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Labor rate for working on Mopars? #3166456
08/08/23 09:29 AM
08/08/23 09:29 AM
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JERICOGTX Offline OP
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I'm curious for those that work on other peoples Mopars, roughly what do you charge them for labor rates? Most of the stuff I work on is my own, my immediate family, or close personal friends. lately I've been working on a 69 Charger. Was a complete running car when it arrived. Original 383 2 Bbl car. Here is a list of the things I've done to it:

R&R 906 heads with 440 Stealth heads.
R&R the original single exhaust, with TTi headers, and exhaust
Rebuilt the front suspension
Installed disk brakes
New master cylinder
Removed oil pan, and transmission pan, cleaned and reinstalled for leaks
Installed electronic ignition
Stripped, cleaned, painted original valve covers
Installed Performer RPM intake
Installed Edelbrock carburetor
Install new starter
Remove interior, install new carpet, reinstall interior
Install new washer bottle

I have a bunch of time into cleaning all the parts, and painting stuff. EVERYTHING was super greasy. Pretty sure the original short block has never been out of the car.

I just want to see if my bill to the customer is in line with others.

Thanks.

Jeff



383-2.jpg
Last edited by JERICOGTX; 08/08/23 09:30 AM.

69 GTX 68 Road Runner
Re: Labor rate for working on Mopars? [Re: JERICOGTX] #3166463
08/08/23 09:40 AM
08/08/23 09:40 AM
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UPPER MICHIGAN, MARQUETTE COUN...
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How many hours do you have in it and what are you charging per hour. I see an easy 35- 40 hours of labor.

Re: Labor rate for working on Mopars? [Re: NITROUSN] #3166466
08/08/23 09:53 AM
08/08/23 09:53 AM
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Originally Posted by NITROUSN
How many hours do you have in it and what are you charging per hour. I see an easy 35- 40 hours of labor.


I have well over that into it hour/labor wise.


69 GTX 68 Road Runner
Re: Labor rate for working on Mopars? [Re: JERICOGTX] #3166497
08/08/23 11:21 AM
08/08/23 11:21 AM
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Seems that nowadays, specialty-car shops are at $75-$125/hour depending on the type of work.
When I've had a business deal (vs. helping or working on a buddy's deal, which of course is free) I never had the nerve to charge more than $25/hour.
I didn't charge for research time, just materials and actual labor, with the vehicle in my garage.
That wouldn't be a good business model, nor particularly profitable, but more about someone wanting to pay for my time.
That was a few years ago, and the customer was happy.
I've turned down a couple jobs since - when I had no space - and now with moving, I'm not taking anything on.

Re: Labor rate for working on Mopars? [Re: topside] #3166507
08/08/23 11:40 AM
08/08/23 11:40 AM
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Round Lake Beach, Illinoisy
Rhinodart Offline
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Dealerships are $150-175 an hour nowadays. Explain that to your customer and give him a 50% discount... twocents


The funny thing about science is that if you change one miniscule parameter you change the entire outcome to the way you want it.

JB Rhinehart, Realist

A-Body's RULE!
Re: Labor rate for working on Mopars? [Re: JERICOGTX] #3166508
08/08/23 11:42 AM
08/08/23 11:42 AM
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Ontario Canada
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Bennoel 10 Offline
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First off the job is in a specialty category that most auto repair shops don't want to even look at never mind do. I'm sure your client has
shopped around and that led to you. Hopefully he or she understands that they're getting a niche service as most repair shops don't take
the time to de grease and paint parts. It's very hard to give an estimate as you don't know what you'll encounter with a 50 plus year old
car. I would keep track of my hours, both doing actual work as well as time spent ordering parts or researching. Then multiple by the
hourly rate. Can't really get any fairer than that. In the end you have made a 69 charger owner (who already at the top of the food chain)
increase the value of the car. Just my thoughts.

Bennoel

Re: Labor rate for working on Mopars? [Re: Rhinodart] #3166511
08/08/23 11:49 AM
08/08/23 11:49 AM
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Nashville, TN
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MOPARMIKE69 Offline
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Close friends small job no charge just bring drinks.
Club member with larger project $25 per hour.
Non club member more involved project $50.00 and hour
Thats all for mechanical and restoration work.
Paint and body I charge buy the job client buys all paint and materials. I start at $10,000. and go from there.


69 Road Runner vert
69 GTX hard top
70 Road Runner 4 speed
70 Hemi Cuda vert
Re: Labor rate for working on Mopars? [Re: JERICOGTX] #3166513
08/08/23 11:56 AM
08/08/23 11:56 AM
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Atlanta, GA
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I would be charging at least $75 bucks an hour. And that would be about $50 an hour cheaper than most shops in the area that work on restoration type stuff.

Re: Labor rate for working on Mopars? [Re: Bennoel 10] #3166514
08/08/23 11:56 AM
08/08/23 11:56 AM
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north of coder
moparx Offline
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i pick and choose what i do for others anymore, and it mostly is for friends and relatives.
if it only involves a few hours, it is zero cost, or a donation.
if it involves a major amount of time, i charge $15.00 per hour.
most of the time, i work for free................[i always say i'm the lowest paid guy on the city payroll. laugh2]
beer

Re: Labor rate for working on Mopars? [Re: JERICOGTX] #3166525
08/08/23 12:32 PM
08/08/23 12:32 PM
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I've been charging $25.00 for years, I should probably raise it to $40.00 or maybe a little more?
I work out of my shop at home (no rent or other over head costs up) building motors only, I try not to work on cars as I don't have enough shop space or desire anymore to work on other peoples cars shruggy

Last edited by Cab_Burge; 08/08/23 07:50 PM.

Mr.Cab Racing and winning with Mopars since 1964. (Old F--t, Huh)
Re: Labor rate for working on Mopars? [Re: Cab_Burge] #3166534
08/08/23 12:53 PM
08/08/23 12:53 PM
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Park Forest, IL
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I charge whatever my overtime rate is at work. Still way cheaper than any shop.


"Everybody funny, now you funny too."
Re: Labor rate for working on Mopars? [Re: slantzilla] #3166539
08/08/23 01:14 PM
08/08/23 01:14 PM
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Seems I'm not out of line with what the customers bill is. I'm not working for free. My time is worth something IMO. Somethings aren't bad to do, but I HATE getting greasy up to my elbows every time I worked on something on this car. It takes a lot of time to clean things up. When I pulled the oil pan, it had so much sludge in the bottom of the pan, the pickup tube was almost blocked off. Who ever rebuilt the heads last time, never took the time to clean all the rocker arms, shafts, and push rods. All covered in gunk. They looked like new, when I installed them. I have 74 hours into this project. For reference, here is what I stated with:

383-3.jpg383-4.jpg

69 GTX 68 Road Runner
Re: Labor rate for working on Mopars? [Re: JERICOGTX] #3166556
08/08/23 02:04 PM
08/08/23 02:04 PM
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Round Lake Beach, Illinoisy
Rhinodart Offline
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Being a factory A/C car that makes double the time to work on anything than a non-A/C car! eek


The funny thing about science is that if you change one miniscule parameter you change the entire outcome to the way you want it.

JB Rhinehart, Realist

A-Body's RULE!
Re: Labor rate for working on Mopars? [Re: Rhinodart] #3166561
08/08/23 02:09 PM
08/08/23 02:09 PM
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Sniper Offline
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Your labor rate should have been discussed BEFORE the ob started, not afterwards, that is bad business.

Re: Labor rate for working on Mopars? [Re: JERICOGTX] #3166588
08/08/23 03:31 PM
08/08/23 03:31 PM
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I use a sliding scale depending on if the person is a customer or a friend, if they are paying cash or not, and how easy they were to work with.

Re: Labor rate for working on Mopars? [Re: AndyF] #3166629
08/08/23 06:16 PM
08/08/23 06:16 PM
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Honestly, I wouldn't touch a grease-pit like those photos show, until the customer had it steam-cleaned first.
I turned down a deal like that a few years back.
Can't stand that kind of mess, and won't have it on my premises...yeah, I'm fussy.

Re: Labor rate for working on Mopars? [Re: topside] #3166635
08/08/23 06:55 PM
08/08/23 06:55 PM
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I don't do work for anyone, too much liability. Years ago I did more and got caught more than once with the "you changed my headlight and then my front wheel fell off, it must have been something you did". Now I will HELP people with repairs on their cars but they know up front THEY will be doing it. Same way with welding, "Can you weld? Yes. There's the welder, have at it".


"We live in a time when intelligent people are being silenced so that stupid people won't be offended".
Re: Labor rate for working on Mopars? [Re: JERICOGTX] #3166670
08/08/23 09:25 PM
08/08/23 09:25 PM
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DaveRS23 Offline
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Originally Posted by JERICOGTX
Seems I'm not out of line with what the customers bill is. I'm not working for free. My time is worth something IMO. Somethings aren't bad to do, but I HATE getting greasy up to my elbows every time I worked on something on this car. It takes a lot of time to clean things up. When I pulled the oil pan, it had so much sludge in the bottom of the pan, the pickup tube was almost blocked off. Who ever rebuilt the heads last time, never took the time to clean all the rocker arms, shafts, and push rods. All covered in gunk. They looked like new, when I installed them. I have 74 hours into this project. For reference, here is what I stated with:


So, 74 hours at, let's just say $75 an hour, would be.........$5,550. Or somewhere there abouts.

Or are you thinking more like $50 an hour? Then it would be $3,700.

Are you going to tell us what you are actually charging the guy?


Master, again and still
Re: Labor rate for working on Mopars? [Re: DaveRS23] #3166683
08/08/23 10:42 PM
08/08/23 10:42 PM
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Easy 7-10K IMO with parts. Or take it somewhere else. Do keep in mind if it comes back for a problem you may have to eat it twocents

Re: Labor rate for working on Mopars? [Re: 6PakBee] #3166711
08/09/23 01:33 AM
08/09/23 01:33 AM
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Originally Posted by 6PakBee
I don't do work for anyone, too much liability. Years ago I did more and got caught more than once with the "you changed my headlight and then my front wheel fell off, it must have been something you did". Now I will HELP people with repairs on their cars but they know up front THEY will be doing it. Same way with welding, "Can you weld? Yes. There's the welder, have at it".


Yea: they always Remember the Last person who did Anything on their car, as the Cause for Any future problems.

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