Paying to have some work done??

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BrianT

BrianT

Here we go again...
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I have gotten to the point in my Dart project where I want to convert my 9 inch drums to later discs that I bought at a swap meet. I am going to convert the back to 11 inch drum brakes that I got off of a 78 Sportsman van. I figured since I was getting new wheels and tires (haven't decided which ones yet) I might as well relocate the springs to get a bigger wheel and tire in there. This snow balled into a mini tub project. Both of these last two projects are out my league in my little suburban garage.

I found a guy who builds old school rods and does a lot of custom metal fabrication and I have seen some of his work. He can chop and channel old Mercs, and his shop has an English wheel, box and pan brake etc. He has done some really cool things, and is fully competent to do the work.

So I take the Dart out to him today and let him look at it. Showed him some pictures of other mini tubs that I printed out, and also the spring relocation kit. He looked at my car for about 10 minutes and said "No problem" he could do the project. Then he said it would run $2000 for the labor and that he wanted $1000 up front, and the balance due upon completion.

I was just wondering what you all thought was a fair price to get this work done? Should I counter offer or just accept his offer? He does good work and I don't mind paying for it, but that is alot of money. Sorry for the long post, I just don't spend this kind of money everyday.
 
humm ...$80 per hour shop rate, 2000k total price = 25 hrs labor..a little more than three days for the entire job...put it like that and it sounds like a ok deal...i think three days is pretty fair time to do all of that work... ..lets see what the other guys think...........
 
Yeah, that's what he was quoting me, $80 per hour. He has several other projects that he is working on, so it will take several weeks to get the job completed. I told him I wasn't in any hurry.

The $2000 is obviously his labor only. I'm supplying all the parts. He wants to get the gas tank boiled and sealed while it's out. The tail pipes are going to have to be relocated as they now hang right under the frame rails where the springs are going. He said he would get me a deal at local shops for this work and I believe him. He has tons of hot rod connections. He was a TF driver for years campaigning around the midwest until the late 80s. Now he just builds old hot rods out of his garage for fun.
 
Sounds reasonable to me. The real issue is competency. If you are comfortable with the work the guy turns out, go for it. You will spend a lot more getting a cheap hack job fixed and it sounds like you are getting a lot more than a minitub job out of the deal.
 
Its a lot of work so the price doesnt seem to out of line to me.
 
I guess I should have been clearer in my original post. The $2000 he quoted me was for the spring relocation and mini tub only. I will be doing the brake and front suspension work myself after he finishes his part.

Also, boiling and sealing the gas tank and relocating the tail pipes will be on my dime, but at his "good guy" price.
 
Thats what I figured. I did the spring relocation deal myself a few years ago. Its a lot of measuring and cutting a little at atime, remeasuring cutting a little more. Grinding, remeasure. You get the idea. Mini tubs took me a day each side to widen the factory tubs
 
I wish I had the time and talent to do the work myself. I have a pretty good set of basic hand tools, but nothing to cut or weld with. Plus the welding I have tried in the past looked pretty nasty.

I can repair hail damage on a brand new $100K Lexus like nobody's business, so I stick to what I'm good at and let others do what they are good at!
 
Sounds like a reasonable price for the work involved.
 
I did mine myself several years ago,it was actually one of the first real projects I did on this car.

I did manage to fit a 15x12 wheel and n50-15 tire under the car.

In hindsight...u know it's always 20/20...I wish I would have just widened the stock wheel well instead of making new ones. As it is now the trunk hinges will have to be modified because they hit these new tubs. You can see a small dent to the left of one of the brackets,thats where the hinge hits. Good luck on your project.

 
I want to run 325/50R15 ET street radials on 15x10 wheels and was told that mini tubbing was the only way they will fit.

I am going to order the relocation kit from Bill at thecarfarm.com this weekend, just need to know what size the front bolt is on the leaf spring. I am also going to add a set of Cal-tracs while we have it all apart.

I hope that will be all that's necessary to hook up with the 416 we're going to build in the next year or so!
 
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