I know all about the "friends" who want big $$$ work done for next to nothing
(barely enough to compensate your time), thats why I normally and nicely tell
them if they help do the work I'll cut them a deal, but they have to be there
or thier ride doesn't get painted, I've had one of my good buddys 66 GMC
sitting behind the garage for about 3 years now to put floors in it...... but
he hasn't ever come over to help and I'm not doing that for nothing, unless
money is involved. The way I see it is if you let them your friends will run
over you if you let them. Case in point this last summer one of my "friends"
wrecked his '94 Toyota pickup dang thing isn't worth no more than $1000 its
rusty and worn but it has a great engine/trans/underbody and it was a WORK
TRUCK!! He drives it to the coal mines (have you ever been around a strip job
truck Jeez!!) So I priced him a work truck buddy price to do the following:
attempt to pull the warped frame as I have no rack, replace the
entire front clip inner fenders and all to make it safe, paint the new fenders
to match, reinstall the front end, and make it line up as good as a beat up
truck can that has a warped frame. Do you know how much I charged? $400 and I
told him it WAS NOT going to be perfect seeing as how it was going to get
bashed, he dropped it off I worked like a dog to hurry up and finish it and
when he came to pick it up he was not satisfied because the fenders didn't line
up perfectly funny he fogot how the front was pushed back about 6 inches when I
got it. I told him again the frame was bent and it will never line up when you
are out of square I had elongated all the holes and shimmed it to death!! Long
story short, I told him either pay for the labor and material I did my end of
the deal exactly as I said I would or I would sell it for what was owed.
Needless to say he goes out and tells all his buddys what a crappy job I did on
his truck and I lost a few prospective customers (I
don't really care because I have some well to do people that have been
spreading the word that I do quality work for a reasonable price as long as
they give me time as I have a day job). Ok now that I have that horror story
out of the way I have been doing this work on the side and I make more money
doing this than I do at work, the thing is I stay there because of the
insurance and retirement (school board maintenance dept.) plus the free truck
to drive. I have done some advertising and I didn't see any difference in my
customer flow as I did going word of mouth. The best ad I have going is I call
a couple of my past customers one that has a 70 Buick Wildcat convertable, one
that has an 81 Corvette, and another that has a 60s Harley, all of whom let me
do exactly what I wanted to the vehicles and take them to the local shows and
hand out my business cards, that normally drums up some good business. As for
the equipment when I first started I had 2 paint guns and a 100
and some odd Craftsman toolset and I painted in a dark, dirt floor, 2 car
shed. The first thing I did was build my garage with the money I had saved for
a house (still living at home, saving back up for the house and keep buying
toys), then when a job would go out I would take most of the money and invest
it back into the shop buying tools, lights, airtools, and the like. I have
found good deals on used equipment (mainly cabinets, tables, and the like) at
auctions, sales, and word of mouth. For the past couple of years I have my best
friend working with me and he has moved alot of his things in the shop, we
basically combined our tools to make one good selection of tools. As for taking
out a loan that can be a blessing or dangerous because you don't know wheather
or not it will take off or not. Well anyway I guess I'll hush with my rant and
maybe that might help you out. Just let us know how it turns out.
Josh Campbell
66 SS 396 (Black on the rotisseree, 1st car never part with it)
66 SS 396 (Red got it on a trade I only wanted the steering wheel)
87 Monte Carlo SS (The modern Chevelle especially when you add the right
stuff)
71 Malibu (Something new to blow my money on)
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