ZMotorsports Shop Projects 2.0

[Finallygotit]

Ok Mike, admit it. Between Dan, Scott and myself we’re turning you into a rock convert huh??

(As he wrings his hands....) Bwahahahahaha..........our plan is coming together.

 

[PugetDude]

In the late 90's, when I was a young man, I had a girlfriend when I was stationed at Luke that had grandparents in Sun City. One weekend we redid all the gravel on the lot. 20 ton. I've not moved gravel like that since, and don't plan to. It's not fun.

...the things you do for love.

 

[M.Brane]

With the price of water here the only things we water are the fruit trees, veggies, flower beds, and the hedge.

 

[ctandc72]

Similar. I met quite a few people street racing back in the day. We would "tease" from light to light, but if it was serious we had a straight section about 5 miles out of town that headed straight west and we had some marks painted on the asphalt marking 1/4 mile. If **** got serious we'd head to west 12th street out towards "Little Mountain" and take care of business.

There were some fast vehicles back in those days, but no one expected a 4-wheel drive truck to be fast, so I had a bit of an advantage right off the bat because people didn't expect it.

Funny this came up, because a few weeks ago Dustin from Toolbox Tours did a video on a guy and I recognized him as soon as I saw him on the video, although we've both aged a bit since then. The gentleman's name was Dave B in Dustin's video and I told my wife, I know him, or rather he beat me a few times back in the 80's. He drove a white Jeep CJ5 with a small block Chevy in it, called Casper. That thing was fast as hell. He worked at a small automotive shop on Pennsylvania Ave, in West Ogden back then and now I hear he owns it as he bought it from his previous employer. I keep telling myself I should stop in and say hello, but I doubt he'd remember me as it's been a long time.

Sleepers made the money back then. I used every poor racer's trick known to man to win races on the launch. Worn out shocks up front. Air bag preloading one side in the rear. Even rigged up a junkyard windshield washer system that sprayed VHT on the rear tires at the push of a button. Fastest car around back then was a 4 door Chevette with a built 327. The engine was moved back quite a bit and the the driver's seat was where the back seat used to be. Will never forget that car LOL.

 

[zmotorsports]

(As he wrings his hands....) Bwahahahahaha..........our plan is coming together.

Yeah, yeah Dan, between the concrete and now the additional rock I guess your plan is working.....

...the things you do for love.

Ain't that the truth Scott, ain't that the truth. But what else would we do with our time or money than proclaim our love to our better halves.

With the price of water here the only things we water are the fruit trees, veggies, flower beds, and the hedge.

I'm not gonna lie, part of me wants the water away from my foundation, but that only means I can utilize that water elsewhere in my yard, so there's an alternative reason.

Sleepers made the money back then. I used every poor racer's trick known to man to win races on the launch. Worn out shocks up front. Air bag preloading one side in the rear. Even rigged up a junkyard windshield washer system that sprayed VHT on the rear tires at the push of a button. Fastest car around back then was a 4 door Chevette with a built 327. The engine was moved back quite a bit and the the driver's seat was where the back seat used to be. Will never forget that car LOL.

Agreed. My good friend had a 1967 Fairlane 500 that he bought from his older brother when his brother started having children. His older brother is one of my mentors that I have spoken about in the past. His Fairlane 500 originally had a straight six, but he built it using a 351 Cleveland, manual transmission and even had a FoMoCo 2-bbl carburetor on it, but damn that thing was fast. The Fairlane was the car he built his wife, but when they started having kids, it wasn't "practical", so he sold it to his little brother who was in High School at the time. I remember he made it look like it rolled off the assembly line with that powertrain, even though it was never available in that configuration, right down to the air cleaner so it was a complete sleeper.

My shortbed Chevy on the other hand was anything but subtle, it was lifted, big tires and a lot of chrome and show, but I had also stuffed a big block 396cid punched out to a 402cid running a Crower Beast cam, 9.6:1 hypereutectic pistons, Harland Sharpe roller rockers and a bunch of other go-fast goodies, and backed by a TH400 with a wide ratio gear set installed, but people just didn't expect a lifted truck to be fast. I think it was the gearing that people didn't expect to be compensated for as when I was in High School was when I first started experimenting with doing gear swaps and seeing the benefits of having properly geared vehicles. I had more people than not come up to me afterwards stating they had no idea a lifted truck could be fast, so that was I guess what made it a sleeper. Don't get me wrong though, I had my *** handed to me more than once as well by vehicles that I under-estimated.

 

[ctandc72]

Agreed. My good friend had a 1967 Fairlane 500 that he bought from his older brother when his brother started having children. His older brother is one of my mentors that I have spoken about in the past. His Fairlane 500 originally had a straight six, but he built it using a 351 Cleveland, manual transmission and even had a FoMoCo 2-bbl carburetor on it, but damn that thing was fast. The Fairlane was the car he built his wife, but when they started having kids, it wasn't "practical", so he sold it to his little brother who was in High School at the time. I remember he made it look like it rolled off the assembly line with that powertrain, even though it was never available in that configuration, right down to the air cleaner so it was a complete sleeper.

My shortbed Chevy on the other hand was anything but subtle, it was lifted, big tires and a lot of chrome and show, but I had also stuffed a big block 396cid punched out to a 402cid running a Crower Beast cam, 9.6:1 hypereutectic pistons, Harland Sharpe roller rockers and a bunch of other go-fast goodies, and backed by a TH400 with a wide ratio gear set installed, but people just didn't expect a lifted truck to be fast. I think it was the gearing that people didn't expect to be compensated for as when I was in High School was when I first started experimenting with doing gear swaps and seeing the benefits of having properly geared vehicles. I had more people than not come up to me afterwards stating they had no idea a lifted truck could be fast, so that was I guess what made it a sleeper. Don't get me wrong though, I had my *** handed to me more than once as well by vehicles that I under-estimated.

Grew up in rural SC. We had quite a few fast trucks LOL. I like to say, when I bought my '67 Chevelle for $550 (I was 15 - it was the 1980s). It was a green turd. When I sold it, it was a primer, very fast, turd.

I bought it from an old lady. It sat parked in what passed then for a 'retirement village' (just 4-5 townhomes together). I used to ride my bike by there all the time. Filled with unread newspapers. Yes, I'm serious. Huge dent in the 1/4 panel. No real rust. An UGLY forest green (not original). Dog dish hubcaps. 6 cylinder and three on the tree. I reminded her of her grandson. She sold it to me. I had saved up money I'd made mowing lawns etc. My dad loaned me the $50. He never let me forget that. Got it running and driving. Passed my driving test in it. Later that next year, someone left a message on our phone (we had just got an answering machine LOL). Turns out the old lady had passed away. The guy calling was her nephew. They were clearing out the house that she still owned, where she HAD lived with her husband who had passed years before. They found some "car stuff" in the shop - did I want it? They knew I had bought the car. (I had left my name / phone number several times at her place before she called me back).

Took my Dad's truck, drove out there. Ended up meeting the nephew who called. The "car stuff" was the original 396 and 4 speed on a pallet, wrapped in a tarp. Yes - I'm serious. Then I got the story on the car. My car was what you call "low" option.

- Steel wheels
- Manual steering / brakes
- Radio delete
- Heater delete (later added by dealer)
- 4.11 Posi
- 396 / 4 speed bench seat

The woman's husband worked at the old Chevy dealer at the time (Service dept). He ordered the '67 to race. The car was also a fairly rare color (Mountain Green) - story I was told, he filled out the order sheet, gave it to the sales guy but forget to choose a color and the sales guy picked for him.

He raced it and drove it now and again. Early 70s gas crunch. Wife needs a new car. The husband takes the low mile 6 cylinder / 3 speed out of a wrecked car at the dealer, swaps it all into the '67 and keeps the original drivetrain. Wife wants it painted. She picks the "Forest green" color. She drove it for years.

I was poor. So the first V8 swap was a junkyard 327 (my first 'rebuild). Double hump heads, a freebie L79 solid lifter cam / lifters and intake. Headers etc. Installed the factory 4 speed. Then pulled it back out to fix synchros, then put it back in LOL. Rock crusher my ***. Blew that up. Built a 350. All the while slowly going through the 396. Working at a GM dealership when they first released the 502 Marine engine - ended up with a 'core' engine (bad from the factory - they weren't big on what actually constituted core engines) all it needed was resized rods and new bearings. Ran that until I sold it a year or so later.

Car was very rare. This was before everything was on the internet. Wasn't actively for sale. A guy saw it at a drag race event in another state I was at. He crawled in and around it, checked the cowl tag etc. Let's just say as a teenager - I did okay with the price at the time. I shudder to think what that car is worth now in original form.

 

[rd65]

Yeah, I'm not looking forward to it Keith. I don't know why I can't just leave things alone. Project creep is alive and well around my place this year for some reason.

You'll need that ability in retirement.

 

[rd65]

Nothing that extreme. Just a little minor "tweaking" of the landscaping around the house and shop.




Because the owner wouldn't pay for a drain plug to be added. Besides, in this application it was easy enough to remove all of the pan bolts except the front and let it droop to drain. This was one of the easier ones to service, I've done some that no matter what you do you end up taking an ATF shower.




Thanks Cody. I'm having some rock delivered in the next day or two and will be doing a little modification to the areas around the back and side of the house as well as the shop. Should look a bit different in the next couple of weeks, I'm not looking forward to wheelbarrowing 4 yards of rock around though.....

Yard dump trailer? Do you use a riding mower or walk behind. You can rent powered wheelbarrows but that may be overkill.

 

[zmotorsports]

Yard dump trailer? Do you use a riding mower or walk behind. You can rent powered wheelbarrows but that may be overkill.

Nope, just manual labor, pull it around to where I want the rock and shovel the rock out of the yard cart where I want it. I don't even use the dump features as it just dumps all of the rocks in one place along with all of the fine sediment. By shoveling it out the sediment for the most part stays in the cart and not in my rock beds. It's not terribly bad to pull the cart around as I have a lot of concrete, then just on the grass for a short distance.

 

[CGarage]

Because the owner wouldn't pay for a drain plug to be added. Besides, in this application it was easy enough to remove all of the pan bolts except the front and let it droop to drain. This was one of the easier ones to service, I've done some that no matter what you do you end up taking an ATF shower.

That is really a shame. The cost is modest and it would greatly improve serviceability.

 

[zmotorsports]

That is really a shame. The cost is modest and it would greatly improve serviceability.

Agreed, but I am getting tired of giving my work away. Seems like I continually go above and beyond and then feel bad because I charged the client for work they didn't ask for nor agree to and end up taking it off the final bill. I really need to stop doing that, I'm only screwing myself. Anymore I need to stick to what they are paying for and agree to.

 

[CGarage]

Agreed, but I am getting tired of giving my work away. Seems like I continually go above and beyond and then feel bad because I charged the client for work they didn't ask for nor agree to and end up taking it off the final bill. I really need to stop doing that, I'm only screwing myself. Anymore I need to stick to what they are paying for and agree to.

Agreed.

You sell yourself short by not seeking out the clients who can really appreciate you for your capabilities, experience, and on-hand tooling…..

In my honest opinion, being Utah-humble has created some missed opportunities.

You have two lifetimes worth of experience between automotive and industrial, and you’ve got the tools. Lots of folks who love their stuff (and have the coin) need you, Mike!

 

[Xti04]

Agreed, but I am getting tired of giving my work away. Seems like I continually go above and beyond and then feel bad because I charged the client for work they didn't ask for nor agree to and end up taking it off the final bill. I really need to stop doing that, I'm only screwing myself. Anymore I need to stick to what they are paying for and agree to.

I dont always go above and beyond like I have seen you do, but I do like to clean up and clean off cars I work on. It costs me brake clean, towels, and time but its pride in the job to me. I ran my numbers for last year and doubled the prior year. I dont go above and beyond, Im not fabbing up badass parts to make their vehicles better than new like you but I have learned to own my work and quit worrying about what im charging. If I am giving it away I am saying my time is worthless and a stranger deserves it more than my kids and wife do. Make it count, and those who dont appreciate your time and skill can take it somewhere else. You can rest easy knowing your work should sell itself and the rest can pound sand.

 

[Jgaz]

I dont always go above and beyond like I have seen you do, but I do like to clean up and clean off cars I work on. It costs me brake clean, towels, and time but its pride in the job to me. I ran my numbers for last year and doubled the prior year. I dont go above and beyond, Im not fabbing up badass parts to make their vehicles better than new like you but I have learned to own my work and quit worrying about what im charging. If I am giving it away I am saying my time is worthless and a stranger deserves it more than my kids and wife do. Make it count, and those who dont appreciate your time and skill can take it somewhere else. You can rest easy knowing your work should sell itself and the rest can pound sand.

Well said.
Especially the time away from the wife and kids part.

 

[ntsqd]

Factor the cleaning etc. into your estimate up front and include it in your description of the work that you expect to do. That may just help weed out those you'd rather not work for anyway.

X3 on time away from family or your own projects.

 

[CGarage]

I think every shop should charge a base amount for shop materials / consumables. Even if it is $10 to $15 dollars, it will help offset supply costs.

 

[zmotorsports]

Thanks for all of the feedback guys. I'm not complaining about what I'm making per se, I am just saying that it seems I go above and beyond and then knock charges off the final bill and most clients really don't care one way or the other, they just want their rides fixed and as cheap as possible, but I am fortunate that quite a few of the people I do work for actually appreciate the quality of work I perform.

With a recent family event, I have been doing a lot of deep thinking over the past couple of nights, especially while hauling rock from the pile to the front yard, and I feel as though the older I am getting, that I find my time is becoming more valuable than in years past when I was young and felt like I had plenty of it. I'm learning that my time on this rotating ball is in fact, finite, and watching my grandson run around the yard last night and with the soon arrival of our granddaughter, I don't want to ever be too busy for them.

I look at my wife and how she interacts with our grandson and it makes me fall in love with her all over again. She works all day long, comes home tired and ready to collapse, but when our grandson shows up, she is in full Grandma mode and crawls around on the floor and plays with him. He thinks she is his own personal plaything and she just takes it all in.


I have postponed some work on our coach to get side work in over the past few months and now I'm scrambling to get it ready for our travel season and I don't like feeling rushed on my own stuff and I'll be damned if I am going to miss out on travel with the wife because I wasn't ready. Plus, project creep took hold and it has morphed into a larger project than just removing the toilet to find the source of the odor, and don't even get me started on the yard project that I decided to tear into in the middle of everything else. It is not like me to have multiple projects going at once and I don't like the way it makes me feel having more than one project in pieces. I did that too much when I was younger and felt like I got nothing accomplished. I would bounce back and forth between projects and as money and time were available and swore I would never do that again and that I would finish one project before tearing into another and it has served me well for many years now, but I got stupid this past week or so.

I lost two side jobs over the past week because I couldn't get them right into the shop and when I told the people that I was in the middle of a couple personal projects that it may be a few weeks or even a month, they kind of got indignant and said they'd take it somewhere else. At first I wanted to appease them and just get them into the shop, but I stopped myself, shrugged my shoulders and told them to do what they thought was best and left it at that. I thought I would regret missing out on the work and the $$$, but I found that I really didn't give either job another thought as I have plenty of my own stuff to do right now. It's taken me a long time to realize this, but I finally came to the realization that people really don't care about me or my time, they are only concerned about themselves and their situation, not what someone else is doing or what they are in the middle of. Well someone else's emergency or procrastination shouldn't be my problem and I need to quit making it my problem and taking that responsibility.

My wife reminded me again last night why I became a mechanic, and that was so that me and my family could drive nice stuff and keep it all properly maintained. I'm proud of that and if I start straying from that philosophy or mindset then I am only disrespecting myself.

I think every shop should charge a base amount for shop materials / consumables. Even if it is $10 to $15 dollars, it will help offset supply costs.

I do account for a can of brake wash and a few paper towels and "minor" shop supplies into my hourly rate, but when I do a large job that requires more shop supplies, I do add a small $20 "shop supplies" surcharge. Most people don't question it, but it is easy enough to explain to those who do and I've never had an issue.

I remember a thread a few years back on this forum where members were discussing "shop supplies" and related fees and it was quite divided on those that do it vs. those that don't and especially those who supported and those who didn't. A very divided and hot topic actually.

 

[aka Larry]

Make it count, and those who dont appreciate your time and skill can take it somewhere else. You can rest easy knowing your work should sell itself and the rest can pound sand.

Agreed 100%.

I'm pretty sure you're not actively looking for work, and those who seek you out are doing so because either they know, or have have heard, about your skill level. There are plenty of people who are willing to pay to have someone of your caliber work on their vehicle knowing that NOTHING will be done half-@ssed.

 

[ntsqd]

I never ask for priority, I ask when my local R&P set-up etc. guy can get to something that I need done and plan around that. At the same time I know that he would push me right up front if something came up and I really did have an emergency. That is something that I highly value and do not abuse. In the ~30 odd years that I've known him I've had exactly one such emergency. And one other time that he wanted in on solving a weird problem of mine that pushed it to the top of his list. Neither of us had ever heard of or seen a Full-Float drive axle melt in half before.

I take my cues partly from talking to him at the desert races (I've crewed on several of the vehicles he's raced in over the years). His attitude is the people who routinely want to jump in line aren't customers that he wants. Seems very, very reasonable to me.

 

[ctandc72]

This all sounds familiar. Don't let others **** the joy out of it. It's one of the reasons I don't often work on other peoples' stuff - barring friends and family. My ex would do that to me. Sucker me into helping out people she worked with. Stuff like "My brakes are making a noise!" Well there's no brake pad material left, that's pure metal on metal. Then listen to some guy ask for my help with something then tell me "That's not it." I wasn't even charging them. Okay. Bye.

For a long while I kept up by building engines for people I got to know racing. More than a few manual transmission swaps. All the while constantly buying / fixing up / flipping to add to my day job.

I have to fight project creep now. Like this Silverado. I know I need to repair the rust damaged parts of the frame and there is one way to do it - but I get in that trap. 250K on the truck. I need to move / pull the fuel lines to weld this, I might as well replace them etc.

It's a different time now. Youtube / internet can be a GREAT resource, but I swear I've met a lot of people who sound like master mechanics, but have almost zero experience except for watching it / reading about it. "Should only take an hour to do this or that." - Sure, if every bolt comes off, if no previous owner ever made some ridiculous 'repair' of mod.

Don't let 'em grind you down.

That reminds me - I need to the 100K mile service on my wife's '13 Camaro SS ragtop. At least with that car I can fire it up inside the closed shop and that sound reminds me why I do this to myself LOL

 

[madison069]

Hey Mike, how’s the riding mower restoration project going?



keep it on the back burner, as I was just teasing ya as I deal with the same here. I got customers waiting for me to work on their mowers but I can’t even walk in my garage without stepping over so much stuff. i had to tell some that it don’t look like I’ll be able to get to the, til April and so they are looking for someone else. Oh well, I’m trying but I need to take care of my projects and chores first to even be in a position to take on other projects.

 

[zmotorsports]

Hey Mike, how’s the riding mower restoration project going?

Cody, I assume you're inquiring about the Wheel Horse tractor? I don't have the mower attachment and won't be using it for anything other than pushing snow, but it is in the same place and condition it was several months ago. I hit it pretty hard at the onset of winter thinking if I got it running I would use it to push snow and "test" it out before I tore it all apart. However, with the mild winter we had, I never did any more than just get it running.

The plan is to tear it down and do a full restoration on it, but only after I get caught up on my other projects that are higher in the queue.

 

[mercracing]

My $.02
Mike you do amazing work and should be able to charge accordingly. Your attention to detail is above and beyond most auto shops. All that detail takes time and if others can’t see it or don’t want it, let them move on. If I need to estimate how much it will cost to do a job I always ALWAYS over estimate. If they’re ok with that cost, they will always be happy when the final bill is less than the quote.

 

[PugetDude]

Thanks for all of the feedback guys. I'm not complaining about what I'm making per se, I am just saying that it seems I go above and beyond and then knock charges off the final bill and most clients really don't care one way or the other, they just want their rides fixed and as cheap as possible, but I am fortunate that quite a few of the people I do work for actually appreciate the quality of work I perform.

With a recent family event, I have been doing a lot of deep thinking over the past couple of nights, especially while hauling rock from the pile to the front yard, and I feel as though the older I am getting, that I find my time is becoming more valuable than in years past when I was young and felt like I had plenty of it. I'm learning that my time on this rotating ball is in fact, finite, and watching my grandson run around the yard last night and with the soon arrival of our granddaughter, I don't want to ever be too busy for them.

I look at my wife and how she interacts with our grandson and it makes me fall in love with her all over again. She works all day long, comes home tired and ready to collapse, but when our grandson shows up, she is in full Grandma mode and crawls around on the floor and plays with him. He thinks she is his own personal plaything and she just takes it all in.


I have postponed some work on our coach to get side work in over the past few months and now I'm scrambling to get it ready for our travel season and I don't like feeling rushed on my own stuff and I'll be damned if I am going to miss out on travel with the wife because I wasn't ready. Plus, project creep took hold and it has morphed into a larger project than just removing the toilet to find the source of the odor, and don't even get me started on the yard project that I decided to tear into in the middle of everything else. It is not like me to have multiple projects going at once and I don't like the way it makes me feel having more than one project in pieces. I did that too much when I was younger and felt like I got nothing accomplished. I would bounce back and forth between projects and as money and time were available and swore I would never do that again and that I would finish one project before tearing into another and it has served me well for many years now, but I got stupid this past week or so.

I lost two side jobs over the past week because I couldn't get them right into the shop and when I told the people that I was in the middle of a couple personal projects that it may be a few weeks or even a month, they kind of got indignant and said they'd take it somewhere else. At first I wanted to appease them and just get them into the shop, but I stopped myself, shrugged my shoulders and told them to do what they thought was best and left it at that. I thought I would regret missing out on the work and the $$$, but I found that I really didn't give either job another thought as I have plenty of my own stuff to do right now. It's taken me a long time to realize this, but I finally came to the realization that people really don't care about me or my time, they are only concerned about themselves and their situation, not what someone else is doing or what they are in the middle of. Well someone else's emergency or procrastination shouldn't be my problem and I need to quit making it my problem and taking that responsibility.

My wife reminded me again last night why I became a mechanic, and that was so that me and my family could drive nice stuff and keep it all properly maintained. I'm proud of that and if I start straying from that philosophy or mindset then I am only disrespecting myself.





I do account for a can of brake wash and a few paper towels and "minor" shop supplies into my hourly rate, but when I do a large job that requires more shop supplies, I do add a small $20 "shop supplies" surcharge. Most people don't question it, but it is easy enough to explain to those who do and I've never had an issue.

I remember a thread a few years back on this forum where members were discussing "shop supplies" and related fees and it was quite divided on those that do it vs. those that don't and especially those who supported and those who didn't. A very divided and hot topic actually.

Provide anyone who ******* about it with a detailed shopping list of supplies that you will need to replenish after working on their vehicle. Brake Kleen, shop towels, grease, oils, cleaners, tools, fasteners,etc. Tell them that if they fulfill the entire list you'll be happy to remove the charge for shop supplies. Otherwise, pound sand and don't bother coming back.

..

 

[CGarage]

I remember a thread a few years back on this forum where members were discussing "shop supplies" and related fees and it was quite divided on those that do it vs. those that don't and especially those who supported and those who didn't. A very divided and hot topic actually.

GJ is NOT full of business minded members, especially those that account for consumables- unfortunately. The best wrench turners can barely balance a check book, usually.

 

[rharman]

It sure feels like it.

This is "another" one of the projects where scope creep came into the picture. I noticed that last summer after replacing some sod on the south side of the house, right under our master bedroom, that the sod just didn't take off and I have had a tough time with grass in this area ever since we moved in. I think I tracked it down to the heat coming off the stucco basically cooking the sod for the first couple feet from the side of the house.

I reached out to the contractor who I have used in the past to do some ornamental curbing and they met with me to ensure me they could match my existing curbing. With that the area I was wanting to add curbing was only about 20' and they have a 100' minimum. The lady told me they could do 20', but it would be the same price as a hundred feet. So when the wife got home last week I ran an idea past her about cutting the sod out on the east side of the house as well as the east side of the shop and adding curbing and rock. That would be me right at the 100' minimum, but would obviously require a LOT more work moving rock around, scope creep.

The area on the east side of the house is the area that I rolled up the sod last fall and hauled in a yard of fill dirt to level out the area around the foundation, so yeah Cody, I am basically doing just that, hauling in fill dirt, leveling and smoothing like a baby's ****, laying the sod back out and have it grow in beautifully, only to now cut it our and haul in rock..

My thinking was that by doing this I would negate the issues with the sod being cooked from the hot stucco in the warmer months and more importantly, I would be removing all sod and therefore sprinklers from around the foundation of the house and shop. This will mean nowhere on my property will I have sprinklers or sod up against a foundation of either the house or shop, which is proven to have benefits.

I was able to match the rock to what I hauled in 9 years ago. The company I purchased it from only gets one large load a year because it comes in from out of state and when I checked with them last week they had just gotten their one delivery for the year. Of course it's the most expensive rock they have, but that's the one the wife fell in love with 9 years ago, so that's what will be going in around the house and shop.

I can sympathize with you on the rock moving. In 2010, we had curbs put around a couple of areas in our front yard. Hired a guy with the "curb pooping" machine. Turned out great. We did this large area, a circular one on the other side of the front, and one small area in the back. We just layed out a hose in an organic shape around the birch trees and he followed that.

Here's what 8000# of rocks looked like. My wife and I moved every one of them by Homer bucket and placed them. Huh... I just noticed that the Homer buckets are in the background.

 

[bugnut]

Good morning Mke, as for shop supplies. If it were me I'd just add a flat percentage and if you were offended by me charging you for stuff, then don't darken my doorway.
HOWEVER, the bigger message was this!!

with the soon arrival of our granddaughter,

WOWSER, great news and congrats to the family!

Get out the pink and purple paint and get busy!

 

[Atlascycle]

Congrats Mike!!!

 

[PugetDude]

HOWEVER, the bigger message was this!!

WOWSER, great news and congrats to the family!

Get out the pink and purple paint and get busy!

He did kinda sneak that in, didn't he?

 

[Johnno]

i was thinking the same thing. On just slipping that in there.
Congrats Mike, to you and the family

 

[Mr.zippy]

Oh wow! I didn't catch that one either. Granddaughters can truly melt hearts!

 

[LXCam]

Oh wow! I didn't catch that one either. Granddaughters can truly melt hearts!

Oh Mike thought the GS was the end all beat all........just you wait bud and congrat's to everyone!

 

[signcrafter]

Congrats on the new addition Mike!

Any projects painted pink brewing in the mind?

Congrats again to you and your son and family.

 

[gearhead1960]

Congratulations on the new addition. Just wait....she'll be a bigger motorhead than the grandson with your influence....

 

[mercracing]

I read it and assumed I missed an earlier post saying it lol.

Congrats Mike!!

 

[signcrafter]

I read it and assumed I missed an earlier post saying it lol.

Congrats Mike!!

I also thought I missed a post. I've been crazy busy and dropping in here and there trying to catch up. Then thought there is no way Mike just casually drops that bit of info in the middle of a post.

 

[zmotorsports]

I appreciate everyone's kind words. I've kept it kind of quiet just because my wife and I's experience with pregnancy was less than ideal and it may have skewed our perception or enthusiasm a bit. I'm sure I will be more excited and enthralled once I hold that sweet little girl in my arms, much like I felt with my grandson. Now he means the world to me and I have no doubt she will be the same.

Last night my son and DIL brought our grandson over while my son and I were working on his Jeep and to have that little guy running around the shop asking questions and just wanting to help is almost more than I can stand. He just wants to be in the thick of things and especially help with whatever his dad or I am doing and I look forward to that even more as time goes on.

GJ is NOT full of business minded members, especially those that account for consumables- unfortunately. The best wrench turners can barely balance a check book, usually.

True, but one thing I try to instill in the mechanics that work for me when discussing parts and consumables is to treat each job and their own small work area as their own company. Make decisions based on what they would do if they were writing the check for those materials or parts. I don't know if it makes a difference or not, but at least it gets them thinking a little more along the lines of personal accountability vs. it's a big company and they have plenty of money.

I'll admit that owning and running a side business for a couple of decades may have given me a bit of an advantage in the "big picture" type of expenses, but it's not something that anyone spinning wrenches can't or shouldn't try to adopt as a mindset. I learned many years ago that being the best wrench in the world isn't a guarantee to any path forward. One needs to develop additional skills and add them to their toolbox in order to be successful. Tools like communication, both in written and spoken form, as well as critical thinking skills are invaluable if a person wants to make themselves invaluable to an organization, large or small.

Good morning Mke, as for shop supplies. If it were me I'd just add a flat percentage and if you were offended by me charging you for stuff, then don't darken my doorway.
HOWEVER, the bigger message was this!!

WOWSER, great news and congrats to the family!

Get out the pink and purple paint and get busy!

Thanks Joel, the wife and I are excited, but anxious.

As for a shop fee, I basically have a small shop fee added into my hourly rate now and then just add an additional one if/when the project escalates to one where more consumables are required and seldom ever have anyone question it.

Congratulations on the new addition. Just wait....she'll be a bigger motorhead than the grandson with your influence....

That's kind of what my DIL told me. I mentioned to my DIL several months ago that I don't know what to do with a little girl so I will be lost and she told me to do the same thing I'm doing with our grandson, although she'll probably be out in the shop with Papa even more. I mentioned that there may be a slight chance that she'll have a badass car in High School.....

 

[rd65]

Congrats on the addition to the family. I like your boy/girl ratio. We are currently at 8b to 1g (and she is in Ohio w/ 2 brothers), oldest of the group is 4-1/2.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

I mentioned that there may be a slight chance that she'll have a badass car in High School.....

My youngest daughter had the coolest vehicle in the parking lot when she was in high school...and she's the one that picked it out, still laments about selling it. 1991 C1500 Sport(looked like a 454SS), 305/5-speed combo. The rust worms had really done a number on it, otherwise I would have kept it to drive as well.

 

[signcrafter]

As for a shop fee, I basically have a small shop fee added into my hourly rate now and then just add an additional one if/when the project escalates to one where more consumables are required and seldom ever have anyone question it.

Mike, I never used to think about a shop fee 10 years ago when consumables were cheap. Just kept it simple and maybe added a few bucks here and there to the final price to cover some of the chemicals, sealants, rags, rolocs, etc. same with construction jobs, if I was pricing a drywall job I didn't take the time to figure in screws and drywall tape, bits, etc. Just figured out the bigger materials and rounded up here and there if needed. I'm probably not the best business minded person and don't always account for everything. But now with the price of everything way up there I've learned to take the time to add in most of that little stuff because it can add up fast. A simple brake job you have a can or two of brake clean at 5 bucks a can, consumables to clean the hub and rim and also the slide pins and bores and then the bracket where the hardware goes. If you don't add that into every job and say you run out of everything at once and have to re supply then you are out a bunch of money real quick. Think the last brake lube I bought was over 20 bucks. So I've thrown a number onto every job I do, sometimes it's just a dollar amount or percentage or if I know it's going to take a case of brake cleaner to clean up an engine from a neglected oil leak I'll add that right into the parts.

I think the easiest way would be how most shops just add a flat fee or percentage to every estimate for shop fees. But then I also think that can give a bad perception to some on some jobs, can't think of an example off the top of my head but something simple that may not require any consumables that might make someone question why it's on their bill. Your way of just raising hourly rate to include shop supplies is a good way. Most of the time the people I do work for don't question things. In the end those costs are put somewhere to get to the final total of the bill. Just some people don't like to see it written a certain way.

Another one is diagnostics. I never used to charge for it if you had me do the work. But with the costs of the tools needed to diagnose things these days I had to start charging for that also.

One more thing that I was thinking about the last few weeks is specialty tools. I've always had the mindset that I buy the tools with the profits from the repair jobs. But I've started noticing that everything is requiring me to buy new specialty tools. My daughters fusion 1.5L had a valve cover leak a few weeks ago. The HP fuel rail goes over the top of the valve cover and has to be pulled. The injectors stuck in the head so they make a special puller to get them out. Then a special tool set to re seal the injectors. Then while I was in there I changed the timing belt which required an interesting set of timing tools. Luckily they sell Chinese knock off tools for these jobs. I'm not a fan of cheap tools, especially for things like timing and engine. But if I bought the rotunda or OTC tools it would have been well over a grand just in specialty tools I may or may not ever use for that particular engine. Have a 2.3L to re seal timing cover coming up and that requires its own set of specialty tools to do the job correctly. Also have a axle seal leak to do on a Transit connect with the 2.5L and Ford says to change the bushing in the transmission output. This requires special tools to pull and install the bushing. There are some that have used other tools and I may try that also. I've started included some or all of specialty tools like this to jobs. Kind of ***** for the first person because they get charged for all the tools but if I do another job on same vehicle and already have the tools then it's cheaper for that second job. Not sure there a perfect way to bill for things like this but I can't eat the costs of tools I have to buy for a specific job and most likely will only use one time when every job seems to need a special tool to do correctly anymore.