How much $$$ for work?

[Klunky]

My Mustang is over at one of my friend's garages right now. He agreed to do some work on it...some stuff that I either didn't have the tools to do, or didn't know how to do. He's a fulltime mechanic and does top notch work...also a diehard Mustang guy. He's cool as crap about it too...which brings me to the question...
He's not "charging" me for anything. He's letting me decide what is fair to pay him. What is fair??? I already gave him $100 when I dropped the car off just as kind of a goodwill offering.
He's got a good chunk of work to do. Upper & lower control arms for the rear and torque box reinforcments. Shocks, struts too.
The engine is half torn down at the moment. He's also going to help me put the AFR's and top half of the engine back on. And I'm sure I'm leaving out several other small details. What should I pay this dude??? Thanks.

 

[281pony]

for a mechanic, i bet thats probably close to if not more then $1000 in labor. for head gaskets alone ive heard of $500+ quotes.

figure they charge around $60/hr at a shop. see how long it takes you to do all the work helping him and go from that. maybe a few hundred? up to you

 

[90mustangGT]

I work in a shop, that is a lot of work. I would say at least $300 more minimum you should at least offer. Don't rip him, he'll be lots of help down the road if you play these cards right.

 

[5.0Droptop]

i agree... 500.00 is a fair offer ..... offer it and if he says no then insist.

 

[HISSIN50]

im with these guys. good help is hard to find period. then if the guy is willing to hook you up, compensate him. esp if this is the first time doing something like this - you want to leave a pleasant taste in his mouth. he will be eager to work with you again. if he gets ticked, you are back to paying full bore rates.

either do it piece pay or figure out how much he makes an hour (take home). then give him a bit more than that for his work and time. he will come out ahead, as will you (this thinking might be off if he is speedy or something, but i tried to put myself in his shoes; that would be cool with me).

good luck.

 

[ratrapp]

when i do work for close friends i don't charge anything.they usually buy parts for my car that they know i can't afford right now or that i just want.one friend bought me an aluminum d/s and another bought me a mass air conversion kit.other people i just charge,i tell them up front what it's going to cost.it would depend how close you are to the guy.

 

[Klunky]

when i do work for close friends i don't charge anything.they usually buy parts for my car that they know i can't afford right now or that i just want.one friend bought me an aluminum d/s and another bought me a mass air conversion kit.other people i just charge,i tell them up front what it's going to cost.it would depend how close you are to the guy.

I think my situation is very close to yours. I consider myself to be a real good friend of this guy...not just "this dude I work with." We hang out outside of work, go to the dragstrip, etc. He hooks up a lot of his friends for free or next to nothing. I told him when I dropped my car off that I thought a lot of folks took advantage of his kindness and I tried to impress upon him how I wasn't going to...and that I was going to pay him for his work. That's why I gave him a C-note before he even started.
I think the other posts are right in line with what I was thinking. The final price will ultimately depend on how hard the job is. Hopefully my Mustang will cooperate for all the work.

 

[vikingpower]

pizza and a 12 pack, for starters.

 

[notchman90]

when i do work for my friends they usually just take me out to the girly bar buy me some dances food beer etc. good enough for me

 

[HISSIN50]

pizza and a 12 pack, for starters.

well, refreshments are a given. it just makes things nicer. but that does not count.

 

[green]

ya 300 or so would be a decent price, but it all depends i guess