My friends Dad is helping me with restoring my 91 vette. He's a retired mechanic and does things for me that I can't do.

I want to pay him something for his services so far. Can anyone please give me an idea of what would be fair for the services below?

- Upper and lower bushings replaced.
- 4 shocks replaced
- oil and filter change
- some small oil gizmo that sits on the top of the engine was leaking oil
was replaced
- reconnected some parts that were not reconnected after it was
painted.
- removed the radio receiver for me.
- installed the rear trim.
- front brake pads
- rethreaded one of my studs after Tire Kingdum dum cross threaded
one of the studs.
- loaned me some of his voltmeter/ohm meter stuff to (with the help of
someone on this forum) figure out my shift plate bulb problem.

Eventually he plans on changing the plugs and whatever else might be done with a tune up (distributor cap?).
Last night the car ran hot, service engine light went on and I pulled it back in to the garage within about 10 minutes. It was leaking antifreeze near the radiator. So lord knows what that'll be.

Anyway, just a ball park number. High low etc. I need to give the man something.

Thanks

 

well most shops charge around $75- 100 an hour to work on the car plus parts. you can take it from there

 

a easy 300.00 bucks

 

I have 7 kids. I always help them with there cars. For me, the payment I get is a chance to bond with my kids. Maybe teach them a few things about there car along the way, Just make sure your dad is comfortable when he works. Hand him the tools and pay attention and learn what he is doing to your car. I love my kids so I would never take any money for working on their cars. Just pay for the parts and tell your dad how much you appriacte him.

Just my .02 on Fathers day.

Corvette Mike

 

It's his friend's dad.

 

lol, your slipping mike.

I say ask the guy. He will say a price or say Nothing. If he says a fair price pay him. If he says nothing, try to make him take $200 he probably wont take it, and you will have to throw it on the ground and walk away.

 

tell me where you throw it on the ground ... I need more parts for my car.

 

How about a gift certificate for a NICE dinner at a GOOD restraunt

 

If he pulled the and replaced the CDM you owe the guy BIG $$$.

I've done it twice and whoever at GM decided to put half the radio where they did should be made to do all the replacements.

 

Stop it!

 

My 96 is at the dealer right now. It has a gas leak from the fuel lines at the back of the car going up to the top of the tank. GM discontinued the fuel lines so they have to make new ones. On top of that, they had to have the body shop there take the back of the car apart just to get the fuel tank out to fix the problem. The estimate they gave is $1,800 and it will take a week. That should give you an idea about the cost of the work you’ve had done. I’m having my cousin check out the A/C on my Impala. I know he would work on it for free but I’ll be paying him anyway. Like I told him, if I paid him $20 an hour to work on it, he’s saving me $70 an hour that I’d be paying the dealer(dealer charges $90 an hour). I wish I had the patience to do more work on my cars.

So, I would say you should offer him a minimum or $10 an hour. If your friend’s dad is the type of person who won’t take money for his help, just buy him a gift card to a nice restaurant or his favorite store.

 

Since this guy is retired, he may just really want to help and maybe enjoys the work. Have you spoken with your friend about this? Maybe he can give you a little direction. I definitely agree with Corvette Mike though - don't let him work on the car alone. This is a great opportunity for you to learn something you may not have another chance to learn later.

One thing that I've done several times when friends have offered to help and have really helped a lot or saved me a lot of money is I'll go get them a nice tool set of some sort. I cannot tell you how many dremel sets and drill/saw combos I've bought for other people. Maybe your friend knows of something he might not have or might like. It's a small way to say thanks and shows you put a little thought into it.

Just my two cents.

 

I have been around as much as possible so that I can learn from him. He removed that radio receiver, I reinstalled it after it was rebuilt. So, I'm learning.

He had a vette years ago and loves cars, so I know he willingly is doing it just for the love of it and fondness for me.

Still, I don't want something for nothing. Just the fact that I know he's actually doing the work. I have had my car worked on by everyone from the dealership to so called "corevette experts". Since it has become "old", whenever I send it in for 2 or 3 things, it takes forever to get it back and it always comes back with some new problem or 2.

At least with this guy and to some degree, myself doing it, I can address the 2 new problems that pop up while trying to fix a single problem.

So far my experience with old cars is that you can't seem to fix one thing without screwing something else up. Removing and replacing something under the hood seems to disturb other old pieces that were just getting ready to crap out too.

Anyway, I dropped $500 on the guy. He can use the extra money and I finally have someone who I trust can do the work and we can work together on fixing the other stuff that goes on the fritz as it comes.

When I had the shift bulb problem, he wanted to run another line to the bulb. I insisted that he give me some time on trying to fix the "real" problem. He did and with the aid of someone on this forum, I was able to fix the problem. Now my whole dash lights up. It had been so long, that I forgot how nice it looked.

Anyway, again thanks for the input. This whole forum is great and all of those who contribute are selfless individuals.

 

Ditto!

I do PC repair on the side, and I usually just charge for a 12 pack or a 24 pack of beer depending on the work that is involved, and any parts that might require replacement. For my kids, I don' charge a dime, but its funny that an old fart like me knows more about PC's than they do.

If the friends dad does not accept any money, I would either get him a gift certificate for a nice dinner as previously mentioned, or you could ask his wife what he might want and surprise him.