1972 Dodge Dart 318 Swinger. Is this a fair price for paint and body work?

[Ben440ny]

Hello All,

Slowly but surely I have been working on my 1972 Dart swinger 318. Finally got her running great and now it's time to address some of the body issues.

I took it to several shops. Maaco was coming in at $2400 and the rest were coming in around $5000. Just found a shop around the corner from my job that specializes in restorations. Several of my coworkers have had their cars painted there and they look great. The owner has quoted me at $4000 to strip, repair all rust, make straight, and paint exactly like the blue dart pictured below (I know it's not a 72). I'm thinking it's fair and it's time to pull the trigger. What are you folks thinking? Know any body shops in/around Los Angeles that can do better? It will not be a show car, but it's going to be a good looking straight ride with a 2 stage paint job.

Brief synopsis of trouble spots on the car: Passenger side quarter has rust hole behind wheel and large dent near door. Passenger side fender has large dent. Bubbling in front of rear wheels on both sides. Car used to have a vinyl top, so the gap where the roof is welded to the body would need to be filled. Whole car needs to be stripped.

Please see my member restorations thread for more detailed images of the currect condition of the car: http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?p=1781103

What I want her to look like:

What she currently looks like:

 

[cudacrazy67]

If that price is painting the truck and all the jambs, I would say go for it. Mho

 

[Dubob]

The 4000 sounds like a fair deal. I've had quotes from 5000 up here in Ohio. My advice is if the shop does the body and paint make sure everything is in writing on what they will and won't do. Also set a Time line on when what will be done. Do not pay everything up front either. Sometimes shops get in the rut of telling you one thing and doing another. Set it where you pay like a quarter up front a quarter a week or two in and so on. Don't know much about Maaco being your in an area with more options the work may be better. The only other thing I can think of is to make sure the quotes include materials etc.

 

[Ben440ny]

Thank you for your advice Chrysler bretheren. The car is in the body shop! I'll be snapping pics throughout the restoration so feel free to check out my member restorations thread!

 

[72bluNblu]

$4 to $5k is not at all out of line for a decent paint job. It might be a GREAT price depending on what you're getting. Show quality paint jobs often start at $10k and go up.

Biggest thing that I would recommend is looking at the shops previous jobs and talking to former customers. It's not hard to make brand new paint look good, the real test of the shop is if it still looks good in a few years. Go look at other cars they've painted, talk to their customers. Any decent shop should be able to put you in touch with a few happy customers.

For example, the paint on my Challenger looked pretty good when I bought it. 4 years later the clear coat has almost entirely peeled of, and the color isn't far behind.