A shop only building chassis?

Better to do one thing good then half a dozen things almost good.

I remember way back when there was a muffler shop that all they did was exhaust work, pretty good place to get mufflers as I recall. Now they do brakes oil changes and ??? and it is a crap shoot as to whether you will get a decent job done or not.

 

Is there enough chassis work in your area to support a dedicated shop? Is there an established shop already in the area?

 

This is exactly what I was looking for when I was building the chassis on my '32 Chevy. I can weld good enough to do the mockup stuff but I'm a lot more confident in my chassis now that someone proficient at welding did the finish work (with my welder). Go for it!

 

Yes you can make a living doing chassis and suspension work. Here's some rules to live by -

Charge by the hour PERIOD and make sure the customer understands an estimate is just that.

Never ever sacrifice quality for speed. Your reputation will draw in many more customers who understand and know quality work when they see it. Tell the customer up front you'll let him know when it's done and not any sooner. Send weekly updates via email with pictures to show your progress and build quality. Make sure invoices contain every detail you worked on with the time it took to complete the task. That way they understand the hours easily. I've never been challenged about my hours doing it that way.

Stay away from 1st timers when possible. They have no idea how much work it really is to build a quality car. They will whine about time and money starting about the 3/4 done point.

Don't work on rat rods - ever.

Guarantee your work for life. Not the parts you installed but the work you did installing them.

 

Dave and I took that truck to lunch...the last time I saw him. I couldn't afford to buy it, so Dave's sister sold it to Joe Clifford. I did the next best thing ,though. I bought ALL of his parts and the '29 tub project that he had underway. I will be doing the first start and engine break in tomorrow.

 

I have to know you then......I won't ask you your real name on here.

 

If your good at it , getting the work is not a problem.
Getting paid for it is another story.

 

I have been very fortunate about that. I've been on my own full time for 8+ years now, and have only had to go collecting once. Goes back to either knowing, or being able to read your potential customers.

 

We have a local shop that specializes in chassis work, suspension work, motor mounts and this guy even builds his own rearends from scratch and frames. Been doing it for years, doesn't advertise just word of mouth. I think he does fairly well, his shop is always full. Like some of the other posts, it depends on your skill level, equipment and what you can exactly do out of your shop to make it a go!

 

Thanks for the advise, I plan on having a full time job as long as this is going because a steady income these days is key. But as of right now I have talked to a few locals and there are 2 or three shops in this area that build full cars, one I worked for a little bit and the other I was told to stay far away from about everyone I met. He's a LLC and has ditched a lot of projects on those terms.

 

I started doing the same thing. Now I have gravitated to a lot of full builds. I was making money and was happy when I specialized, now I'm lucky to break even on most builds. I have great customers, it's just that guys don't have the income they used to and there's just so much stuff on E bay for a third of what it costs to build.

 

Well over the last week i introduced my girlfriend to TIG welding and she loves it... This will make it way easier to convince her into my plans, and maybe have a cheap tack helper... Some of the frame kits are pretty reasonable but when you install a front end wrong on it it can make the word of difference of drivability and certain bump steer hell.

 

This morning a client sent me a pic of a car for sale built by another shop. There are a lot of knowledgeable shops out there who have good engineering backrounds but they are not as prevalent as you think. Just make sure you know the "hows" and "whys" before you put someones life in your hands. Doesn't mean you need a degree, some of the best builders out there are just good self learners. Watch guys like ElPolacko on here for the way to do it. I stand in amazement at some of the stuff that shows up out of professional shops that just scares the hell out of me or no doubt drives like shit.

Just do things right the first time and make sure our basics are sound. You seem to have a head on your shoulders and you'll do fine. Oh, and make sure you charge enough for your work. Most shops fail because they don't get what they should for their expertise, not because they don't know what their doing. Tough to do sometimes but your better off cleaning the shop than taking money out of your pocket to build somebody elses dream. (with some rare exceptions!)

 

Questions like this crop up here all the time. Its one reason why I made a social group for business owners in the auto field. Didn't seem like there was much interest in having a group but on the same note I haven't done much to promote it either. Anyway its here -

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/group.php?groupid=789

Los Jefes Cansados

which means "the weary bosses" pretty fitting I think.

Tyler

 

Hmmm, Lil John Buterra said the same thing to me .......

 

Run some numbers,are you going to work out of your home shop? overhead? take home? population? Advertising?

 

As of right now from my garage, overhead would be low... Since i am doing this as a second source of income i can put a little cash into tools and parts that i may use for myself if nothing comes through the door anyways. I have studied the area and there are a couple shops but its full build shops with full build hourly rates.... Nothing against those guys at all, but times have changed with all the cheap metal working tools and you tube videos, it has really brought out the home builders that cant afford to get a build done and the guys that want to learn. Advertising??? Haha word of mouth is how i feed my mouth... I guess the local car shows and swap meets will work but nothing is better than driving a hot rod around and you will attract the ones who are interested.

 

And don't forget the MOST IMPORTANT thing when building a product to sell - LIABILITY INSURANCE

 

You commented on a local shop that was an LLC and I think you felt there was a problem there (his business ethic I gather). As indicated above, liability insurance is absolutely essential unless you don't care about loosing everything you've got including your ass. Getting it may also require a true business address (commercial zoning). I would not entertain starting a business such as this without first becoming an LLC or Sub Chapter "S" corporation. I don't know in today's dollars what that would cost but say $1500 or so perhaps, depending on where you reside. It's just a matter of covering your ass and it's not to be taken lightly. Bottom line... If your going to be in business, be in business. License, insurance, proper charter... If you don't want to do that, then keep your day job and enjoy your hobby.

 

Yes its not his insurance its his abuse of the customers he deals with and ethics of it all... But that's not any of my business either. As of right now I'm planning on getting through this winter and gathering tools and will make a decision early next year, bringing on some local small jobs in the mean time. But for now i will just build my 63 Falcon Gasser to make the time go by fast.

 

Yeah,liability insurance would be a necessity. HRP

 

People will tow a rig quite a ways to you for certain work if you are known to do high quality work and have high ethics. Cost or the price you charge usually but not always equates to your overhead.

Outside of metal for gussets and boxing plates you shouldn't have to have much tied up in an inventory and that helps. This is also something you can plan for a guy to drop his rig off on xx day and pick it up and pay for it on YY day so you shouldn't be sitting waiting to get paid with a batch of cars filling your shop up waiting for the next installment payment.

It still comes down to the quality of your work and your ability to get things done in a timely manner though.

 

I think a chassis shop would work well,you need to offer drag car chassis set up as well, lots of customers there, roll cage work for circle track guys_ they're always destroying shit, need it clamped on a jig and pulled back in shape. Lathe and mill service would be an additional stream of revenue. Tig work would be another. Rearend narrowing and or axle resplining would be another. You need to turn the work and get paid, you're not running a storage facility. The reason I bring these up is a chassis shop I've known for years, he does drag race, hot rod, some circle track chassis, tig, machining, rearends. He's booked for at least 6 months out for the past 20 years.

 

Yup, same here. Do the big things that the customer can't do, get paid, and them move it out.

NEVER QUOTE A PRICE! Unless, of course, it is an off-the-shelf item for retail sale.

ALWAYS GIVE AN ESTIMATE! Make sure that the customer understands the difference between a quote and an estimate. Make sure that you understand it too. The last shop I worked for, the service writer used the two terms interchangeably, despite my numerous protestations. We lost jobs, and money, and even customers all together over this.

 

My opinion, since you asked.Do you already have the equipment and do you have enough money to carry the shop for a while.I had back surgery a few months back so I'm paying a fab shop to do the finish fab work on my Car I'm paying good money for good work and don't mind a bit but I knew what the job was going to take go in.That being said some people don't understand when the fab shop owner tells them when I went to put this on I found this so I went ahead and fixed it so always be upfront with your PEOPLE and let them know things will come up that you were not expecting.I think a Person should always go for Their Dreams like my Dad use to say " The Only Thing Worse Than A Quitter Is A Person That's Afraid To Start" I Truly Wish You Luck And If You Think You Can Make A Go Of It Then GETERDONE

 

Yea great info guys! I just want to focus on one area and stay good at it. If anything i can make bad ass planters for the old blue hairs around here.....