Need recommendations on a body shop

[xdrakk]

Hi everyone!

I am currently restoring a 72 duster with my father. He is the only owner, and we are doing it as a joint project. We have the car all stripped down to nothing. It is ready to be blasted, have new panels put on, and then go to paint. I have all ready purchased all the new panels that should be needed according to the body guy I was working with.

I think eventually, I want to learn how to do body work, but this car is not the time for me to be learning on. I will buy something else later on to practice on.

I have never done a complete restoration so I have a few questions for the more experienced out there. The person that was going to do all my body work and paint is incredibly talented, but he backed out due to not having the time. I need to find someone or a shop that does quality work. Here are my questions:

1. From what I understand, it is better to have some of the smaller parts of the car dipped as a means of stripping, such as the hood, deck lid, fenders, and doors. The rest of the car should be blasted, but what type of blasting? I have read all kinds of things about different types of media, and I am not for sure what I should do for the car. Thoughts? Also, if anyone has any recommendations for anyone that can do stripping in central Indiana, those would be most welcome.

2. Since my body guy backed out, I need someone or some shop around central Indiana area that does really nice work for a decent price. I know that body work can get expensive, but what should I expect to pay for a quality job? From what I understand, you can kind of spend as much money as you want to on paint. I was expecting anywhere between 6k and 8k or so for a nice job as we are not needing anything special / custom.

As far as the paint job, we are just going with the factory color. It is Hemi Orange. I believe on the 72 dusters, that color was called Tor Red from what I have been reading. We will want the stripe kit put on and all of that. Maybe a bit of fleck in the orange, but we are undecided on that.

Any advice would be appreciated, and especially any recommendations on individuals or shops that do quality work in central Indiana would be so much appreciated. We had to wait 3 months for my body guy to back out, so we are anxious to get the car off on its way to getting stripped and ready for paint.

Sorry for the wall of text

Thanks!

 

[383Scampman]

Question #1. Blasting comes in many forms. To remove paint you can use : water, plastic, walnut shells, glass media. These will NOT remove rust. "Black Beauty", which is a pumice based product removes everything. A trained tech needs to be employed because heat buildup can and will warp panels. Caustic dipping also removes everything. Caution here, make sure it is well neutralized or it will keep on removing metal and bleed all over your car. You live in Indiana. there are plenty of rust removal places locally. I recommend either building or buying a rottesarie for your project to do the underside. You can always sell it afterwards for the price you paid for it. Question #2 Seek out and interview restoration shops for your project. Do NOT use collision shops. They cannot take the time necessary to do a quality job on your project. Do not cheap out on this. You will regret it later. The paint and materials for my Scamp came to almost $3k. I had a basecoat/clear coat with stripe. The stripe (paint not decal) was buried in clear. Remember: the shop you choose has to do body work, rust repair, prep, seal,prime, block, prime, sand, paint,clear, cut and buff. Insist on a signed contract stating shops exact services provided, level of craftsmanship and cost AND completion date. Question #3 (I think) Torred and Hemi Orange are NOT the same color. Torred is red and Hemi Orange is orange. There are 2 (two) forms of Hemi Orange. One is straight Hemi Orange and the other is the Hemi Orange used on Superbirds. Which is Hemi Orange with metallic in it. Looks killer in the sun. Good luck and keep us posted on the progress. You can PM me if you like. Be patient, it's a long journey. I've been doing this for 40 years, later

 

[sscuda]

I agree totally with all the comments above......... well said 383Scampman

And to add , please stay away from the "backyard body and paint experts". They may think they are all that but the majority won't meet your expectations. There's a few people on this site that learned that lesson the hard way, don't be one of them.

I've been doing this a little longer than 383 Scampman

 

[2 Darts]

Hi everyone!

As far as the paint job, we are just going with the factory color. It is Hemi Orange. I believe on the 72 dusters, that color was called Tor Red from what I have been reading. We will want the stripe kit put on and all of that. Maybe a bit of fleck in the orange, but we are undecided on that.

You don't need to guess on color. Unless the car has been completely stripped before a repaint, the underside of the transmission tunnel will have the true color. The other reliable places to find the original color of the car is the body tag and build sheet. I had a good experience taking the code I got off my '66 Dart GT and going to a PPG dealer. I really thought A3 silver was silver, not green. But it matched the paint I found on the underside of the car.

 

[prrc]

I will be happy to assist you with your project
I really don't promote my shop here very much. But I would be happy to give advice and or assit with your project.
I own Paradise Road Rod & Custom. We are located in indianapolis
Take a look at our Facebook page to see some of our projects and you always welcome to come by the shop to check it out.
Tim.