Took my car to shop for estimate to complete

Damn, I hope I didn't convey any bad attitude about Larry Foss.
He is top gun, first cabin guy and shop. Absolutely nothing but the best.

So here is my plan, and it falls in line with what most of you all said. My brother and I discussed this on the way back home.
Continue to fab as much as I can, install as much as I can and wait for Larry to give me a call this fall as he said he would. Get it to him, have his shop get as close to making it a driver, or make it a driver with the cash I have saved back, (about 15K).
Continue from there. I'm sure it won't be painted or upholstered but my brother paints cars, and I have all the backing boards that came out of it when I tore it down.
Going to have to take the winter months slow anyhow as the Doc says I need an overhaul on the old ticker this October. Need a valve job, (replace the aortic valve and reroute some clogged fuel lines) 3way bypass. Says it will be 6 weeks until I feel normal again. So it looks like one more year, but after over 2 decades who's counting. Thanks once again all.

 

Seems like a real nice rig. Bet you could sell it for a pretty penny. Turn around and buy a completed rig for the$ plus your 15k. Whatever you buy will always need a little tinkering so you'll get your fix. An option that no one has mentioned. However most on this site would say its the journey not the destination. I think that may be what you just said..... Good luck with the valve job!!!

 

Lower your standards a bit. Get the mechanical work done and make everything safe. Prime it with blitz black. cover the seats with mex blankets and drive, drive, drive, it. You can always do one or two things a year until its done. If you die before its done so what, That is sort of my plan and I am 68 and getting older every day.

 

Yup. Do that.

 

Being 66 myself I can relate well to the shock of what having work done by a shop on your hot rod, custom car or even daily driver costs these days. Labor, materials and parts all cost a lot more than they did 40 years ago and even when you consider the buying power of the dollar or your hour's work now vs 40 years ago it is a lot more expensive now.

The one thing that hasn't been considered though is how much work actually has to be done to the car in question to finish it out as a nice cruiser and how much of the owner's previous work has to be undone and redone if any to bring the car up to the standards that that particular shop has. Everything may be up to snuff and just need finishing or there may be some things that will need to be redone as they are suspect as is. I'd hate like hell to haul my old cab to a shop and ask them what it would cost to get it in shape and paint it.

Also, don't leave out the cost of the chosen/requested parts and materials to finish it out. As we discuss all the time it makes a huge difference in the final cost when we decide on paint color, interior material or other parts we want on a car. Quite often two people can build quite similar cars with very similar quality of finish and one can manage to spend several thousand dollars more on parts and materials just because of the particular parts and materials he/she chose. I'm not talking hot rod flatz vs House of Color but quite possibly jet black vs Cadillac Crimson red pearl or something similar

 

ITS NOT $60.00 for two guys , Its $60.00 an hour shop rate,, 2 guys $120 per hour.. get real...
Quality shops are always busy, they don't need to work for free, for advertising....
Speed cost money..... HOW FAST YA WANNA GO.....?.
STREET RODS COST MONEY...HOW COOL YA WANNA BE.......?

 

Or even just 20-years. Wages are not keeping pace with inflation, for everyone, but a few economic sectors, yet prices continue to rise.

I make the same wage that I did, twenty years ago, almost to the day. Not talking inflation-adjusted dollars, but the same exact number.

 

We know. Even that is cheap. Most shops around where I am are $100/man-hour.

 

Larry, don't know the economic climate out your way , but around here there are lots of top notch people out of work and looking. We have excellent body men and painters working out of their own garages for $25/hour. I'd start a search for one of these guys. A friend is restoring a Mustang and found a retired body and paint guy who works with my friend in my friend's garage three days a week. I believe he pays the guy $20/hr. Now I know that some here will have their doubts and will take the attitude that you have to pay big bucks to get quality work but they would be wrong.

 

Sadly I live around Microsoft, Boeing and many many high tech companies here in Seattle area. Cost of living is close to the highest in the country and work is not hard to find.

 

if he's" top shelf", you'll not get him to do "well" quality work, it's not going to happen.

How much would you be willing to spend on your car to get what you want ?

 

"STREET RODS COST MONEY...HOW COOL YA WANNA BE.......? "


In my eyes, cost is seldom directly related to the "Cool" factor. As an example, it dosn't cost a penny more to put the perfect rake on a rod than it does to put a rod on a rake that makes the hole thing look like crap. And no matter how much money is spent finishing it, it will always look like crap and never be "Cool".<!-- / message -->

 

Interesting thread. Shit, it's expensive when you do all the work yourself . . . at least, turning a heap into a street rod, that is (ask me how I know ). Lots of HAMBers seem to be good at sourcing used parts relatively inexpensively, I wish I were one of them.

Good Luck Larry!

 

Another thing to look at is the time to build, just finished my 51 and had Chaotic Customs in Mulvane do alot of work on the car which i have done in the past. Its a matter of time and quality which made me go this way. They did a far better job on the car then i could have done plus we did the complete build in about 2 years. I did the frame off work, Chris and the guys did all the paint and body work after i had Hub Harness chop the top. I just didn't want this to be a 5 plus year deal!

 

Can you clarify the rate? I take it to be $60hr for the master and a couple apprentices. Am i wrong?

 

I had the same situation; went with a local guy who said " My son and I can fit it in with his project 34 Sedan Delivery, no problem, $30 an hour "
He is/was a total hack, drilled ten holes in the firewall that were not needed!
" The gas pedal rod has to go somewhere so I drilled some extra holes ! "
What an A--hole; I HAVE HAD TO REDO EVERYTHING HE DID.
He has a 34 roadster and sedan that are nice but he was hacking on my car and then charging me, he even stole some rare parts I can not replace, not critical but still rare.
I said why didn't you provide me with the same care you did your own stuff ?
"Oh I don't know, we thought you wanted it finished !" Dumb a-- retired Redwood city fireman with a pace maker, karma is on your way MF.
So get it going or sell it and buy a driver... my two cents worth and I'm 65
Got her out of paint last week and putting it back together, will have ready for BP in Antioch for sure !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I like the idea of getting it to driver condition first and then worrying about the other details...generally speaking, you get what you pay for in regards to hiring someone, but you may find a local hot rodder who's willing to help get it to driver stage without going bankrupt. There are a lot of good guys out there. Good luck...great car!

 

More important than the cost is the TIME it will take to get it back to you. You don't want to saddle the kids with a pile that, if they aren't car people, will be a big hassle but all also don't want to lose the car to the time monster. A good friend here in my area started to rebuild his 50s 34 5Window Coupe when he was in his mid-80s. Two shops in this area took his money and more important, his time, and still didn't finish the thing. He had to take it out of one shop then to another only to have the same problem. Finally finished it himself and died just a year later. His know nothing grandson just runs the car to hell and has not love for it.
Think hard and do what is right for YOU.

 

Find some HAMBers around your area, make friends and have a few BBQ/thrashes. Hopefully after a few your car will be ready for paint/interior and your new friends (and you) will have had a blast and made many good memories.

My .02

 

Now that is a great idea!

 

Yes, $60.00 an hour he said. Looks like Larry runs and owns the business and his two fabricators work for him. At least thatis my understanding.

 

So Uncle Bob, I did not mention who I took it to. How were you aware that it was Fosse's.
You work for the IRS, CIA, or some other such snoop agency ?

 

SSHHHHHHHH!!!!! We've been in the news too much lately!!

Pretty sure you mentioned it in your other thread so I figured there wasn't any harm in putting it out there again.

 

If I couldn't do most stuff my self I couldn't even have a ride! I'll be 71 in December and my physical shape isn't near what my mental shape still is. Consequently , my Model A reflects that, dependable, safe(a relative thing) and easy to work on and no polishing etc. From the looks of your avatar you're there also, just drive it and enjoy, no worries and fun as hell! To me, 20 to 40 g's is overwhelming. Just sayin'.

 

"You need to figure out what you ultimately want. Keep on projecting without likely finishing it (which is fine), or enjoy participating in active events with others in the area (fine too). And then the sad reality...........what do you want to leave for your survivors to deal with? (Younger guys might not get that notion, but us old farts should" Uncle Bob

Words no truer ever spoken........

 

Do whatever you can afford to do.I survived 2 bouts with Leukemia and a Bone Marrow transplant,so even though I'm younger than you by a quarter century,my mortality is an ever present thing.If you plan on leaving it to one of your kids(I'm adoptable ) bring them in on the decision.If not,you may want to sell the car and buy something cheaper that is finished.If you finish your car,you'll leave a legacy and your story will be told.If you leave cash,you'll be leaving a semi worthless pile of depreciating paper.

 

it always goes over the estimate, that's a fact of life, that's a big spread between 20 and 40 for work

 

Just got my 40 Ford sedan back from body shop. took it in as a media blasted basket case-fenders &hood off, no glass, no interior. I supplied & they installed patch panels on both door bottoms, both front 1/4's, new rockers & tail panel. smoothed firewall, saved & straightened 4 very rough fenders, painted black with flames, completely re-assembled (fenders, grill, all mldgs, all lights, etc). all for $12,800. in the shop for 3 months. Left me with re-wiring, glass, and interior. I thought it was quite reasonable

 

Your avatar is unreasonable, but just lovely!

 

For me, it would depend on two things, your health and whether you like building or driving...

There are old 74s and young 74s. My father is 77 and an old 77 at that, had a tough life and has a number of things he wishes he had done whilst he was able to. A sudden turn for the worse and he is using a walking stick and NOT happy about it. If you are an old'er 74 then focus on the next point...

...if you enjoy the building process, just keep going and forget the driving aspect till you cross that bridge. If your preference and objective though IS to drive it, get them or someone else to get the car driving. Forget the paint and interior, costly items. Just get it to the point you can enjoy it while you can. the remainder of the build you can then plod along with WHILST driving it.

Good luck with whatever you do, hope you get it on the road and enjoy it.