When I first bought the Dart ... Oh man... SIX YEARS AGO, she looked like this -
Wrong stripe, and some weird defects with the paint around the gas cap. The rest of the paint job was also sloppy - the prep work was bad - they painted over DIRT in some places. It's not a concours car, but that's OK. However, the defects here are glaring and needed attention.
I brought it to a shop - he promised me 2-3 week turn around... and he delivered!
Removing the side trim identified what actually happened. The yokel who painted it before didn't remove the side trim, and masked / painted around it. This caused a hard edge that allowed gas to get under the paint layer when the gas pump didn't click off. (I've since found out that the Dart prefers that you hold the gas nozzle up and in while you're filling it if you want the auto-shutoff to work.)
The plan was to re-shoot part of the driver's side quarter panel, and the edges / lock area of the trunk lid. Again, poor decisions and masking off the lock cylinder versus just removing it and spraying the paint properly caused paint failure.
He also had the windshield removed so we could install new glass and a new windshield gasket. I was leaking from the driver's side lower corner, and assumed it was just the age of the gasket, which looked original, even though the glass had been replaced at least once.
It was in FANTASTIC condition. He cleaned up the surface rust, treated it, and the windshield installer used proper "schmoo" with the gasket to seal it up. The installer is familiar with old-school installs so he knew what he was doing. When you see the condition of the windshield area in that nice of shape for a car that's documented 149K miles... it must have never sat outside in its life.
And here is the result -
$3950 all in with the windshield install (I provided all the parts, stripes, etc.) I tried to get him to buff out the rest of the car (he did a test panel on the passenger side rear quarter and it turned out well) but he was iffy with taking it on. At least I know the paint condition isn't awful and could possibly have a paint corrector give it a consistent sheen across the whole car. Any way you slice it, I'm super happy with the end result.
If you're in the Minneapolis area, look up Minnetonka Auto Body - he communicated well, the work was excellent, and he has a 1971 Roadrunner, so he knows how to work on a Mopar!
Wrong stripe, and some weird defects with the paint around the gas cap. The rest of the paint job was also sloppy - the prep work was bad - they painted over DIRT in some places. It's not a concours car, but that's OK. However, the defects here are glaring and needed attention.
I brought it to a shop - he promised me 2-3 week turn around... and he delivered!
Removing the side trim identified what actually happened. The yokel who painted it before didn't remove the side trim, and masked / painted around it. This caused a hard edge that allowed gas to get under the paint layer when the gas pump didn't click off. (I've since found out that the Dart prefers that you hold the gas nozzle up and in while you're filling it if you want the auto-shutoff to work.)
The plan was to re-shoot part of the driver's side quarter panel, and the edges / lock area of the trunk lid. Again, poor decisions and masking off the lock cylinder versus just removing it and spraying the paint properly caused paint failure.
He also had the windshield removed so we could install new glass and a new windshield gasket. I was leaking from the driver's side lower corner, and assumed it was just the age of the gasket, which looked original, even though the glass had been replaced at least once.
It was in FANTASTIC condition. He cleaned up the surface rust, treated it, and the windshield installer used proper "schmoo" with the gasket to seal it up. The installer is familiar with old-school installs so he knew what he was doing. When you see the condition of the windshield area in that nice of shape for a car that's documented 149K miles... it must have never sat outside in its life.
And here is the result -
$3950 all in with the windshield install (I provided all the parts, stripes, etc.) I tried to get him to buff out the rest of the car (he did a test panel on the passenger side rear quarter and it turned out well) but he was iffy with taking it on. At least I know the paint condition isn't awful and could possibly have a paint corrector give it a consistent sheen across the whole car. Any way you slice it, I'm super happy with the end result.
If you're in the Minneapolis area, look up Minnetonka Auto Body - he communicated well, the work was excellent, and he has a 1971 Roadrunner, so he knows how to work on a Mopar!
