Please share comments about Mopar restoration shops

ch1ll said
At this point my plans have come to a standstill. First the pandemic and then I retired a bit early to care for my folks who are both 94. My original plan was to get the car dipped and transport it to MCR. No way am I going to pay them 5k to have the car dipped and transported. My last quote for dipping was $800 , but that was 3-4 years ago. Add to that cost about 1k to trans port the car there and weld up a cradle for dipping. The 2 biggest concerns I want addressed by MCR are structural integrity (good bones) and preservation to keep it solid for the long time to come. I already know passenger front frame rail and inner fender need to be replaced along with some of the floor and trunk extensions. I have to wait and see what it looks like after dipping. Panel gaps would be nice. Main reason for MCR is the framework, they have an A body fixture. That I do not want to do off my garage floor. I’m not interested in show paint, just driver quality paint. As for the rest of the work, I’ll do it myself till I get stuck on something.

I talked to MCR about doing my 73 Cuda and like you said they really wouldn't commit to much except a blank check. I think they came back with nearly 280 hours of metal-work only, no paint. They kept pushing full restoration. They left themselves a LOT of wiggle room. That was too rich for my blood. I needed mainly structural work done, my car had been T-boned and repaired improperly back in the day.

I found a local shop, Apex Autosports, that does excellent work and has several national award winning cars in recent years. They were in Grafton but have recently relocated to Belgium and must be in your back yard. They will do the full monty or a partial. He gets most of his business word of mouth and does mostly Mopars. I think one of his guys is a judge for the big Mopar show back East, and is a wealth of OEM details. My car was a partial that they fit in between major jobs and he was willing to work with me closely. Communication and expectations was important to him. He quoted me an hourly rate and estimated hours to replace the entire passenger A-pillar and inner/outer door hinge mount, inner/outer rocker, B-pillar jamb, full front and rear floor pans, upper cowl, and a Dynacorn back half that is preassembled with trunk floor, seat pan, and frame rails. They also found that the inner dash frame and upper windshield frame was bent from the hit They saved me a couple grand by pulling them straight themselves rather than taking to the only frame shop he trusts. The final bill came in very close to their estimate, even with the Easter eggs they found along the way. I would recommend them for anything that you think is worth the effort. I thought his hourly rate was very reasonable compared to other places I've talked to. He also does mechanicals and has an in floor roller dyno for tuning. Be happy to give more details to anyone that is interested.