Louvers!!! How much should I be paying?

Got some louvers done by a buddy of mine for free but he moved out of town and I need MORE! What should I be paying per louver? 2-1/2 inch size.

Lets see some louver jobs you guys got!

 

There is a thread out called The official louvers thread a lot of info . You can pay about $1.50 to $2.00 a louver Joe

 

I charge 1 buck a punch.I tried to upload some pics but the hamb gods are angry today ,Ive heard of shops charging 2 to 10 bucks a punch plus setup fees,I do mine for the poor folk just for extra money for my chop 48.no overhead.

 

Just to make the youngsters wish they had been born Back in the day (late 50's-early 60's) there was a speed shop in Flint, Michigan that used to bring thier louver press out to the drag strip 2-3 times a year. 3" or4" louvers...........$.25/ each. Bring your part out to the track or take a hood or deck lid off right at the track, punch the louvers, reinstall and go racing.
After louvers fell out of favor (yes it did happen for awhile) I was approached about buying the towable setup for $250 and you can now say you have met someone (via the internet) that admits to being really stupid and passed on the offer.

Frank

 

First louvers I ever had done were done by Stan Betz for a quarter a piece (although I know a few guys older than me that claimed to have paid 10 cents!).
Next time was Happy Days Louvers in the 70's and they had gone up to 50 cents each
See More Louver Co. was a buck , but we were friends so FREE
Recently I've paid between 1 and 2 dollars

 

Old buddy of mine charges .65 each!

 

One to Two bucks per punch seems to be the average going rate. Thanks guys.

WHERE ARE THE TRICK LOUVER PHOTOS???? SERIOUSLY!

 

You've been here since '09 and don't know how to search?

As OldBlueOval pointed out, they're here.

 

2 to 3 dollers a piece...not a dime more

 

In the PNW it seems like what ever the traffic will bear as far as prices. And the prices change depending on who you talk to.

I've heard from .75 a louver to around 5.00 I doubt the 5.00 guy is getting much business though.

One thing that really affects the price is how clean the hood or metal is and if you have the braces out of the hood already. My hood went straight from the stripper to the louver shop when I had it done and that might have helped with the price then.

 

Yes, yes I do know how to search. But generally the search engine on this site provides me with real crappy results when I have a specified search so quite frankly I have been bypassing it all together when I am not in the mood.

I AM SOOOO SORRY Soviet.

 

We charge $1 for simple jobs with at least 150 louvers to as much as $2 per louver for more difficult jobs.

 

Thanks everyone with positive feedback and information. The "official louvers" thread was really good too.

 

I know of a couple of guys in the Detroit area punching louvers for a $1 a piece.

 

we get 1.00 for n.o.s. louvers

 

I know a guy in the" Detroit Area" that does a hood for 200 bucks

 

A friend of mine just had some punched last year and the guy that did them told him when he setup almost 30 years ago it was 25 cents a louver and the price is still the same 25 cents a louver and they looked great. He does not do it much in the winter months due to it being cold in his shop.

 

Every local area has its own price scale. Not much competition in louver punching I would think.

 

lets get one thing straight here. most of the work is not involved in the punching,
its in the layout. if you brought you're hood to me with all the paint sanded off,
both sides and all the layout lines exactly were you want them and where i
need them... then yeah 2 bucks will work.

 

3.00 a hole in denver

 

Clean metal on both sides, I charge $1.50 per hole including layout. I bought my press about8 years ago and it hasn't paid for itself yet - but close. Like a few guys said the real effort is in the layout work. I admire the guys that charge two bits per hole but I just can't afford that. Might as well be free.

Even at $1.50 per at least half the people who call or stop by to talk about louvers are never seen again.

Charlie

 

most of the time i'd rather just charge for the whole job then charge per louver.

 

Louvers are cheap compared to lay out/ set up charge.

 

I get a buck a louver and $5.00 layout and setup charge. One price for 5 different size louvers. Only if you bring it with bare metal showing inside and out where you want the louvers. Dash plaques are cheaper than that.

 

Depending on the job I'll cut a break, but mostly around $3 a hole. Time wise it's a losing proposition.

 

We started doing louvers in the mid-80s for $1 a hole, everything included, but it had to be clean metal both sides. To discourage people from bringing us hoods with fifty year old undercoating (we just plain aren't into cleaning it) we say $50 an hour to prep a hood, seems to "encourage" folks to scrape and sand themselves. After 20 years, we raised our price to $2 a hole. It is a hobby with us, we bought a Good Times louver press kit and assembled it ourselves. We don't advertise, word of mouth only, but have done quite a few jobs. When you do a deuce coupe rear lid with its compound curves, you earn that $2 a hole because you know the dire consequences of screwing up. We sure wouldn't do it as a business if we needed income to live. Like zman said, if you count layout and all, the dollars per hour are below minimum wage. But it is cool to have a louver press, you can louver all your stuff whenever you want, and you meet great people. Only guy I know who made money off louvers was a guy in MA who used to do wholesale work, such as skid plates for custom harley's, Chevy pickup tailight covers, etc. Repetitive production with one setup and low cost labor being the key factors there.

 

I should buy/build one myself, looks like it can pay for itself with the right pricing structure. Charging by-the-hole is good for straight clean work. I can see setting a few standard set-up charges for anything else.

Like someone else said, you probably won't see the customer again or at least for a while and I refuse to work for minimum wage on a service that few can provide.

Bob

 

We're $4500 into our machine and at $2.50 a hole (including setup on a clean hood), it'll take 1800 louvers and we haven't even paid the rent, help or the utilities! Plus, we don't charge ourselves for personal work!

From time to time, we'll get some really profitable jobs doing replacement doors for water heaters and generator compartments on RV's.

 

If anyone in the Southern California area needs louvers make sure to contact "SkrapMetal" at ModCraft . Located in Riverside, he has top notch tools and is extremely professional at what he does. From 2" louvers to larger 6" louvers - he has it all. Axle

 

I believe Gene Winfield does louvers too. Give him a call for a quote at (661) 824-4728. He is located in Mojave, north of Edwards Air Force Base.