The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk A little advice needed

hi all,
im in a tight spot and need to get my 63 road ready and safe to drive these dallas highways. i need to have done a few big jobs I am unable to do by myself. I live in an apartment complex and you know how that goes. I would love to do the wwork myself but dont have the time or a good place to do it, plus proper tools.

anyways to get to the point...

im going to go shopping for estimates this weekend. I would like to have 3 things done at once:
1. disc conversion up front to 71 stock parts (i have all parts, calipers need rblt)
2. power steering conversion
3. gas tank relocate to between frame rails under bed.

any advice on how to handle this? i have the tech articles and documents and prices on what i need... should i just go with those and see what the shops say? anyone have any idea what a fair price would be?...

let me know if you can help out, and i will be back with estimates for you to look over...

TIA
troy

Troy - I think MARTINSRs tech tip on how to work with your body shop would be a good one to review. I know you need mechanical work, but the approach to working with your bodyman he recommends would work just as well with your mechanic.

Good luck!

Hmmm ... I was just in that "drawer."


Peg

awesome... i just located that. will give it a good look over. keep advice rollin in in the meantime...

also. i found a shop a little out of my way that came as a recomendation from Joker(fred) and they said they usually charge $45/hr for custom work like this, but were unable to give an estimate on the total over the phone... does $45/hr sound decent?

Here is my $0.02

1. Don't bother rebuilding the calipiers. Either use them as is (they may be fine) or use them as cores at the parts house and get some rebuilts. Do you have a power booster, master cylinder and proportioning valve to go with the disk brakes? If not you are not ready to do this.
2. Save the power steering for another day. It is a convenience and not a requirement for Dallas area driving. Plus the exercise will do you good.
3. The tank relocation is also not a requirement for general driving. If your stock tank is in place (?) and not leaking, leave it where it is. The details of moving a tank are numerous such as fuel line routing, tank mounting, sending unit wiring/grounding, etc.

Do the brakes and leave the rest for another day. The brakes can be done in a day in the parking lot with the right tools many of which you can rent from the parts house (Autozone or Oreilly's). If you have a friend with a driveway and jackstands you are good to go.

Do I get any change back from my $0.02?

Good luck and do it safely if you do it yourself.

I still haven't figured out what the big deal with having the fuel tank in the cab is.. I suppose if you need the extra cab space it makes sense, thats about it.

If the tank is solid and not leaking or rusted, i'd think the cab is the safest place to have it.. don't they put the gas tanks in race cars in the passenger compartment for saftey?

If something hits that old truck hard enough to rupture a solid fuel tank, then you won't be alive long enough to enjoy the BBQ, anyway.

houston54, thanks for the advice. you misunderstood me though. basically these are big jobs i want done while i still have my car. i have to sell my car to pay the loan that bought my truck. so its like if i dont do these jobs now I wont be able to leave my truck at a shop because it will be needed for daily transportation to work and back. actually the brakes are the least on my list I rblt the cylinders and the stockers are working fine. i just figured i would have the shop do them while it was in, because i dont really have a place to keep all this stuff. and yes i have the m/c, booster, spindles, rotors and calipers. i am not positive but i assume the prop valve is there as well. it all came with the trunk and are all jammed in the toolbox.

so the tight spot im in is actually getting this stuff done in a timely manner (need to pay back loan before end of year), not getting these done so I "can" drive it. hope that explains better.

fumblin46: the only reason (for me at least) to move the tank is for more room.

Hourly rate opinion: From a business owners perspective (only), $45 an hour to do anything with skilled labor is a good deal in my book. By the time the guy pays his wage, insurance, rent, and utilities, I'd be surprised if he breaks even. (And TAXES! I forgot to mention taxes.)

Of course, the best way to find out is to compare with other shops in your local area.

kimberly: yeah. i was hoping to find someone a little bit closer but this shop sounds like it may be the one. about a 30 minute drive through town but that may be well worth it.

in regards to the tech article:

should i expect the shop to purchase the specialty parts out of pocket or should i expect to foot the bill ahead of time for the parts? just curious. of course i wouldnt pay for labor in advance but unsure about specialty parts...

Ordinarily, I'd expect the shop to purchase the parts. Then, they'll put a mark up on it and add it to your final bill.

However, if you've found a guy who is self-employed, running a small shop and is willing to work with you (and only charging enough to get by, e.g., $45/hour), he may want you to pay for parts upfront. If that's the case, ask if he has some customers you can talk to (references). If he has good reviews *and* his record is clear with your local better business bureau, then I'd say it would be fair to pay him for the parts upfront because he may be operating on a shoestring and passing the savings on to his customers.

That said, if he doesn't have references (if he acts offended by the question - red flag!), or if there is anything questionable on his record with the BBB (or your local state's attorney's office), don't do it. Keep shopping - you may never get those parts installed and lose your cash as well.

Go to a good, reputable shop or dealership and ask the tech's themselves if they would be willing to work on your truck on the side. Most tech's also have shops at home for building their own stuff. If you were a little closer, I would take the project on,
Scott

Hey, wait a minute, Scott, I thought I had your plate full for the winter!!!

I know he's not going to be knocking on my door from 15 hours away. Still, it would only take a few days and everybody could use some spare cash,
Scott

I wouldn't deal with an hourly quote. Get a quote for the entire job so that there is a ceiling on the costs.

Yea.. never pay by the hour if you can help it.. or you'll end up paying for the guys lunch hour, standing around BS'ing with his buddies, etc.

I'd go for a flat rate estimate that includes a time frame for the completion of the job.. and don't pay a dime till the work is done.

Troy, I've had a restoration shop in the Dallas area for the last 25 years and offer this advice--get references, references, references. Then when you talk to one of the referred people ask him who else was having their vehicle done at the shop at the same time his was being done. Remember the shop owner is only going to give you the happy ones and the other guy needs to be heard from also. We furnish anyone with a list of EVERY job we've done for the last 25 years. Restoration work is impossible to give a rock firm quote on but we always tell people they are 100% welcome to be in the shop whenever their ride is being worked on, and can put some sweat equity into it if desired. Examples of unknowns are foremost rust, you just don't know till it's all stripped or maybe something like king pins, some you can almost push out with your finger and others you end up having to pull the axle out, strip it, put it in the press, reassemble it, bleed the brakes, etc. One takes half an hour and the other takes half a day. We meet this situation by having each person working on a project put his name, date, hours worked, total hours, and job done on the work sheet with each vehicle. If there is a discrepency between hours charged and work done there better be a good explanation or he doesn't have to worry about the customer climbing his [censored], my footprints will already be there. Our pay policy is the customer pays zero, nil, nothing until the work is completed. We must do it right because we have a 2 1/2 year waiting list to get into the shop. Good luck and remember, if anything seems fishy about time or charges, don't give it a chance to happen a second time because it will. Evan

There is a local restro shop that has quite a unique way of charging for their time ($50.00 an hour) working on a vehicle. They have a time clock, and each vehicle is given a "time card". When a mechanic goes to work on a particular vehicle, he first "clocks in" to that vehicle, and "clocks out" when finished. The shop has built a large clientel and everyone I have spoke with is very happy with not only work performed but time charged.

Man, we've gone from a few mechanical up-grades to a full on restoration (LOL),
Scott

Not a plug for full restorations, just examples of what to look for in a good shop, be it a resto or replacing a vent window you don't want to be taken for a ride on either. The young man has limited funds and almost no working facility and asked for advice, nuff said.

hey guys a wealth of info here... thanks! im shopping but taking my time... i dont see why a shop couldnt take care of this stuff in a week and thats if they are really dragging... i think the parts would take longer to ship(if need be) than the work to get done.
i'll let you know what i find out!

Troy, it sounds to me like you need to talk one of Coilover's employees into doing some side work. Plano should not be that far from you depending on what part of Dallas you reside in.

Phil

phil... i agree, i sent coilover a private message and will take it from there. im downtown dallas next to "deep ellum" so its a bit of a drive but most places on my side of town are a little "seedier"