Had my truck for 5 years now and for the past 2 it's needed to be fixed up and painted. I can't believe the prices i'm getting but all 4 quotes come in around the same so i guess it's not one person trying to take me. I've got an 02 quad cab and i've decied since my fenders have some rust on them i'm putting a good rust free set of southern fenders on it, my door has been doughed up from being hit so a southern door and the one box side is getting a bit thick on the lip and a few blisters so i've decided to put a southern box on it too. Drivers rocker being replaced and the rest of the truck is ok to use existing panels. Hopefully I can recoup some of my costs by selling my stuff i take off because it's really not that bad, i just am fixing this up to keep and figure do it right with good rust free parts and hopefully it will last. I'm looking at about 7 grand which i can't believe i'm spending, thought of selling as is and going for something else, but around here if i sold and added the money i'm soaking into mine, I still end up with an older truck with about 200k on it and have no idea what the driveline is like. Having a kind of sick feeling in my guts over it but I guess once it's done and paid back, i'll like the truck alot more, and I know what I have. Many others on here sink that kind of money in a body job? maybe that's a going rate now days for a good job, idk:shrug:

Was that price for all the sheet metal as well? Are they sanding the old paint and repriming it? Look at it in the sense that you are saving $33,000+ if you were to purchase a 2010! Seriously, if you know your drivetrain is in good shape I myself wouldn't be afraid to sink that amount of money in my truck if I was doing what your doing! Good luck with the repaint.

Yea, i'm looking at about $4000-$4500 for the body job, about $3000-$3500 by the time I buy the body parts and odds and ends like grill, bumper etc. One body shop put it to me like this,he had a 2008 sitting there of his own, he said look at it this way, what he paid in a year or two for intrest payments is probably paying for the body work on mine. Southern parts up here in Canada can be pricy for rust free, but I guess you get what you pay for right :thumbup2:BTW gassernomore, I have a used drivers door I can sell you to fix that one on your truck..looks like you need one

BTW gassernomore, I have a used drivers door I can sell you to fix that one on your truck..looks like you need one

Appreciate the offer, but, that was 2 years ago! Had to get it fixed. The door wouldn't close without wrecking the fender.

Tell you the truth you not doing to bad for use metal and a paint job really... For $4,200 it cost my insurance to fix my truck your doing good... I felt really bad when I pull a small tree over on my truck wiping the passenger mirror off, breaking the windshield, denting the top forward corner of the main door, denting the rear quad door, and littering the roof and hood with dents from pine cone fall out. http://forum.mopar1973man.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=226 http://forum.mopar1973man.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=227 I've done this a million time before with good results but this time the tree got revenge on the Cummins! So Really I think you doing good for the price...

Your truck original paint MoparMan? Other than the big wow in the quad door it looks pretty straight . You do your own body work?

If you really like your truck and plan to keep it for several years to come, I wouldn't hesitate biting the bullet. I had an '01 crew cab 7.3l that I sold last year and took it in for a quote for what I thought was fairly minor work; ie: small flaked-off paint chips around the bottom corner of all four windows, some stone chips due to a set of 37 inch Toyos, and small paint chip 1 inch in diameter on the bed, and several small dents on both sides of the roof where the previous owner had a ladder rack installed. Both body shops quoted me in the range of $2,500. A guy that was a friend of a friend and a professional painter offered to paint the whole truck for the same price on his own time in his personal shop. But I ended up passing and sold it instead to buy a Cummins.

That's the only reason i'm dumping this much money into it because i'd like to keep it another 5-7 years, or until it starts giving me just to much trouble

I don't blame you. I have some slight paint work I gotta have done on the bottom of the driver and passenger side doors where the paint has bubbled a little bit. But I don't plan on getting rid of this truck any time soon.On a side note, it' definitely worth paying more from a reputable paint shop for a quality job. I had a '99 F350 for a while that the previous owner had painted sun burst orange. It was a cheap job done by a buddy of his. And while it looked great from 10 feet away, up close you could fine quite a few flaws. There was a paint drip on the corner of the bed about 1 inch long, a bubble on the tail gate and some imperfections around the door handles and windows. They also didn't bother to paint the door jams; they were still black on the inside.:banghead:

I'd bite the bullet and I hope this makes you feel better I need about that for my body work minus the rocker panel and I'm repairing my bed but the entire truck will need to be repainted and in my opinion body work is an easy place to save a couple hundred bucks for example I am quite good friends with my body man that runs a profesional shop and he's always willing to work with me if money is tight and talk to them if you can get and install and gap your fender properly which I am doing and since the entire truck needs to be painted the said put them on and it'll save you between 100 and 500 dollars in labor he said if you go that route linex or due some sort of rust preventer on the inside whether it be new or used that is where the rust starts. Also because you are using used part I would go that route to insure that the fender is of good quality and wolnt start rusting inside out now to make you feel better with my body work and the both diff and the tranny needing a freshen up I'm looking at between 9-12 thousand but I dont care that I have to spend it because I would rather have an old truck that I can fix versus a new computrized one I cant and as I say to everone driveing new truck or chevys/fords it may be a little rusty a little dusty but theres nothing more trusty than my old girl, its an auto has been running with out second gear for 12k miles (found that out yesterday :banghead:) and its about time for the rebuild but it just keeps on trucking

I'm bought all original equipment southern parts for it this week, two fenders, door and box and may get a hood if my body guy feels I should (little edge rust on mine). All the parts are totally rust free and have never been worked at so I think i'm off to a good start. Gonna put my box and fenders for sale locally to try and recoup some of my money. Once painted I will be undercoating the backside of the fenders before i put them on, box will be flipped up on it's end so i can get at the whole underside to load the undercoating to it, and also the rest of the panels will get done too. Droped $2500 so far on parts but i'd rather buy good straight rust free panels then fix mine and end up paying probably just as much for someone to fix the rust. Getting anxious to get it done but wont be going in until mid may. Also finally going to get a set of tow mirrors after saying i should have them for 4 years now . Now just to pick out my color:shrug:. I believe it's the garnet red now, would like to get something with a little more shine to it without going to reddish.

Sounds like you got a stout plan and I hope it goes well for you and I may sugest a maroon with a candy red clear its about 10-15 percent more for the clear but it looks awsome dont take my word for it though when I cant even decide what color to paint mine, silver is just to borring lol mine may get that treatment and use the silver as a base its another sweet one but its close to fire engine red though...

Well, my box and talilgate have been done for a week or so now, and i was down to the shop this morning and he's painting the rest of the cab today. He did the jams, inner fenders and everything Monday and then put the doors and fenders back on, now he'll do the rest. Anxious to get it back, but the most awaited thing is bolting on my new tow mirrors , been saying for 5 years i was going to get them , can't wait to see them puppies sticking off like a sore thumb!

That thing is gonna look brand new! Get some pics up of the completed beast! For some reason I really like your house too, can't put my finger on it

Thanks, but that's not my house...it belongs to the guy that owns the body shop. This is my house (only had a winter shot on my computer)

Dangg yours is awesome too! What is with canadian houses! Must be something about the coldness that makes them look neat

Sorry if i'm boring you guys with the pictures, kind of excited about the ol truck though . Went down today and started undercoating it, bringing it home Friday and will get the windshield put back in then. Doesn't look that great now with the old rims and no bumpers, but she's coming along. Speaking of bumpers, bought a brand new back one from Mopar yesterday, got home and took it out of the box and unwrapped it, had a dent in it! Now i'm waiting for another one to come:rolleyes: Don't ya just love the look of the big bat ears sticking off of it

My new decal (back bumper on order )

I wouldn't even drive that thing Go get a ford or something, garage the dodge and just go out when your stressed and stare at it lol. Then you can sit there going *some day, I will break the beast out and remember everything we have been through* That's how it was with me when I had my ford and dodge both licensed all summer. I would go a few weeks driving the ford, get in the dodge and drive it and remember how much power it has. The 2 trucks were sooo different though. Eh, I'm rambling..Absolutely incredible paint job!

Once long ago my truck looked like that with only 24 miles on the odometer... But after 171K miles and one tree hitting the truck she not a well perfect condition... But I do have to admit they are doing a awesome job on the paint... The part I like about my truck now its got a few paint chips, a few small dings, and still shines up awesome but you can still work with it without total panic...

The part I like about my truck now its got a few paint chips, a few small dings, and still shines up awesome but you can still work with it without total panic...

Agreed ! When the novelty of new paint wears off and I get some dings and scratches, i'll use it like a truck again

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BTW, any of you notice in my tailgate picture how the trailer hitch is off center of the truck ? I went to a machine shop to get it straightened and the machinist said he thought it's suppose to be that way and he pointed over to his Dodge Ram, exact same thing Any ideas why ?