How is the market in your area for used? Here a good used door is about $50, what is your time or shop time worth? Even a door from another state is pretty easy to ship on Greyhound.
How is the market in your area for used? Here a good used door is about $50, what is your time or shop time worth? Even a door from another state is pretty easy to ship on Greyhound.
I dont have any kind of a quote. I will look around for used doors. If they're only $50 I might have to go that route.
What do you figure is a good estimate on these repairs?
When I was running a body shop I'd fire a guy who couldn't make that look and fit like new in less than a day's time. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
At today’s body shop rates $1000 won’t even get the dents pulled and the rust cut out. Triple your figure if you don’t want them to try to match the paint. Also, do not make the mistake of telling the Body Shop that you’re not in any hurry. If you do, your project gets put in the back corner of the shop and only gets touched when the payroll jobs slow down. Tell them you want it in the regular rotation then stop by often to check. They need to know you are serious. If you notice they are not working on it, do not hesitate to have a heart to heart with the shop owner. BTW my opinion comes from direct conversations with 3 different body shop owners. It is just that, my opinion, and I’m intitled to it.
Martin '62 Chevy C-10 Stepside Shortbed (Restomod in progress) '47 Chevy 3100 5 Window (long term project) ‘65 Chevy Biscayne (Emily) ‘39 Dodge Business Coupe (Clarence) “I fought the law and the law won" now I are a retired one! Support those brave men/women who stand the "Thin Blue Line"! Hug a cop! USAF 1965-1969 Weather Observation Tech (I got paid to look at the clouds)
My work ethic and guesstimates of cost are way out of date. That's why I quit the body business 30-something years ago and went to mechanical, racing and engine restoration work. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
Thanks for the input and estimates guys. I am actually terrified of body work because I know exactly nothing about it or how to do it, so I am really worried that I am going to get taken advantage of.
hi Spartan, if you are likely going to replace the door eventually, then you have nearly nothing to lose by trying to patch it up yourself.
i also don't know anything about body work, but i do have a old mig welder and the cheapest roll of flux core wire money can buy as long as the mice can't get into the cab right? and it keeps the mud from hitting your face when you go through big puddles
i attached a few photos, front of the box getting a new bottom, driver door edge rotted out, so got to put some less rusted metal into that hole... it's all about finding the right scrap in the metal junk pile, safety guards from old equipment is a plentiful source of varying thicknesses of sheet metal
grinding and paint make me the welder i ain't -stan
Agree with Stan. Patch the fender yourself and leave the door. It's a tow truck! Worry about mechanicals. Nothing in your pics is major. You are going to get upside down with this truck. It is a single use, not many buyers truck. Not a daily driver. Expensive tires and hard to find parts. It is rare and nice to look at. Maybe somewhat useful on a ranch or farm. 1000's for body work is not good money management in this case. Your truck, my opinion. Trying to be honest with respect.
So what is the serial number???????????????????????? Also on 62 and newer 409 passenger car motors, there is an "X" cast into front of block. Driver side. Upper left of driver side water pump hole. As my Vietnamese friend used to say "what the heck going on?"
Right is right, even if everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it. - William Penn
Agree with Stan. Patch the fender yourself and leave the door. It's a tow truck! Worry about mechanicals. Nothing in your pics is major. You are going to get upside down with this truck. It is a single use, not many buyers truck. Not a daily driver. Expensive tires and hard to find parts. It is rare and nice to look at. Maybe somewhat useful on a ranch or farm. 1000's for body work is not good money management in this case. Your truck, my opinion. Trying to be honest with respect.
So what is the serial number???????????????????????? Also on 62 and newer 409 passenger car motors, there is an "X" cast into front of block. Driver side. Upper left of driver side water pump hole. As my Vietnamese friend used to say "what the heck going on?"
SORRY. I Can't get to the serial area. It's under the air compressor. I'll try and pull it off tomorrow afternoon and see. But it appears to be a standard height deck based off what I heard about the water pump bolts.
No need to be terrified of body work! Or mechanical work. Or whatever. Everyone on this web site, in fact everyone in this world started out not knowing how to do anything. And either someone taught us or we taught ourselves how to do the work we do. So, ask questions, gain a comfort level, and dive in. Google stuff and watch video's. You'll either learn that you did it right the first time, you need to change things for the next time, or that you'll never want to do it again and will pay someone else to do it for you. Just understand that people have been doing this type of work since before the automobile came along. If people in the 1800's could do this type of work with the type of tools they had available to them back then, someone in the 2019's should be able to do it with the type of tools that are available to them now. Imagine what the future will bring! Just don't get trapped in the idea that buying a certain tool will do all the work for you. This stuff still requires a lot of human input. And notice that nowhere did I say it will be easy. It might or might not be.
Good advice Martin. I have been intimidated by body and fender work for too long. A couple years ago, I became intimate with a hammer and dolly. Next with a DA and sand paper and filler. Then went to work on the paint and did it all myself. It all turned out better than if I would of hired it done and cost only materials. One has to feel uncomfortable with this kind of work, educate oneself then challenge oneself. Prepare to fail then overcome the failure and continue on, then in about two years, you will be able to roll out your pride and joy that you created, not your check book. Now I'm a backyard mechanic and body man, painter and welder. The only thing I didn't do on my 53 was rebuild the speedometer. If you have patience and you are willing to learn and fall down a couple times then get up, you can do it. The lion share of us on the stovebolt are self made do it your-selfers, and I might add, some darn good work gets done here, just look around. My 53 wears all its own sheet metal, it had its share of dents especially at the back of the cab just above the front bed panel. You Tube is your friend, spend a few evenings and watch others and learn, even the worst examples you can learn what not to do. I might also add, that I have been on many other forums and the advice you get here is from a somewhat older bunch, that has been there and done it. They know what works and what doesn't and usually the advice sets the person straight, if not some good banter will ensue.
Steve
Last edited by sstock; 03/03/201912:05 AM.
1953 Chevrolet 3100 261 cu inch, sm420, 3.55 rear, torque tube still,omaha orange, still 6 volt, RPO green glass, side carrier spare, all done In the DITY Gallery Video of the 261 running
1964 GMC 1000 305 Big Block V6, sm420, the next cab off restoration
I'm actually a great welder. I can literally TIG weld a pop can back together. the welding isn't what scares me. Its the cutting out and bending metal to match the lines. I know that I am capable and have the skills, Im just worried that I am going to make it worse than it was before. I understand that its a silly fear but its hard to get over. Once you start cutting its hard to go back.
And dent pulling freaks me out too haha. The welding on studs and knocking it out with a slide hammer or something. I've seen it done on a couple you tube videos but I havent tried it yet.
Until it gets stretched, torn, or beaten to a bloody pulp, body metal has a "memory". It really wants to go back to the shape it was stamped out to be at the factory, so a good body man just helps that happen. That usually means you need to work slowly and carefully, and resist the urge to pound away with a BFH. Fortunately, the mild steel these old trucks were made of can handle quite a bit of massaging to get it back into shape, and a good metalsmith will only need to use very little body filler, if any at all, to finish things out. Newer, thinner body metal with more modern alloys doesn't work so well when trying to bump dents out. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
