Approximately how long did it take you to install the kit? Long story short, I have a shop owner offering me $1800 in labor, and before I propose the idea of the installation to him, I was wanting to get a gauge of whether it's a reasonable request, or if it would extend past that budget. From what I've seen, it looks fairly straight forward to install, but adding in engine removal, reinstallation, etc....not really able to tell how many actual hours it would take. Thanks!
From the initial "cut" back to a roller was 15 hrs for me, but that included drilling out the spot welds. If you use a plasma cutter, you could prolly knock that down to 10 hrs. I did not count the removal of the drivetrain, fenders, or factory suspension - only the actual time spent cutting and welding. Be aware, the steering column takes that long too, and then there's the sheetmetal cover panels...
hard to say...I removed the front clip,bumper, motor and transmission. it took about 45 mins. to cut everything out with a plasma cutter. welded the crossmember in and a few brackets then took the parts from the boxes and bolted them on. about 6 hrs. of shop time and I had the car back home. as you know, the more you do the less it cost.
Depend on the shop hourly rate $1800 maybe right on. At $120 an hour is only 15 hours. Of they have to remove the front clip and the engine it is probably worth it.
engine has to come out...the rest, just made it easier to get things right. you are the Guy to know if what is spent on one of these cars is...worth it? LOL...
I appreciate the feedback, fellas. I wish I could do more prep work, at least take out the engine, but I don't have ready access to a garage anymore. Makes larger work pretty difficult. Sounds like the time frame may be pretty reasonable...guess the real question is whether the shop owner agrees. He's doing some research, waiting to hear back from him.
