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Hot Rods Do You Take On Outside Work?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by jaw22w, Nov 26, 2020.

  1. 1934coupe
    Joined: Feb 22, 2007
    Posts: 5,051

    1934coupe
    Member

    Not anymore. I finished up an OT Corvette 10 yrs or so ago and quit.

    Pat
     
    jaw22w likes this.
  2. 51504bat
    Joined: May 22, 2010
    Posts: 4,755

    51504bat
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Can barely handle my own projects and I'm not talented enough to actually take on outside work. I will help a buddy out with some simple stuff or give my opinion but that's about it. I did agree to do some background investigations for my old department after I retired. The money helped fund some projects but it always seemed that I had an appointment or interview to do when I was in the middle of my own project. With the Covid crap the outside work has pretty much dried up so can't use that for an excuse for not getting anything done. Which is good side its almost time to prune the fruit trees.:(
     
    jaw22w likes this.
  3. Absolutely Not! I work on trucks 10 hours a day, five days a week. I’m not about to swing a clutch in a Freightliner so someone can “get a deal”. Besides, I’m not about to get a bunch of shit about problems on their vehicle that I had nothing to do with, I get enough of that at work. People looking to get side work done always expect “a good deal”, I’ve been doing this for 30 years and don’t need any free practice.


    Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
  4. krylon32
    Joined: Jan 29, 2006
    Posts: 9,397

    krylon32
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Nebraska
    1. Central Nebraska H.A.M.B.

    At 75 I still cannot turn down a chassis job. I just shipped one to Wisc. and am doing one for a customer in Minn, then have one to go to New York and another to Wisc. They are taking longer as I now get to the shop about 10, take a lunch hour and quit about 4.30. I'm getting closer to the end everyday but enjoy the challenge.
     
  5. Never quit, never say die brother. I hope I'm still busting out shit that I'm proud of in 20 years, and that's the plan.
     
  6. Bigmac48
    Joined: Apr 3, 2017
    Posts: 625

    Bigmac48
    Member
    from Dundalk Md

    image.jpeg image.jpeg Well actually I do! I have the body of a 72 yr old, the mind of a 65 yr old the skills of a 20 yr old . Always considered myself a piddler not a mechanic . Worked hard and steady for 44 plus years ,playing with my own cars when time allowed , normally no one would ask for my assistance cause my stuff wasn't running , finished or ? To get back to the original question " Do you take on outside work " my answer is I sure do ! I'm 72 and still cut my grass , rake the leaves , do most of the upkeep on the house , shovel the snow , hang the Christmas lights . I love being outside !! Yea I take it on but some times it gives me a fit !!!! Have a great Thanksgiving we all have so much to be thankful for . "God bless America "
     
    Last edited: Nov 26, 2020
  7. bchctybob
    Joined: Sep 18, 2011
    Posts: 5,190

    bchctybob
    Member

    I've always done "side work", since I was 17 or so. It has funded my tools and hot rods all through my life. I never worked an auto repair type of job, mostly aftermarket car stuff and then aerospace so the side work wasn't really the same as my day job. In fact the pace in the aerospace industry was so slow that I liked doing side work to give me that feeling of accomplishment each day. When it looked like my aerospace job was drying up I opened a small hot rod shop to do engine swaps, custom headers and chassis work. It took off and I considered leaving aerospace but the healthcare and retirement plans made me stay and just keep the shop as a means to continue my hobby and have fun. I was able to be as productive and creative as I want to be. I only had a couple of bad customer experiences over the years, mostly them changing the scope of the job and not wanting to pay for the extra work.
    I'm 70 and retired now thanks to my decision to stay in aerospace. I have my two houses, a shop, tools, equipment, lots of parts and the project cars to put them on. I'll still do the occasional side job as long as it is small and interesting. The last two? Fabbing an intake manifold and a header for a Model A four banger and re-soldering the bottom of an antique tractor oil can. Ahh, country living....
     
  8. In my younger days, it was just bits and pieces. Some rims, frames, brackets, stuff like that. If I was making some for me, I'd make more for those who asked. BUT, I always charged. And I always made sure it was high enough so I was sure to make a huge profit. Used to get a lot whining about the "good buddy" deal. Told them I had only one friend, and he never asked for that deal. Must have not mattered to him either, because we've been friends for over 50yrs.
     
  9. BamaMav
    Joined: Jun 19, 2011
    Posts: 6,709

    BamaMav
    Member
    from Berry, AL

    When I was in my 20's and 30's, I built a lot of stuff for my next door neighbor who was married to my wife's cousin. He paid me some, done lots of barter for parts he didn't want or need, traded some of them and sold some. Mostly muscle car era stuff. But when I started driving trucks in my late 20's, time got shorter, and I did less and less for him. I had a few projects during that time that never got finished, always moving on to something else. But there were other folks too, kin folks and friends wanting brake jobs and AC work. Most paid pretty well, but still, my time was limited.

    By my mid to late 40's, I only had a few people I would work for on their cars. One was a 71 VW Bug, it got me interested in them so I ended up with 6 of them myself. Sold off several of them after I got them going, picked one and started a full restore on it. About that time, the 71 burned from an engine fire, and I got tasked to recreate it using that pan and engine with a body I had. At first, things went well, then the money got slow, they didn't understand the costs of a restoration, and I was tired of mine sitting, so I told them to find somebody else to finish it. By then I was tired of VW's myself, so I sold out all my hoard of stuff.

    By then, FWD stuff was everywhere, a simple AC compressor job took all day, spark plugs you had take half the top of the motor off to find, no room to work, and when I did work on them, my hands would be a bloody mess. I said no more. Most of the "friends" got pissed when I would no longer do their work and went their own ways. Good riddance.

    I still do a little for an elderly friend of ours, and a little for kin folks like brakes or maybe charge an AC up, but the bigger stuff I tell them to find somebody else. Everybody else I tell them I don't have time, which is no lie. I barely have time to keep my junk up.
     
  10. I am close to starting. Going to quit my job & work out of my shop. I have lots of equipment from engine to fab. Can’t wait.
     
    Budget36 likes this.
  11. gimpyshotrods
    Joined: May 20, 2009
    Posts: 23,264

    gimpyshotrods
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    It is not "side work", but a side business.

    I have a CNC/light manufacturing shop, in addition to the day job, but that is business-to-business.

    We make parts to-order. The prices are not negotiable, and nobody even tries.

    In the past, when I still built cars, the only people who wanted a discount were not actually my friends. My friends insisted on paying full price.

    That's what actual friends do.
     
  12. 49ratfink
    Joined: Feb 8, 2004
    Posts: 18,828

    49ratfink
    Member
    from California

    I have done it over the years but not any more, I don't even have the energy for my own cars, let alone someone eses
     
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  13. DirtyJoe
    Joined: Dec 1, 2011
    Posts: 268

    DirtyJoe
    Member

    I'll trade or barter for labor, sometimes get paid. Depends on if it's in my garage.
     
    31hotrodguy likes this.
  14. indyjps
    Joined: Feb 21, 2007
    Posts: 5,377

    indyjps
    Member

    I can't get my own stuff done.

    Ill help friends, but its limited to stuff I have more skills or equipment for, and it goes both ways.
     
  15. I worked in a "full service" garage to pay my way through college and pay for my hot rods and gas.......learned how many customers can be real jerks. Built up several SBCs for friends only......since then took on work as favors for buddies only....no money, just a favor. Time for family and self has gained more value as the years pass.......
     
  16. I have and it's draining, I used to really like being the go to guy for working on old stuff but it's really killed my desire to be involved with the hobby lately. After I wrap up the slightly off topic el camino in my home garage I am parking my 2 year old Fiesta ST in it's place next to my Model A and closing the doors. No more except for a really small job or two as needed for anything I worked on, but it's all about working on my own stuff from here on out and getting back to enjoying it.
     
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  17. It’s side bartering for me.
    Swap sheet metal work for parts.
     
  18. gimpyshotrods
    Joined: May 20, 2009
    Posts: 23,264

    gimpyshotrods
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I hear ya! I have not had time to build a car for myself, in the last 20-years.
     
  19. I've been working on other peoples cars since the late '60s. Yes I did it for a living, and I made a good living at it. In 2012 I closed my full service shop and turned it into a shop where I work on almost nothing but hot rods, customs, classic cars, antiques and muscle cars. I'm approaching 70 yo at an alarming rate and I'm threatening to quit working on anything but my own cars. A lot of my customers aren't liking what I'm suggesting but I'm seeing a line in the sand and it's closer every day.

    Having said all that I've been blessed with mostly very good customers. That along with the ability to read people pretty well I haven't had a lot of grief with customers and unrealistic expectations. I'm usually able to spot those bad ones before I get tangled up with them.
     
  20. Flathead Dave
    Joined: Mar 21, 2014
    Posts: 3,959

    Flathead Dave
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from So. Cal.

    I don' mind helping out as long as "they" don't expect me to do all of the work.
     
  21. Andy
    Joined: Nov 17, 2002
    Posts: 5,117

    Andy
    Member

    I don’t mind helping friends as long as they stay away! I don’t need helpers. They make me nervous.
     
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  22. rockable
    Joined: Dec 21, 2009
    Posts: 4,429

    rockable
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    So far, no. I've thought about it but then I ask myself, "why?" I'm retired and comfortable. I work on stuff when I'm in the mood and I don't want the stress of having to get something done on someone else's timetable.
     
    texasred, jnaki and bchctybob like this.
  23. I use to but not too much anymore,I will still help friends with their projects when they need a hand. HRP
     
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  24. Did out of high school and into my 20's but sadly no more - when it comes to skimping on part prices - you can't skimp on labor and people seam to want the best for little or nothing..........
     
    trollst likes this.
  25. 210superair
    Joined: Jun 23, 2020
    Posts: 1,952

    210superair
    Member
    from Michigan

    Not any more, no. Just too busy. Like others here have said, I'm lucky to have time to turn my own wrenches nowadays. I used to turn my own wrenches because I was broke and had to if I wanted to own fun toys, but now whenever I get to turn wrenches I think of it as fun, lol. Never thought that would happen! You know you're moving up at work when you have to make money/time decisions I guess....
     
  26. Good, Fast, and Cheap, you can have two, but not all three. If it’s Good and Cheap, it won’t be Fast, if it’s Fast and Cheap, it won’t be Good.


    Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
    Lloyd's paint & glass likes this.
  27. lippy
    Joined: Sep 27, 2006
    Posts: 6,825

    lippy
    Member
    from Ks

    Friend or not, I tell them if you don't have the money socked away to do this deal I can't do it. This is the only car I am gonna work on and I cannot afford to stop and wait for you to get your finances together. If I don't receive money this month, You will come get the car and take it home or I roll it out. It is an understanding we have before I start. And I mean it. Lippy
     
  28. The37Kid
    Joined: Apr 30, 2004
    Posts: 30,629

    The37Kid
    Member

    NO! Even something as simple as listing other peoples shit on eBay should be avoided! Sold stuff for MORE than they wanted and she bitched thinking she could have gotten more!

    Bob
     
  29. MAD MIKE
    Joined: Aug 1, 2009
    Posts: 772

    MAD MIKE
    Member
    from 94577

    Nailed it.
    "blah blah blah, said they could do it for (less than half)."
    well bye.gif
     
    Truckdoctor Andy likes this.
  30. old chevy
    Joined: Nov 24, 2007
    Posts: 60

    old chevy
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    No outside work. If a friend asks for help I do help. My friends always help each other. Nice to be retired.
     

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