68 Camaro Restoration Plan - Bodywork costs.

[CamaroDream68]

Hey everyone, I just bought a 1968 Camaro convertible. It been one of my dream cars to buy. The poor girl is in pretty rough shape but she's savable. From my initial looks at it, it needs a new floor and trunk pan. I'm assuming while I'm in there I'll discover she'll need at least the inner rockers. The front and rear frame rails look to be in surprisingly decent condition. I have NOS quarters, and a new mint condition hood from another 68. She has never been restored before. I'm a big car guy and have worked on almost all my own car projects but I have not done a lot of bodywork. This is the one area I'm thinking about sending it to a shop to get restored for. Any thoughts or experiences on what kind of costs this would take? I would have a shop replace the floor pan, trunk pan and likely the inner rockers.

Thanks

[bcmiller]

Following. 

Costs will vary a lot, depending on if you can find a shop and how busy they are.

You could build a body jig or use a rotisserie and do it yourself if you have enough space.  I see project photos of guys on Facebook that do things at home that are amazing. Basically rebuilding over 50 percent of the car. 

[CamaroDream68]

Thanks for the input. Yeah, I have seen the body jig and rotisserie. I know I could at the very least do a jig. Id have to measure out the garage to see if I could fit the rotisserie.  if I can, I'll probably try and price out some options. Such as pricing out the major body work to a shop vs the time and cost it would take me.  If I do it myself I'd really just want to make it fool proof, where I cant mess up the alignment of the car or pans, or prevent overheating the metal during welds etc.

[althomas55]

  I respect your desire to do this project ! I have done them , replaced every pc of sheet metal but the roof and firewall , not for the faint of heart !! If you're doing it yourself best have a good size garage for rolling things around and flipping over, a good mig welder, clamps and long reach vise grips ,metal fab and welding experience a couple years of spare time and lots of patience !! With shop rates at $ 100 plus an hour the  "normal" car guy can't afford much shop time and most body shops don't want restoration work and then you need to source a restoration shop for even more money ! Most projects sit in someone's shop for years before they come home ! If you can do the sheet metal , finish body work and paint is a small fortune today . I'm not happy that I'm old but most of my projects were done years ago when costs were a little more friendly. I think today I would seek out a decent driver for 25 or 30k while there still around vs doing a major resto but hey to each their own ,it's all in what you want and the time and effort to get there  , good luck with whatever you decide !!

[68 Ragtop]

The cost to pay a shop to do all the work will far exceed the value of the finished car, unless it's rare example. Thats why many projects are started and never finished, or an amateur restoration is performed.

Ask anyone who has tried it, and they will tell you to start with the best example you can find and not a need everything car.

[GMAD_Van Nuys]

When the tooling was being set-up at the Van Nuys Assembly Plant, they would bring in a surface plate to assure that the completed body met specifications:

http://www.camaros.org/assemblyprocess.shtml

I would recommend that a jig should be used when replacing structural sheet metal, especially when it is a convertible.

[68camaroz28]

Your 68 Convertible, is it an SS or any other tangible options other than a convertible? I ask that since it takes some skill to do what you need to do plus equipment and ability to weld. And as previously stated a convertible demands a good jig. Farming out that work will require a fair amount of labor hours along with part costs. Just be prepared on what the project is going to cost, and know both your short and long term goals/plans.
Good luck and take your time determining the route that will be most beneficial.

[CamaroDream68]

So she's a 396. She still has some of the original paint on her and has black racing stripes. Yes I agree, it needs a serious jig for the convertible part. I may have just lucked out though. My uncle has a good friend who is a retired body shop mechanic. He does work on the side now and just finished restoring a 67 camaro coupe. I think we're going to tow it over there to his personal shop to do the major body work. Jig it up, and go to town on it. I'll pay him on the side for his skill but could be my best shot.

[bcmiller]

Post some pics of the car.

[68 Ragtop]

An original engine big block SS convertible adds a lot of value.

[169INDY]

^^ Yes  & helps with Justification of sunk (Recoverable) cost of restoration

[MooneyDriver]

Buy one thats done, or do the work yourself. Otherwise youll have too much into it.   I had a local shop guess about $30K to install the sheetmetal on my 67.

[CamaroDream68]

Alright fellas,

So the game plan is slowly coming together. I'm going to do most of the heavy lifting myself with help of some experienced vets (that I'm gonna pay on the side here and there). But I'll start uploading photos soon. The girl needs a floor pan, trunk pan and rear quarters. She's a convertible so my first goal is to check all existing chassis alignments. Determine if she's got some sag. The rockers look pretty good but we'll see once we get going in there. I opened the driver side door and she does close pretty decently however I think I see maybe 3 millimeter drop once the door is open. So I think I have a small sag.
Once I know if I have a sag, I'll level her out and weld in a jig to keep the body square and tight while I throw her up on a rotisserie or a tilt jig. Open to any suggestions on how to level the body out if sag is present.

My biggest worry is alignment on the body panels after I weld in new quarters etc. Is there any way to ensure getting a perfect fit? These are NOS quarters I have ready to replace the old ones. But same question for the floorpan etc.

[MooneyDriver]

Hope your NOS ones fit, they should, my AMD ones suck, its been my hang up for 8yrs..

[Kelley W King]

unless the car is really special this could be a Dynacor body project