Mikelly Posted January 20, 2005 Share Posted January 20, 2005 Jim's car is coming along quite well... We had the cage installed to fit around Jim very well with a lower rocker bar tieing into the front hoop, as well as the rear fenderwell and the rear main hoop in a triangulation, a rear Xbrace instead of traditional rear hoop support, a cross brace, and a diagenal brace, along with a dash bar. The dash was pulled so the cage is pretty tight into the car. So this is the list of work this shop had levied on them... Pull the motor and trans, exhaust, and all engine bay parts. Remove full interior Tear down motor and send to machine shop Remove all interior TAR/ Sound deadening material Remove all exterior sound deadening material cut out and replace frame rails and floor pans Welded up and ground smooth all seems for framerail to floorpan joints Cut out spare tire well Install fuel safe fuel cell Fix axle issue Shorten Stud length on all wheel studs Repair interior wiring install 12 point cromoly cage Fabricate new seat braces Paint engine bay, underside, and inside of car, including cage Test fit new motor and transmission Fit new motor and transmission So far this is as far as has been gotten. We still need to install a radiator, interior dash and seats as well as harnesses, and rewire the new fuel injection, plumb the fuel cell, and do the final install on the motor and trans/ driveshaft. Then the alignment and the brake breakin will need to be done, along with the dynotune and final tune. These guys have charged him by the hour and only cost for materials. No mark up was made on any parts. When I look back at the work and see how good it finally looks, I can honestly say they did a very good job. The finished product will really be one of true amazement, and this car should hopefully be in more than a few magazines when all is said and done. My point to all this is the amount of time something takes... We are "Do it yourselfers" and sometimes we forget how much time it takes for someone to do something, and what that relates to in shop cost or income... When I read back on that list of work that Express has completed, I can very easily see where the money Jim has paid has gone. I know Jim had no intention of having this project spiral into this, and I certainly didn't, but I think the bill is justified, based on the work. I drop by that shop atleast once per week and see that someone is working on his car... That car is a work of art... Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
280Zone Posted January 20, 2005 Share Posted January 20, 2005 We always cringe when hearing what people pay to have work done because we know we can "do it ourselves". The difference is we don't pay ourselves to do it. If we did we would much easier see where the money goes. Oh, and BTW this post sure could use some pictures. : ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Posted January 20, 2005 Share Posted January 20, 2005 I don't resent a single penny I paid to get the LS1/T56 conversion on my car. I've already driven it 14,000 miles I wouldn't have been able to drive it otherwise if I had been doing it all myself. The best part was the 12 month/12,000 mile warrantee that came with it against which I only had a couple very minor things. That speaks hugely for the quality of the workmanship when a conversion has fewer "recall" items than a new car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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