Advice needed

[carson]

Hi all,
I need some advice to move forward. I recently got my car back from media blasting, and while I am not overly surprised, it's worse than I thought.

From what I can tell, it needs
the full passenger quarter, and maybe the drivers.
roof skin with drip rails
rear trunk filler panel
deck lid
passenger door skin
tail panel
upper dash
both tulip panels
full floor?




I need some input from people that know more than me on how best to proceed. I am no body man by any means and the idea of tacking this level of repair is pretty daunting to me. I see that the Dynacorn are $13.5K and come with doors and truck lid, this seems like it would be a cheaper/faster route than sentencing the car to either body shop jail for years, or having me hack at it until it is minimally acceptable. What level of quality are these bodies? Can I just swap my VIN/body tags over?

I am also a little afraid of the squareness of the whole body after seeing the floor pan around the transmission tunnel. Are there any known points that can be measured to confirm square, or should I just pick some repeatable locations?

Thank you all in advance for your help.
Pictures:
IMG_0191 by Carson Brantley, on Flickr[/IMG]
IMG_0186 by Carson Brantley, on Flickr
.IMG_9395 by Carson Brantley, on Flickr
IMG_9399 by Carson Brantley, on Flickr
IMG_9405 by Carson Brantley, on Flickr
IMG_9412 by Carson Brantley, on Flickr
IMG_9414 by Carson Brantley, on Flickr
IMG_9418 by Carson Brantley, on Flickr
IMG_9419 by Carson Brantley, on Flickr

[Musclerodz]

Legally you can't move a VIN unless you want an unpaid vacation in a 6x9 room with 3 square meals and medical. Dynacorn bodies require alot of fitment to be representable at best. I suggest calling the AMD center and let them get your body sorted out.

[Gmachine1911]

I agree, I think you’ll truly be money ahead to replace the panels on your car. On my 67 Nova project I literally replaced every piece of metal except the dash panel, inner roof structure and one inner quarter structure and by the time it was done, I had basically the same amount in the car as a new body would’ve cost. I was able to do the work myself (which helped immensely) but still paid to have the car checked on a frame table and gapped properly. This can easily be several thousand dollars in addition to the cost of the body. While you may be overwhelmed, your car doesn’t look nearly as bad as mine did, if that’s any consolation, lol. The work you need done is something most of the cars on here get and any reputable shop should be able to give you a fairly accurate estimate. Just don’t go cheap on the work or who does it, this is the foundation of your build and it’s cheaper to have it done right the first time. Keep your chin up, you’ll be fine!

[Ketzer]

Originally Posted by Musclerodz

..... I suggest calling the AMD center and let them get your body sorted out.

^^ THIS ^^

Don't make the mistake of taking it to a buddy's collision shop because he's giving you a deal and will work on it "when he can"...


Jeff-

[carson]

Made an, at least temporary, decision to try to repair as much as I can myself. Starting with the cheaper and less visible areas. We'll see how it goes.

Wish me luck...

As I progress I'm sure I will have a lot more questions about my process, and about a body jig.

If/when I get in over my head, I will definitely look into the AMD installation center.

Thank you all for your input.