good luck the worst part is when you tell someone how many hours it takes to do a car and they look at you sideways.Its next to impossible to estimate this kind of work until the can of worms is opened.I have opened up cars and had the owner take it home or junk it with a bill of a grand or more to strip the car.The best advice I could give is if the owner has no idea why it takes so much labor to do this work,politely decline the job because you will lose in the end.
good luck the worst part is when you tell someone how many hours it takes to do a car and they look at you sideways.Its next to impossible to estimate this kind of work until the can of worms is opened.I have opened up cars and had the owner take it home or junk it with a bill of a grand or more to strip the car.The best advice I could give is if the owner has no idea why it takes so much labor to do this work,politely decline the job because you will lose in the end.
I'm involve with old car since 82 and I remember 15 years ago a customer who want everything on is car, and, pay me correctly. 4 months later send me a bunch of %&?*$ because is pension plan was lower then expected and his wife did not know how much he give me!! He said "you know, the man beat his dog, the dog bit the cat, the cat....with the mouse, that's why I'm angry about the repair" I said to him I did not want to see him and his car (wife too) anymore!
I saw his car few months later in Hershey for sale by a guy from Buffalo.
thank for the advise.
Fitz.
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www.FitzbackGarage.com Look for Easy Steering in your vintage Poncho, Look for the EasyDrive Power Steering System in the web site
Bon Chance Fitz. I've seen your restoration pictures, and I like what you do!
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Prince Edward Island
'64 Parisienne CS "barn find" - last on the road in '86 ... Owner Protection Plan booklet, original paint, original near-mint aqua interior, original aqua GM floor mats, original 283, factory posi, and original rust.
Good luck Fitz. After seeing your handiwork here and your in depth knowledge of those old girls I'm sure you are going to do real well. It's great when your job is something that you love to do and I'm sure it is with you. Just have to be able to have a gut feel on which guys to weed out on who you want to do work for. Go for it.
My best advise, if some dude comes to you looking to have a job done, sit down with him/her and discuss what the job entails. You know cars and car people, feel them out and see how sincere they are. Hopefully they get an eye opener, maybe scare them away (to your benefit).
This my shop rate, $$.$$. This is what I'm going to do first. Have them inspect the job, then Pay Up.
Next, this is what I'm going to do. Have them inspect the job, then Pay Up.
If they need some time to come up with more cash to continue, have them take the car home and bring it back for the next part of the restoration. That way it's not taking up floor space and you're not looking at it (free storage for them). You know all the scenarios.
The quick mop and glows for a cheap price, then back bitching cause the body works busting out.
Someone wants a really good job done but don't have alot of money to spend.
Years ago I was doing a similar deal, My full time job at nights, then in the shop for the day. I did alright for awhile, any profits went into more equipment, but my own projects suffered dearly.
There are people out there that need cars restored and have the quid to dump into their projects...........you just have to find them, word of mouth spreads fast within car guys.
Best to you Fitz. Salute.
-- Edited by 1wheelpeel on Thursday 13th of May 2010 10:11:36 AM
Always dreamed of doing that - rebuild some old treasures, maybe build some kit cars... Maybe I'll still do that - one of these years. (at least its not rusting away in 4 feet of weeds).
Have you ever thought about putting a portfolio of your work together (maybe you already have)? Something that shows pictures during a build and also lists the hours and parts costs for each step of a project? It'd be a good tool to gauge a client's understanding of what is involved and his/her commitment. Unfortunately, no one can know for certain just how extensive the rust is under all that bondo, 4 layers of paint, and 40 years of tar and grime until it actually gets stripped, but at least it might give the client an idea of what he could be in for. Quote X dollars to evaluate, then go from there?
I feel foolish offering advice - you've obviously got much more experience in this area than I have. One thing I have come to believe is that there is always work for people that are truly the best at what they do - and those people almost always love what they do.
So have fun, enjoy, and a little luck never hurts!
Good luck on the shop.I worked for a shop that did frame off restos on british sports cars.mgb's,mga's triumph's,morgans,jaguars.I really enjoyed the process of completely re-doing a car from the frame up.Learned alot at that job,got to drive some neat cars even though my big size 13 feet don't work very well in the confines of some of those tiny cars,not too mention trying to drive a right hand steer car while trying not to run into all the looky lou's trying to figure out what exactly your piloting.
I'm not sure I'd include the estimate on a web page - it takes work to put together an estimate like that and you'd be giving it away to everybody, including your competition. I was thinking it could be something you put in a binder, with photos of the work - before & after along with a summary of hours it takes to strip the chrome/trim, strip the interior, pull body off frame, install floorpans/trunk floors.quarter panels etc. You could show it to serious customers just to make sure they understand what is involved in the job...
You are right, it's already done on PC, but on the web I don't plan to put price but only approximate time to do some or some work. It could be a start to engage conversation with a customer.
You are right too when you said someone can give info to competition, but if this kind of people can do that, it's maybe not the good customer to have... anyway I'll think of it, the web site may be on "air" in 3 to 6 weeks.
If you have other thing you may want to see or read on my web site let me know please I'm open to everything, or mostly everything
thanks
Fitz.
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www.FitzbackGarage.com Look for Easy Steering in your vintage Poncho, Look for the EasyDrive Power Steering System in the web site
