22 replies to this topic

[Lyford01]

I agree and I am sorry for my little out burst it was not ment to be quite so offenceive but any one who ownes a classic or is worried about costs learn the skills for yourself it will save you lots of pennies and they can be put towards the more trickier bits that may be to hard to do yourself. I plan to teach my wife to weld on my mini its how I learned at 14 started with brazing then arc and finally mig the only bit of my project I am farming out is the engine build everything else will be done by me

[Will145]

Well chaps i went to the mini hospital and he said he'd do it for £150, much better. And no its not my daily driver, a toy for weekends. Altho the Speedo gave up the ghost today but ive ordered a new cable to fit next week.

[Lyford01]

That sounds like a fair deal to me let us know how it goes

[iDemonix]

I'm having just the welding done to pass my MOT. Panel cost £15, pay my mate to cut the old out and weld in the new, job done. Shouldn't be £500, even with painting it (which floors don't need to have done superbly surely?).

[minidaves]

i guess my insurance should not be 3600, or workshop rent 1000 pr month, but hey it is

[pdaykin]

I have arguements like this all the time

Paying for professional repairs is completely different from just having a mate weld in a panel - professionals are there to make money.

£550 doesnt sound like a rip off to me if the job is done properly. You do tend to get what you pay for.

One of the big problems with garages is that they assume you want a cheap job 'because it is a cheap runabout. The repair may be structurally sound. That may not be all that you want - maybe you want it to look like it left the factory.

As with most things like this, it is good advice to write down and agree the important elements eg, that you want the pan cutting out and replacing, that it looks like it was originally, the weld ground back, timescales, etc.

As for doing work to finish things off yourself, while it can save you money this can also be a major problem area - although maybe not such an issue with what the OP is doing. If there is a problem in future it is far too easy for the garage to say it was your fault even if it isnt.

[Carlos W]

i guess my insurance should not be 3600, or workshop rent 1000 pr month, but hey it is

Then electricity, gas, phone bill, rates, consumables!

Oh, and I assume you actually want a wage from this work!

To the OP, can we see before and after pics both sides please?

[Will145]

Yeah no problem, will post pics up when the works done in July (he's pretty busy) the quote for £150 was from a mini specialist who I have heard nothing but good things about and owns about 5 minis in his family so quite confident about his work