Redid my cab. Opinions on the price.

[71MUTT]

I bought 2 rockers, two inner rockers, 2 cab corners, 2 front sill plates, two back sill plates, 2 floor pans, 1 left kick panel.
$320+ at GMC Pauls including shipping. (great guy to do business with)

Brought it to a local fabricater who hadn't done any restoration work for a long time, but took on my project because I kept bugging him.
He also took off the visor and welded the sheet metal screw holes shut.
He said he was going to charge me buy the hour and I agreed.

So, he replaced the left side kick panel, inner and outer rockers, floor pans, cab corners, all four sill plates.
$2130.00

I now have a nice new cab.

What do you think of the price?

[glock35ipsc]

Then again, I've never farmed out any kind of work like that. But, you could have bought a welder and done it yourself, and still have about $1900 left over.

[Dingfodgy]

I think what people pay for goods and services is all relative. If I had alot of disposable income or the willingness to go into debt for my hobby- I wouldn't balk at the price of anything I hired out. Or if I did not have workspace, was on a tight timeline or had ambitions of a show piece- I would have to hire out some of the more specialized work. But since I don't have alot of "extra" money to throw at my truck, nor do I want a "Sunny Sunday Driver"- I've learned to do alot of things myself. With that being said- I'd s*@t bricks if I had to fork over 2 large for a guy to replace some rusty panels and put just my cab in primer. Thats almost 3x what I paid for my entire truck, plus what i've spent on new or good OEM parts! Then again- that's my situation. I learned long ago that something is only worth what somebody is willing to pay for it. I'm not willing to pay for body work, but if you are and you're satisfied with the results then I'd say you struck the best deal you could.

[Dano69c10]

This is just my opinion... so no flames please.
If the cab is "perfect" to you (zero body work), then 2k is probably a good deal.
I'm sure when the day comes, a new repro cab will be $8k+, plus shipping.
Again just my 2 cents
Dano

[Rokcrln]

Well you started out with a rusted cab that was not worth the registration fee. Now you have a solid building block for your project for about 2k. The cab is the most important part of the truck as far as body is concerned so I say good job now finish that thing up and enjoy!

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[71MUTT]

My son in law has a mig welder. He lives about 4 miles away from me. He has offered to help me do the cab. He is an airplane mechanic for Delta. I've done a lot of welding when I was younger.(I'm not a welder)
I really appreciated his offer but decided to go a different route.

What I did was went out and got a second job to make the extra money to have it done right. Cashed each check until I had $2000.00. I figured that would cover it. I was pretty close. I figured it would take 40 hrs at $50 an hour. I am going to try to do the rest myself. Without the info everyone posts here, it would be a lot harder to do. This is a great place to learn.
Thanks for your help.

[Luvlegs]

[QUOTE=71MUTT;2332407]What I did was went out and got a second job to make the extra money to have it done right. Cashed each check until I had $2000.00. I figured that would cover it. I was pretty close. I figured it would take 40 hrs at $50 an hour. I am going to try to do the rest myself. Without the info everyone posts here, it would be a lot harder to do. [QUOTE]

I think that says it all - you had an idea, made a plan and it worked out... THAT is the cool part - not to mention a nice cab now.
If only the young people of the world could learn from this... instead of someone just giving them stuff...or expecting it.

Along those lines, I think the younger folks on this site are inspirational... ahhhh sorry, I accidently stepped up on the soapbox... I'm back down now...

[centsless]

We took about 40 hours to replace the same parts on my cab. That includes getting the whole cab ready for paint. So, if you figure 40 hours, then he charged you about $53 per hour. That is a little high for regular body shop rates, but probably more than fair for a restoration shop.

[raggedjim]

If you are happy with the quality of the work then I would say that's about right. I do that stuff myself (thinking I am saving money) but it takes forever doing it on weekends and after work at night. If I was paying me, I'd have fired me a long time ago...

If I could do it as a job and do one truck a week @ $2,000 a shot I would do it!

The bad thing is I keep hearing you can buy a rust free cab for $600-$1,000, but I have yet to see one...

Rg

[Dick Dale]

I was planning on doing the same thing, paying for it because I have neither the skill or the room to do one myself. However, I found a divorce sale one that a guy had redone the entire bottom and firewall, no doors and all primes for $300. Don't hate, I hope everyone can find a screaming deal like that.

[streetstar]

With a nice frame off resto being worth 20 - 25 thousand in some circles if done right, 2k no longer sounds too bad. There are plenty of other places to save a few bucks by DIY'ing it.

[19673ontree]

you know this is one of those threads that just stick's in my head , I am sure your job is great on that cab but boy I'll tell you that is the most I heard of anyone paying for that work !!!!
if I ever get sick and can't fix my own I will just have to quit !!!

[bad6772]

id say that if you are happy with it ,and you dont know how to do it.then it was worth it .... IMO if it was easy everybody would do it..... i dont do fab work for a living but i do fix wrecked cars all day.

[71MUTT]

I contemplated the situation for a long time. I've owned the truck for 29 years. I'm not a very good mechanic. Everything I know has been self taught by reading and trial and error. The last time I took it to the mechanic was in Feb of 1999 for an alignment. (I just looked it up ) I've never done body work either. I thought that maybe I have no right owning this old classic if I can't do the work myself. Then I thought, maybe I can do a little at a time and that way I can keep driving it. You got to admit that these trucks are great to drive. So, a little at a time it is.

I really envy you guys that do all your own work. It really makes it worth while. Keep posting those pics so we all can learn.

I love seeing you guys getting great deals on trucks. There have been some great buys posted in just this last week. Keep 'em coming.

[68,69 K20]

If you are happy with the outcome, and the guy did a good job, it doesn't matter what you paid. Besides, if you are not familiar with that kind of work do you really want to screw something up by trying it yourself? I would rather let the pro's do it.

[see ten]

It takes a strong man to know what he is and is not capable of doing himself. People ask me if I painted my trucks and I always tell em "Nope, I wanted it to look good". If it was as easy as buying a welder and just stitching em in everyone would do it. I also agree that if you don't start somewhere that you're never going to learn. I would like to learn to weld in patch panels and shoot a little paint but who knows if I'll ever give it a shot? Kudos to you fellas with enough cajones to go out on that limb and giving it a shot!

[68gmsee]

Originally Posted by see ten

I would like to learn to weld in patch panels and shoot a little paint but who knows if I'll ever give it a shot? Kudos to you fellas with enough cajones to go out on that limb and giving it a shot!

The older I get the smaller my cajones get for trying to do that stuff. I still would like to try, but then reality sets in. I guess first, you have to have enough room to do that kind of work in your residence, then you have to make sure the neighbors don't report you to the association or the city, then you have to make sure you don't have to leave your wife's car out in the hot/cold so you can do your project...

I guess younger guys figure that they have the rest of their lives to improve their skills or correct any problems later. With me, I want it done before I'm too old to enjoy it and my kids decide to yank the keys from old dad (and steal my truck.... )

[uncle]

That's what always puzzles me about most people not wanting to pay good money for a rust or almost rust/free cab. I also know that pics don't always tell the story.

[dave2953]

I checked with the Goodmark Installation Center which is located in my town and they quoted me $2,500 to replace all the bad panels and primer. Needless to say my cab is still rusty.

[xshadow]

What condititon cab could you buy for $2130.00?
Do you think you could buy a rust free one for that? or a parts truck with a rust free one for less?

[71MUTT]

Originally Posted by xshadow

What condititon cab could you buy for $2130.00?
Do you think you could buy a rust free one for that? or a parts truck with a rust free one for less?

There is the sentimental thing that goes with my truck. That's why I chose not to buy someone elses truck for less money. But I did shop around and came across a couple of deals that looked better on paper. I decided to keep sentiment alive.

I promise to post before and after pics this weekend.

[67ChevyRedneck]

As long as your happy, that's all that matters....

now where are the pics???

I love to see new metal

[BurnoutNova]

this is a touchy subject...

people never realize how much bodywork really costs, generally most people who are somewhat do-it yourselfers think its a rip off to pay between $50 and $85/ hr to work on thier cars. they are so used to doing thing cheap they loose sight of how much stuff really costs.

[raggedjim]

Well, I spent $10,000 on a garage, $1,000 on a compressor, $450 on a mig welder and who knows how much else so I could save $2,000 dollars working on my cab... and I'm STILL not done with it!

Who ahead in this picture?

[glock35ipsc]

There is a member on here who has a quote in his sig line that goes something like:

"I think I'll do it myself and spend the extra $500!"

That one always makes me laugh! My initial reaction of shock and awe is simply due to the fact that I have always been a DIY guy. I've always been reluctant to pay someone to do something I can do myself, even if I don't know how. That's how I learned, to break out the tools and just do it (hmm, it that teetering on a Nike lawsuit???) The one exception I made was the body work. I hate it, don't like to do it, I'm not very good at it, and don't want to be! So a friend of mine took car of it for me.

But is sounds like that price might not be too far off, maybe a little high compared to others. But I do agree, if you are 100% happy with the results, then it's probably worth it. I guess I was just looking at it as you spent $2000 to start your project, and I am only about $2000 away from finishing mine. The scary part for me is the number in between!