Not good at all...

That's what blows my damn mind about the whole thing. YES I was going slow. It looks like I plowed into it in a could of tire smoke but I swear 5 mph is a HIGH estimate of my speed. I was CRAWLING. It's like the damn thing was made of tin foil and eggshells.

 

I would guess $1000-$1500 based on our labor rate of $43.00 per hour. Probably repair or replace the panel will be about the same amount of labor, my guess by looking at the pics would be 15 hours then another 6 hours paint time...$903 labor, add $192 for materials ($32.00 per every refinish hour), then add the price of any parts needed.
The biggest problem I can see you having is matching the color since it's not a factory color. If you can find out from whoever had it painted before you got it, that would be great. If not, there are still ways of colormatching but you might not get it perfect.
Good luck with it. :Handshake

 

I truly know you`r pain , when my car got hit a couple months ago I cried and about through up .

There an`t no sense in another maverick going to the crusher because of a rusty floor board and a bent up 1/4 panel . Whats wrong with the vin ?

 

You are right about that. The VIN problem comes from a dash swap by a previous owner. I have a '73 V8 Grabber VIN on my '71 (originally I6) Grabber. And it's registered as a '72 because of a typo in the original Alabama registration. And of course there's no title, never was. Nothing wrong with all that if I'm going to keep it forever, but it might make selling it a little bit of a chore... Which... is... probably an argument in favor of fixing it, now that I think about it.

Yeah, I think I'm going to get it fixed. Damn this sucks though.

 

Maybe it caved easily cause it was already weakened in the area. Bondo isn't providing any support or resistance, if that makes any sense. Quiet Ray :16suspect

 

No words needed

 

That's something I considered too, you're probably right.

 

I let my origional 73 Comet go to a junk yard with simular damage to the same qtr. Mine was a little worse. I hit a guard rail on end sideways (lesson learned, don't drive over puddles with worn out 50s). The rear glass poped out and landed behind me in one piece. I have a video somewhere. I regret it now that I have seen what the guys here can do. I did end up buying the GT because of it tho. So yea, sell it and get you a GT . It'll be water under the bridge soon, I promise.

 

Mine was about like that only it was a big bumper that was backed up into a lightpole in the middle of winter. all of the work was done by me and it is very close to being straight, with probably 1/8 of an inch of filler, and I have only the experience of doing that cars bodywork. That sucks, is it just body damage? have you checked out your framerails.

 

I haven't busted out a micrometer or anything, but I proceeded to drive a couple hundred miles right after it happened with no perceived weirdness. The frame rails look straight.

So, you think maybe I can do this myself? I'm not afraid to try. Maybe I can bring this into the realm of affordable by doing the major part of it myself, then let a pro shoot the paint? I can go get some body tools at Harbor Freight and try my hand at it, nothing to lose right? Anybody else care to either embolden me further or stop me before I make it worse?

 

It an`t like you can screw it up , that part has already been done .

 

i feel for you there. its sad to hear the bad news.... and the dirty lil secret some one hid from you. but at least it looks worse than it actually is. heck i went head on with an invisible brick wall in my 69.5 now i need to do a core support and straighten the frame rail. ... i'll do your quarter if you fix my front end... J/K. any who good luck on the fix if any thing you can get it sprayed a lil bit lighter to make the tint stand out....

 

easy fix... I'm replacing both quarters here in the next week or so on the 72 GT..

Do a search on eBay for this seller: ica997

I know he has a right side QP in good shape available. Or get one of the repopped ones, there are a few available.

 

i have no expierience with body work but i went from this

to this in under an hour with a winch and a dead blow hammer


doesn't look to bad considering i have no expierience and the metal was creased.

 

That really sucks. Its almost identical to the first accident my Sprint was involved in. I pretty much hate body work with a passion but since I"m the only one I can afford, I do it. I have fixed dents like that. What I did is find a good anchor (trees work great). Hook a come-a-long to the tree, make a backing plate for the inside of the quarter panel and extend some bolts through the mounting holes. Hook the com-a-long to the bolts and put some good pressure on it, pulling it back out while you work the metal with hammer and dollies. You want to duplicate the hit, only in reverse. The last part of the metal that bent will be the first area you start working on. Hope that makes sense.