old junk vs. new junk

[bajabob]

I am sure I am not the first to deal with this but, just curious what others think.... I am trying really hard to stay away from the reproduction junk and save some good ol detroit steel, but I am not sure what it will take to save this fender. It did not look that bad with paint on it but once the paint came off it did not look any better.
She goes to the body shop tomorrow to see what they think.....

[OrrieG]

I have been fixing worse on mine because of the horror stories I've heard about fitment on repro parts. Good body man, or someone just starting out with patience, can take care of the bumps. The rust is patchable. Assuming it came off of your truck or one similar you know it is going to fit as well as they did at the factory.

[docrock]

that is a good amount of rust. never use repops unless you have no alternative...there terrible. An auto restoration show I watch said a very important thing about patching. "Dont look at all the holes and patches, concentrate on a small one, finish it and then move to the next one"

[bobinbc]

That old thing is definitely past the point of saving. I'll do you a favor and get rid of it in an environmentally sound manner, just send it on up to me....

that's British Columbia, not baja california by the way....

[63 & 64 Bowties]

Definitely a keeper. Dents or creases in body lines are the only issues that would make me throw one away. Your body lines look straight.

[Kim57]

Mine were a lot worse. I would try and save it if it is cost effective.
I took mine to a body man and he wanted close to a grand to straighten and patch just one. I ended up doing it myself. May not be as good as a pro but I'm satisfied and the money will buy something I really need.
Kim

[bajabob]

thanks guys for the input, I am working hard on trying to save the old stuff.

Kinda of a rookie question here but the body shop is getting close to finishing the cab and I have a set of doors that each one came from a different truck (along with the hinge mount rebuild). Should I fit the doors before paint or is this something that can be done once everything is painted ????

ps
I did a search on proper assembly process but could not find anything.

[OrrieG]

Fit before paint with the WS temporaily installed. Once you get the hinges set correctly drill 1/8" postioning holes in thru the hinge to door and cab. Depending on how picky you are you may need to add or remove material to get the gaps right, can't do that after paint. Same deal with the hood and fenders.

[floridasteve]

I learned to weld on similar parts. That is not a bad part at all. The real question is how much $$$ is a shop going to charge you to fix vs buying a repop? If you have the patience and a welder it is nothing to fix. Also, I am not a body guy and that does not scare me at all.

[bobinbc]

What he said, exactly.

By the way, I'm curious how much the body shop quotes you to fix this fender. I have several panels that if I'm lucky are the same but probably mostly worse. I will be tackling all reapairs myself but I understand that isn't practical or preferable for everyone.

Also, what kind of shop is it, full collision repair shop/insurance claims etc? Sometimes the best deal is from smaller one-man shops...

just sayin....

[tapeworm]

Originally Posted by bajabob

thanks guys for the input, I am working hard on trying to save the old stuff.

Kinda of a rookie question here but the body shop is getting close to finishing the cab and I have a set of doors that each one came from a different truck (along with the hinge mount rebuild). Should I fit the doors before paint or is this something that can be done once everything is painted ????

ps
I did a search on proper assembly process but could not find anything.

Just noticed this post-

Fit the doors before you paint-

nothing worse than a car with nice paint and horrible fitting panels.

This was fit before painting, and look at how nice everything fits

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=409784

[bajabob]

Thanks again for the responses.... as I stumble through this project, you guys are a ton of help.

Bob
The shop is a full on diesel truck/tractor repair shop with a paint and body guy thrown in. The paint and body guy has his own corner of the shop along with a full on paint booth. The shop is owned by a friend of mine and his painter works on my project in between the real paying customers. The shop has turned out some outstanding work in the past (thats how I found out about them). Paint and body work is not their major work and they do not always have a bunch of work for him so my project can keep this guy on the payroll at least for alittle while. I just wondered what others here thought about the amount of damage to these pieces. I will try to get some pictures of the fenders next week.

Tape
Your truck looks awhsome!!!! I hope mine turns out that nice. I did bring up the assembly question and the painter said he wanted to put everything together before paint. So that means I need to get busy on the frame and axles !!!!

He has the hood, firewall and the top of the cab ready to go. Doors and fenders are next.

[bajabob]

Tape
I hope your not offended by me giving you credit for a totally *****in truck !!! Sandfreak has a sweet ride also...... lol I still hope my comes out that nice.... still waffling on the color....
bb

[tapeworm]

Thats really not all that bad, imo anyways.

It may be a little pricey to have someone fix it for you

It looks straight, just rusty on the lip