This clip combines 70 hours of metalwork into just 23 minutes.
This is something we don’t see every day. It’s not a Dodge Challenger, but the current generation has been in production since over a decade. This means that in America, at least, we see them every day. The muscle car may not be as common in Arthur Tussik’s neck, but we don’t think so.
We don’t know what happened to the 2018 Challenger. The video clearly shows that it was not a simple collision. It showed extensive damage to the car on all sides, with the rear and passenger sides suffering the most. When the clip starts, the bumper and fenders have been removed. This exposes bent sections of lower and upper rails. Further back, there is minor damage to both doors. The passenger rear quarter panel of the car is also damaged.
Tussik then gets to work. To ensure that all replacement parts fit, the upper frame rail must be replaced. After extensive cutting, hammering and measuring, hammering and welding, all bent parts are now back in shape. Now, let’s focus on the doors.
This is where something that we don’t often see comes in to play. Although plastic-based body filler is well-known for many decades, the old-school repair shops that used lead and zinc to fill in holes and imperfections on metal panels still use this method. Tussik uses tin and a torch, basically to fill in the gaps between metal panels. It’s a lost art these day, so it’s quite interesting to see Tussik use it for this Challenger.
The crumpled quarter panel is transformed by more “leading”. The panel is then stretched out using several pins that are inserted along the Challenger’s body line. Templates allow him to hammer the metal back to shape. Once the fill work is completed, it’s difficult for one to believe that the quarter panel was not simply replaced by a non-damaged piece. The car was sent to the paint shop after additional hammering and repairs were made to the hood. Tussik spent 70 hours welding, hammering and shaping metal to repair the Challenger. The final product was completed in 10 days at the paint booth.
We’re not collision professionals so we don’t have the ability to assess how the repairs will affect the Challenger’s structural integrity in the front and rear. It’s not difficult to see the talent involved in giving this Dodge an overhaul.