How many hours does this take...

How many hours does this take... - 10/14/10 07:56 PM

My cuda has been epoxy primed and the shop needs to mock up the front end (install the fenders, doors, hood hinges, hood, header panel and front valence - basically all the front end sheet metal) since they have finished repairing some rust damage. They want to make sure that everything is aligned properly and the gaps are all good before moving on to the rear half of the car.

How many hours should I expect for this work?

Al

Posted By: ph23vo

Re: How many hours does this take... - 10/14/10 08:13 PM

about 4 hours dan

Posted By: gtx6970

Re: How many hours does this take... - 10/14/10 11:16 PM

to many variables to say with any certainty.

depends on how straight the chassis is,
depends on how good the replacement sheetmetal is,
depends on how much of a perfectionist either of you are

Posted By: otter440

Re: How many hours does this take... - 10/15/10 12:05 AM

I agree all depends on lots of variables.

Posted By: cudastruction

Re: How many hours does this take... - 10/15/10 12:16 AM

I guess I don't get it. How variable can the amount of hours be to hang doors, a hood, fenders and a valence. I understand getting all the gaps "perfect" is subjective but how variable can those hours possibly be?

Lets assume this...the rust damage has been cut out and repaired correctly and all body measurements are within 1/4" of factory specs. Does that reduce the "variables" and make this question a little more reasonable?

Posted By: domingo

Re: How many hours does this take... - 10/15/10 12:55 AM

4 hours should be plenty. If they know what they are doing as little as 1,5 to 2 hours between 2 guys.

Posted By: sixpackbee

Re: How many hours does this take... - 10/15/10 01:05 PM

There have been cars that took me 15 minutes to hang one door and an hour for the other side. I would say anywhere between 4 and 8 hours for me. I do work alone and am a perfectionist so the hours are more than some.

Posted By: RestoRick

Re: How many hours does this take... - 10/15/10 01:34 PM

And if you have some ill-fitting panels and are going for a "better than original" fitment that requires edge metalwork, you'll likely be on the high end of those hours or even more.

Posted By: anlauto

Re: How many hours does this take... - 10/15/10 01:45 PM

Quote:

I guess I don't get it. How variable can the amount of hours be to hang doors, a hood, fenders and a valence. I understand getting all the gaps "perfect" is subjective but how variable can those hours possibly be?

Lets assume this...the rust damage has been cut out and repaired correctly and all body measurements are within 1/4" of factory specs. Does that reduce the "variables" and make this question a little more reasonable?

I would guess you've never done this before?

I've spent half a day aligning the hood only to find out the front end was out of square....

I would say 8 hours if everything goes easy and the hydraulic power puller stays in the cabinet..

Posted By: Challenger 1

Re: How many hours does this take... - 10/15/10 01:48 PM

Quote:

Quote:

I guess I don't get it. How variable can the amount of hours be to hang doors, a hood, fenders and a valence. I understand getting all the gaps "perfect" is subjective but how variable can those hours possibly be?

Lets assume this...the rust damage has been cut out and repaired correctly and all body measurements are within 1/4" of factory specs. Does that reduce the "variables" and make this question a little more reasonable?

I would guess you've never done this before?

I've spent half a day aligning the hood only to find out the front end was out of square....

I would say 8 hours if everything goes easy and the hydraulic power pulley stays in the cabinet..

4 hours is on the low side, if 2 guys do it then 4 hours is 8 hours...

Posted By: domingo

Re: How many hours does this take... - 10/15/10 02:00 PM

That is right, like I said....in between 1,5 hours to 4 hours between 2 guys....its a 2 man job.

Like Rick said, if trying to get better than factory gaps, and then have to do tin work and stuff like that....forget it....it will be a lot more.

Posted By: jbc426

Re: How many hours does this take... - 10/15/10 05:21 PM

They also have to know to start i.e. aligning the rear of the doors to the front of the quarters and work forward. Mine were original pieces and it still took about 12 hours to align the doors and front-end. It came out much better than the factory alignment though....

Attached picture 6251867-IMG_1037(Large).jpg

Attached picture 6251867-IMG_1037(Large).jpg

Posted By: chargervert

Re: How many hours does this take... - 10/15/10 05:46 PM

It sounds like you have a shop that is doing things the right way. Unless they charge you some crazy amount of money. Tell the shop that you want to be notified if they think the job will take more than 4-6 hours. If they are having issues aligning the panels,you want to be informed. I will tell you that 70 - 74 Cuda's are more differcult to align the nose on than a Challenger is,due to the headder panel. The fenders and headder panel all have to fit as a unit,and the hood has to jive with all three peices. The Challenger gives you more play to move the fenders and hood around.

Posted By: anlauto

Re: How many hours does this take... - 10/15/10 05:54 PM

Quote:

I will tell you that 70 - 74 Cuda's are more differcult to align the nose on than a Challenger is,due to the headder panel. The fenders and headder panel all have to fit as a unit,and the hood has to jive with all three peices. The Challenger gives you more play to move the fenders and hood around.

Amen brother...ain't that the truth

Posted By: cudastruction

Re: How many hours does this take... - 10/15/10 06:52 PM

Thanks for the replies. I don't have experience with this so I wanted some knowledge.

Here is another...(again assume the measurements are within 1/4" factory specs. The car is in a rack and all squared up)

How many hours to install the front section of the floor pan (welding in place). The replacement is already sitting in place and has been tweaked and trimmed. There may need additional tweaks but it is sitting in place and has already been welded to the front subframe just not the rockers, firewall and floor support brackets off the rockers.

Al

Posted By: domingo

Re: How many hours does this take... - 10/16/10 04:08 AM

Not being able to see it exactly, Id say its a one man job....about 4 hours??? seems the hard part is all done already!!!

Posted By: smac77

Re: How many hours does this take... - 10/17/10 08:18 PM

This is an easy one to answer.... it'll take anywhere between one hour with two guys if everything lines up bang on first shot with zero adjustments...(not very likely) to one hundred hours (or more)if the guys welded the car together improperly without fitting all the stuff first, and it all needs to be redone.... don't laugh, I'm fixing someone else's night-mare right now in my shop. The previous "shop" did the back end of the car so poorly, they cut a 2" inch section out of the valance to try and get it to fit between the new 1'4's they put on crooked... needless to say, all of the work this shop did is now sitting out back in my scrap metal pile...

My point is... it just takes the time it takes to do it right... and no offence to anyone who's tried to throw in their

on this but,none of us knows how much rust repair work has been done, or the skill of the guys who did it. The correct answer can only come from the guys working on it...

Posted By: elitecustombody

Re: How many hours does this take... - 10/18/10 01:55 PM

Why didn't they fit all the panels before epoxy?

As it's been said, there are too may variables with the lack of details presented.

It would be 2-4 hours for one man if the sheetmetal had perfect gaps and fitment before tearing it apart.

Posted By: domingo

Re: How many hours does this take... - 10/18/10 03:39 PM

Thats right. Its a 4 hour 1 man job if the provious work was done right. If it wasnt it will be even more work than if nothing had been done at all.

Really, like a previous poster said, it takes what it takes. Its very hard to estimate labour times on a restoration. There are many variables and you cant really tell how much time will it take till your are done doing what you had to do. Maybe you take a floor pan out and you find there was hidden rust....then your estimates are all wrong.

Posted By: Silver70

Re: How many hours does this take... - 10/18/10 05:57 PM

Quote:

Why didn't they fit all the panels before epoxy?

Not sure why your asking, but the reason I would epoxy the parts first is so there wouldn't get rusty from handling them or sitting. When I striped a panel, blast and strip, either/both its epoxied right away. I do my body work over it also.

Posted By: Anonymous

Re: How many hours does this take... - 10/18/10 09:47 PM

I've spent half a day aligning fenders, tweaking, shimmig etc. but I'm an amateur.

I can't imagine having the time constraint of doing it on the factory assembly line. Maybe that's why the cars looked so bad originally?!? I know my '71 Cuda had never been apart and was original paint. The drivers fender fit like $&^%!