. 

The forum trying to figure hrs and by hr costs is very unrealistic and not close:  Thats because no one here works at the shop you might take it to.  Take it to a few shops that can actually see it and get thier qoute , (AND take a look at thier past and current work):  Qoutes are free, right?

Also, try out your local car clubs on the web.  They might have a source

[kdcarman]

Story Time:
I restored a 1970 Cuda for one of my customers, but my metal guy was pretty booked up at the time, so I went to my #2 shop.

Both the owner of the shop and his lead metal guy looked at the shell of the car BEFORE the paint was removed and estimated about 150 hours for the repair it needed. Then I had the shell media blasted.....The three of us walked around the car for almost an hour talking about every spot on the car that needed to be addressed. The spots were marked with masking tape, marked with the estimated hours per area, and the metal guy kept a count on his clip board....I had never seen this method done before, but I had agreed with the time allotted for every little area as we went along....

It was hard to argue with this method of such a detailed estimate. HOWEVER those number added up to 267 hours.

So moral of the story.....If the shop's owner had of stuck with his first ballpark estimate BEFORE the car was stripped....he would have lost his shirt as Shane just mentioned....AND there can always be a lot of rust or dent issues hiding when the car is still wearing paint/seam sealer/undercoating etc...I don't think any shop would give you and accurate estimate up front...

....and this is where you hear horror stories of shops saying one price to get you in the door, then they rip it apart, and the price doubles.

My complete restoration estimates always start with a "ballpark" amount and that price DOES NOT include rust repair....that's always on top.

I recognize this story.  At least I know exactly what is under the paint now and they did not cut any corners to try to meet the original estimate.

[anlauto]

I wasn't sure if YOU would find that post ....but it is a true story, and I tell everybody, that you just never know what you'll find until the car is 100% stripped, so be weary of any "up front" estimates for metal work especially 

[tparker]

Wow, I am so glad I tackled all this myself. My car would never have gotten done at these prices. LOL. Also, grateful my car didn't have structural issues. Not sure where people get money to do all this stuff.

I spent the day yesterday watching Rust Valley Restoration or whatever the name is. And like every other car show I have watched and what is essentially true for me, once you start digging in you will find WAY more than you realized. I think having a plan is good. Gotta have some numbers. But due to the nature of the work, you have to have some backups. Money is the best backup, but it may be some trade offs of moving money around when costs change. It seems to me that a couple extra grand for each major process may be desirable. Phew this is an expensive hobby.

I haven't worked in the automotive industry since I was a teenager in the late 80's. Back then there were estimate guides. I don't know how much you could deviate from that book, but we used the numbers in it. I am sure insurance companies used it as did most shops. I always wanted to get one just to have an idea how much time it should take me to do something just so I could plan my weekends. I think the idea on a lot of shops took were you should be able to get it done in less time and make more money. Occasionally you will get some thing that will go beyond the time allotted and you typically eat the cost unless it goes out of the scope of the quoted problem.

[gzig5]

To somewhat close the loop on this original question...a member put me onto a local shop that kind of specializes in Mopars. Their past work is impressive and they had some really nice cars in the shop.  I was unable to get a quote at two other shops, they just wouldn't commit, and I get that.  We had a couple extra surprises that required more AMD parts.  Alan was pretty close with his 150-200 hour estimate, I think we were at about 140-150 hours @$73/hr.  This included straightening the roof at the windshield and the kink in the dash/cowl.  Replacing upper cowl, inner/outer A-pillar and windshield frame, inner/outer rockers, rough place the B-pillar, replace front and rear floor pans, install Dynacorn trunk/frame/seat assembly.  Nothing was sealed or prepped for paint.  I'm doing the quarters, trunk drops, and outer wheel wells as well as the rest of the body work.  I'm happy with the work and I think the cost was fair.  I could never afford to have a whole car done start to finish, actually I could afford it, but wouldn't be able to get myself to write the checks.  I am very much a hands on do everything myself person, but this work exceeded my experience and equipment capabilities.  I wish I had started with a better car, but it is what it is. 

[jimynick]

Sounds like you've achieved a mid position on your repair situation. Back in the day, the Mitchell Manual times to replace 1/4's usually ran in the 16hr range and that included removing anything involved with the replacement, (bumpers, interior trim, etc. The outer whlhses ran 2-3hrs with the 1/4 removed and the inr whlhses were in the 4-6hr range. As mentioned, we usually beat those times in a flat rate shop. The reason most shops these days won't commit to doing the work is because they like to get smaller, more lucrative jobs in and out and yours would be a job that was there for weeks. The oft quoted $90-95/hr rates are about $20/hr higher than Ontario, Canada rates in general. Paint times are usually plus approx. $30/hr material allowance. Bear in mind that these prices are in Canadian dollars and perhaps- depending on your location, you would be well advised to speak with a Canadian shop. There may be a considerable price savings in there for you or anyone else in the same position. Timewise, myself and another licenced bodyman and my one son changed the firewall, cowl, frt floor section, lft and rt 2 piece hinge pillars, rt frame rail and both frt inr aprons and installed USCP inr apron reinforcements in 2 days. While I see the comments about large calculated labour operations, remember that many of those overlap and don't take as much time as doing them individually. You mentioned having the shop install the inr pieces and you'd do the outer 1/4s. DON'T do that! The AMD 1/4 panel/outer whlhse fits are lousy and you need to have the whlhse loose so as to allow you to tweak the fit as best as may be. Good luck. 

[torredcuda]

I`ve done both collision work and resto work but without seeing the car it`s very hard to estimate and even then there are plenty or unknowns and surprises that come up. That said I`ll throw out a guess for you - doing the rear section 40-50 hours, rocker/cowl area 20-30. That is just for the metal work and might even be a little more depending on any rust issues. I`d also like to know a good resto shop that only charges $50/hr, my buddys shop charges $100 but I know it varies by area.