You are ready to dive into that vintage car restoration project, and body work is not your specialty so off your classic car goes to the restoration shop for an estimate to recondition the body. Looking at it; how do you know how much car bodywork it needs.
That brings us back to Mr. X’s restoration shop, and a restoration project on a 70’s Chevelle brought in by Mr. J. The Chevelle was an older restoration with a motor upgrade and in the condition of a decent weekend driver. Mr. J now wants to turn his classic car into a pro-touring type project with a new chassis and a LS motor. Well Mr. X now sees dollar signs with deep pockets for a long-term restoration, and with many upgrades.
Mr. J brings the car top the shop and Mr. X quickly sells Mr. J on major metal work without even getting the car on the lift. How could this be? Well some very convincing dialog along with pointing out some of the imperfections in the paint sold Mr. J on the work.
Removing and replacing body panels is both very time consuming and expensive to undertake so before going down this road everyone needs to be comfortable that is the right approach. The only way to really know is disassembly and paint removal to see what the underlying metal condition truly is.
Let us look at why what you see from the outside may not be the reality under the paint; for better or worse.
As you can see the quarter panels on Mr. J’s Chevelle do not need to be replaced, but simply some cutting of rusted spots and new metal panels.
If these areas were severely rusted or the dent damage was beyond repairs, then quarter panels may be required as aftermarket metal is usually not as the original.
Roof panels can require replacement, but only do so under the most severe conditions for a vintage car as this is serious structural work. As you can see M J’s Chevelle did not need a new roof.
Also be incredibly careful on the use of plastic filler vs lead filler on these panel seams as many shops are not capable of lead work. The bondo or plastic filler will crack over time as the body flexes on these seams.
Next are the floors and trunk which are more complicated, but once visible from both the underside and inside the classic car the damage can be easily assessed.
The reality is that unrestored or older restoration vintage cars typically do have rust and body damage, but the amount of damage is really not known until the car is stripped down to bare metal to see what you are really dealing with.
Would you trust a refrigerator repair man who come to fix your not working fridge, and without opening the door or taking a panel off he tells you that you need a new compressor and seals?
I do not think so; so the same is true in the restoration process; the shop can give you some ideas from the conditions that are evident from a simple inspection, but do not buy in on the major work until you can see the whole picture of the car bodywork.
You may or may not like what you see, but at least you will know the extent of the car bodywork before dropping big bucks on work you may not need; as you will have plenty of opportunity to spend your money on your classic car.
