For those of you that do this for a living
TECH Addict
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 2,177
Likes: 627
From: Florida
most of this stuff is pretty much how i feel about it all.
i spent a bunch of years building engines and porting cylinder heads and after a while i stopped working on my own car because it wasnt fun anymore.
plus the money isnt great. jobs that are funded by peoples hobbies are always lowest priority for getting paid. theres always excuses about asking the wife or whatever.
Went back to office sorta work and now i have fun with my own stuff. ive thought about starting to do swaps and tuning for people but i plan to be very picky who i accept as a customer.
i spent a bunch of years building engines and porting cylinder heads and after a while i stopped working on my own car because it wasnt fun anymore.
plus the money isnt great. jobs that are funded by peoples hobbies are always lowest priority for getting paid. theres always excuses about asking the wife or whatever.
Went back to office sorta work and now i have fun with my own stuff. ive thought about starting to do swaps and tuning for people but i plan to be very picky who i accept as a customer.
On The Tree
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 156
Likes: 1
Back in the 70's as as sophomore, we took a test to determine our career path and recommended electives that happened to be a series of questions that targeted our interests...I was marked to be a "mechanic"...yeah, motorcycle racer, son of an excellent motorcycle mechanic, who would have guessed. Went to college and left with a professional degree and ultimately a license but I have managed to keep work separate from hobbies. When hobbies become work it can be a disaster as so many have discovered. Now I try to keep Doctor's, not medical but the PhD kind happy that look down their nose at me and my coworkers. It's amazing how a person can write a dissertation on puss from a toad's pimple and they believe they are a superior being.
Best of luck to you guy's on whatever road you have taken.
Best of luck to you guy's on whatever road you have taken.
Andrew
As for as the th $150 an hour...I think that's reasonable. You are renting a DYNO, you expect that **** to be $50 bucks an hour?
You have to pay for the dyno, pay to run the dyno, pay the guy to run it, insurance, etc.
If they were cheap everyone would have one.
Also we don't let customers drive their car on the dyno. There is too much risk and liability for that ****.
I've had customers call and I tell them that and they said, "I'm the only one who drives my car!"
Not on my dyno you don't. Sorry.
I've had customers call and I tell them that and they said, "I'm the only one who drives my car!"
Not on my dyno you don't. Sorry.
I agree the $1k tune is a little excessive unless it's some huge cam blower setup.
As for as the th $150 an hour...I think that's reasonable. You are renting a DYNO, you expect that **** to be $50 bucks an hour?
You have to pay for the dyno, pay to run the dyno, pay the guy to run it, insurance, etc.
If they were cheap everyone would have one.
As for as the th $150 an hour...I think that's reasonable. You are renting a DYNO, you expect that **** to be $50 bucks an hour?
You have to pay for the dyno, pay to run the dyno, pay the guy to run it, insurance, etc.
If they were cheap everyone would have one.
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TECH Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 22,291
Likes: 3,616
From: Central Cal.
I totally get that. When their car is on a dyno, it is driving YOUR dyno. Therefore YOU drive what is driving YOUR dyno. I guess some don't see it that way...
it's gonna vary with where you are in the country. just like machine shop hourly rate.
some places you can have a decent standard of living on $25/hr, here is not one of them.
One thing I noticed about doing side work is pricing yourself low enough to get jobs but not so low you aren't getting decent jobs or making money. Once I figure out a price I think is reasonable I make a note of it and that is what I charge for standard jobs though for fab work I typically charge time plus materials.
heh I got a good one. I spent about 4 hours last week street tuning a guy's NA 4th gen enough so it would run and drive pretty good. Then we spent another 2 hours weds on the dyno where it made 505 at the wheel which I thought was pretty good for a very mismatched combo. He's all butthurt saying the cam supplier said it'd make XXX and **** like that. I even cut him a break on the cost, and now he's coming back to me saying he wants a full refund. Threatening lawsuit and talking **** on FB.
heh I got a good one. I spent about 4 hours last week street tuning a guy's NA 4th gen enough so it would run and drive pretty good. Then we spent another 2 hours weds on the dyno where it made 505 at the wheel which I thought was pretty good for a very mismatched combo. He's all butthurt saying the cam supplier said it'd make XXX and **** like that. I even cut him a break on the cost, and now he's coming back to me saying he wants a full refund. Threatening lawsuit and talking **** on FB.
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 1,645
Likes: 526
At 505 rwhp if NA unless fairly big cubes sounds like a good number. I've had a number engines dyno tuned and chassis dyno tuned. Everyone is disappointed if their car doesn't make big numbers. Due to all the so called experts on the internet miss-matched parts are a big problem.
So kind of back to the OP. Last winter a local well regarded body shop let me do all the body work on my C10 project at their shop under their supervision. Straightening the metal. Skim coat sanding. primer sanding three times. I've never done any body work before.They did all the painting and cut and buff. What I learned from that time was that I don't want to be a body man.
So what I'm saying is maybe as you think about a career change maybe spend a few days at a shop.to see what it's like. I'd be very up front and talk with the owner/manger and tell them what you have in mind. They may let you hang out and see what it's like to work in a production shop.
So kind of back to the OP. Last winter a local well regarded body shop let me do all the body work on my C10 project at their shop under their supervision. Straightening the metal. Skim coat sanding. primer sanding three times. I've never done any body work before.They did all the painting and cut and buff. What I learned from that time was that I don't want to be a body man.
So what I'm saying is maybe as you think about a career change maybe spend a few days at a shop.to see what it's like. I'd be very up front and talk with the owner/manger and tell them what you have in mind. They may let you hang out and see what it's like to work in a production shop.
I think part of it is people get up-sold super hard by some unscrupulous vendors..."these heads are worth XXX hp, this cam made XXX in so-and-so's car" and they just have a number in their head they can't let go of.
I did learn some things though. On corn NA, there is about a ten degree window of spark advance you can keep throwing timing in it and literally nothing happens. It's a very forgiving fuel.
The was a little sweetness that day for me though, my personal rig went over 1k at the wheel...all china "junk" and junkyard parts
And oh yeah big props to all the panel beaters out there...that is some real deal pita hard work. so much goddamn dust!
At this point, you HOPEFULLY have documentation in place that protects you. As long as you have that documentation that protects you-call his bluff. Tell him to go ahead and continue to try and damage your reputation and your business and that you will have your attorney get in contact with him immediately. And yes, at this point-hire an attorney to send him a letter threatening him with liable and slander if ANYTHING he is posting is not factually accurate. DO NOT let mouth-breathers harm your business, or your reputation. You have to fight for what you know is right. This world, unfortunately, is full of dipshits.
Ah man, it's not worth my time to stoop to that level. Sometimes you just find out the hard way that someone isn't on the up and up. I truly think he'd have probably been sore-assed even if I magically found another 75 wheel in his combo. Can't please 'em all.
In the end, I put a safe tune in his car, one that I'd be comfortable driving myself. And wherever he goes, and has it tuned next they'll see a pretty decent tune. I don't lock stuff or hack **** up. It just made what it made.
But I do see how Lil Jay v10 got the point of view he does!
In the end, I put a safe tune in his car, one that I'd be comfortable driving myself. And wherever he goes, and has it tuned next they'll see a pretty decent tune. I don't lock stuff or hack **** up. It just made what it made.
But I do see how Lil Jay v10 got the point of view he does!
Doug, I'm glad you aren't willing to stoop to this (I assume former) customers level. You are right, it simply isn't worth your time. You can only do the best you can with the available stuff that guy already bought. If he has a mismatched combo all you can do is explain this and move forward or walk away.
I met a guy who "really hogged out" his hand ported heads (his words, not mine) and had a cam with specs that sounded like they should be in a top fuel dragster. He couldn't figure out why no one could tune the engine to idle or run worth anything below 4500. This monster hit the dyno with some amazingly underwhelming numbers for the dollars invested. Of course the guy was pissed, thinks it's the tuner (fortunately not me) because he lives by the motto "if a little is good then more is better." Apparently he doesn't understand the difference between air velocity and port volume or how they affect a naturally aspirated engine.
He wanted me to re-tune the engine and I told him I only do fairly stock swaps, I don't mess with big cams and such. Maybe the guy moved to your area... or he has a twin brother.
I met a guy who "really hogged out" his hand ported heads (his words, not mine) and had a cam with specs that sounded like they should be in a top fuel dragster. He couldn't figure out why no one could tune the engine to idle or run worth anything below 4500. This monster hit the dyno with some amazingly underwhelming numbers for the dollars invested. Of course the guy was pissed, thinks it's the tuner (fortunately not me) because he lives by the motto "if a little is good then more is better." Apparently he doesn't understand the difference between air velocity and port volume or how they affect a naturally aspirated engine.
He wanted me to re-tune the engine and I told him I only do fairly stock swaps, I don't mess with big cams and such. Maybe the guy moved to your area... or he has a twin brother.
I forgot to add this attitude is paramount. You are living proof that good guys still exist.
I'm super picky. I've found if I can't deliver a product to my standards I pretty much won't take the job.
TECH Regular
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 443
Likes: 3
From: Kansas City, MO
I worked as a GM dealership technician for about 13 years. I enjoyed it for the most part and made a pretty good living at it. Sure the warranty hoops are a pain sometimes but I did enjoy fixing things most people would not be able to. I am now an automotive instructor and teaching the GM ASEP program at my local community college. If you are thinking about being an automotive technician for a GM dealer, I would highly suggest the GM ASEP program. Google it! You get to work alongside the technicians and get paid while you are learning. Many community colleges around the nation have one of these type of programs and cost is a fraction of other programs. It is the program I went through and now teach. Many of the successful dealership technicians went through our program.