Body work NEED HELP!
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Freshman User
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 27
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From: Paducah, KY
Body work NEED HELP!
i have a 1978 f-250 custom, and it is in excellent mechanical condition. it wouldnt bother me to hop in her and drive to california right now. However the body's seen its better days. The guy that had it before me bought it new in 1978 and had the body redone about 10 years ago, downside is he used bondo. now the trucks getting rough again and i was wondering if anybody had restored one of these trucks recently, and about how much it would cost to have 2 front quarters and 2 rear bedsides replaced with a paint job.
Moderator & parts slinger
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 50,243
Likes: 5,811
From: S/W Missouri, Polk county
All depends on the body shop, finding a good one it the hard part. Call around to any local car clubs/auto parts stores to get the low down on any locals shops that are worthy.
Complete bed sides are $$, just so you know.
And welcome to FTE, ah Paducah Ky, I have drove thru there alot of times going from Ft Campbell to Missouri back in the day.
Complete bed sides are $$, just so you know.
And welcome to FTE, ah Paducah Ky, I have drove thru there alot of times going from Ft Campbell to Missouri back in the day.
Thread Starter
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Freshman User
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 27
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From: Paducah, KY
Thanks! i guess i should have specified it doesnt need entire bedsides, just the outside skin, which i checked on lmc truck is around $250 a piece. And of my friends dad runs a resto shop out of paducah and he's made some great looking cars and trucks, i'll see if he can give me an estimate on it....and i've actually been down around south west missouri a lot myself, My grandparents live in the branson area
Hotshot
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 14,333
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From: Stanley, VA
For a good paint job (not great or fantastic) with the amount of body work involved, I'm going to say $6-7,000.
Inexpensive paint is around $150.00 a gallon, top quality paint (PPG) is around $475.00 a gallon.
And to think, when I was a kid, there was a place I used to see advertising on TV all the time for a $49.95 paint job, red was extra, so was masking
! Seriously, they used some kind of powder that was sprayed over the chrome and glass. If you wanted it actually masked, that was additional.
Inexpensive paint is around $150.00 a gallon, top quality paint (PPG) is around $475.00 a gallon.
And to think, when I was a kid, there was a place I used to see advertising on TV all the time for a $49.95 paint job, red was extra, so was masking
! Seriously, they used some kind of powder that was sprayed over the chrome and glass. If you wanted it actually masked, that was additional.
Thread Starter
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Freshman User
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 27
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From: Paducah, KY
well hopefully it wont cost quite that much. I can weld the new body panels in place myself and get them prepped for some paint. Maybe that will make a good dent in what a paint shop will charge
Hotshot
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 14,333
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From: Stanley, VA
Yeah, that will definitely bring the cost way down. The more work that you're capable of doing yourself, the more you'll save.
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Hotshot
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 14,333
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From: Stanley, VA
The one I was thinking of was a local outfit called "Johnnie & Mack". They were in Miami, Fl. on NW 36th Street, just east of the railroad tracks at 37th Avenue. Their advertising slogan was "Johnnie and Mack, by the railroad tracks. The world's largest and that's a fact". Yeah, it was way corny and I doubt that it was true, but it was catchy. I still remember it 50+ years later.
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Senior User
Joined: Jan 2013
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From: West Valley City Ut
It can vary greatly. Just to repair the rust on two doors and above the windshield and a spot on the bed netted me quotes from $1500.00 to 8k and some shops wouldn't even work on old vehicles for fear of the work being more than they could handle, or more like more than they thought I would pay.
Get lots of quotes.
Get lots of quotes.
Post Fiend
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 5,037
Likes: 9
From: Kasson, Minnesota
More and more body shops are shying away from any type of rust repair and if they do give an estimate, it is very high Cruz they don't want to do it. I can see someone's leariness of working on these old vehicles for the smear fact there can be some hidden things and what was supposed to be a small repair turns into something far more. I found that out on my 75supercab. What I thought was surface rust on cab corners was rust pin holes so it turned into entire corners replaced. Plus, body work can be tedious work and labor intensive and many times shops don't have the time to be wasting on long drawn out body work. They need jobs to be in and out. That is why I am trying to teach myself so when I want to have projects or fix something I can do that without breaking my bank. I learned that on my 77.
Senior User
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 218
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From: Colorado
I am collecting parts to get ready for my paint job . I had two fenders worked on off the truck .$ 300 a piece painted .They look good . I wasn't planning on that degree of finish , but oh well , in for a dime in for a dollar . I am sure some of you know how that goes .So I am figuring around $300 per piece paint and labor to get it to looking the way I want . I am squirreling away parts . At this rate it will be a few years .