i'm stationed in charleston, sc with the navy, and i'm getting a downpipe and two dumptubes welded, along with getting the wastegate flanges turned up and welded in order to clear the compressor housing... the guy at the hobby shop (it's an on base for-military auto shop where you can work on your stuff or have them do it, rent lifts, tools, etc..) said he could do it no problem, but it would be $50 dollars an hour and would be about 4-6 hours to do... i'm supplying all of the metal-bent and straight, cutting it to what i need, and marking it to match up for him to weld.. the ONLY thing he has to do it weld.. i'm not saying it's not hard, as i dont know because i dont weld myself, or else i'd do it lol.. but is $50 an hour high or normal? am i getting a deal? how long should it take to weld what i need?

-1 2.5" vband to exducer
-total of 3 3" welds on the downpipe
-2 1.5" 45* elbows welded to the manifold
-those welded to 38mm flanges
-1 1.5" weld on the two dump tubes from the flange to the tube itself.

how long SHOULD this take? i'm just wondering because he first said that it would only take about 1-3 hours, but now he's telling be it'll be about 300.. any infomation is helpful.. thanks!!!

 

if he is a pro and thats his feild thats a good price per hour but long it should take is the question u should b asking cause it sounds like it involves fabrication of some sort

 

That's a good price, but like anyone who walks in at my shop, I fully expect to have to re-prep the pieces anyway. Most people who aren't welders, specifically on stuff like aluminium and stainless just don't know proper prep.

 

I would go talk to Anthony at AV-Engineered. He is in charleston. I used to be stationed there and I would not go to the hobby shop for something like that. haha.

 

i talked to AV, but i can't remember what his price was.. there's a new guy at the shop other than who was there a while ago, his name is kevin, and he's been building 5.0's and making headers for years, i've seen some of his stuff he did on a wrx, and it aint too bad..

like i said before, there is no fabrication involved, everything is already going to be cut, marked, and ready to be welded together (other than whatever prep needs to be done that i just found out about). he's not going to be able to fabricate anything because he's not gonna have the car...

 

if all he has to do is weld and its just the 10 welds you have listed, and he has the experience you say you've seen he has, then i'd say it shouldn't take much more than an hour. he might just be quoting you high in case it does take longer. will he let you hangout while he does it so you know he's not over charging you on time? the tuner down the street from me LOVES to talk so it usually takes an hour or two before he even starts on a job. but after hanging out for 6-8 hours at the shop with him writing a base map for my car with some street tuning till 2 in the morning he didnt charge me anything! so maybe if you hang out with the guy long enough you might get a hook up

 

Yeah, I would have to call bullshit on that, here’s why. 1 dude is already paid salary to work there and help joes out. 2 dude is not paying for anything, ie electricity, the welding machine, the tungsten, the filler, nothing, all he’s doing is laying welds. On a side note, I seriously question the ethics of this person, I would go to the MWR director and ask if that is SOP for the craft shop.

 

Um..... last time i checked i don't work for free. so if you want me to weld something up regardless if i didn't fit it. i'm going to charge someone.

 

Ummm, yeah I hear you, the guy who works at the military craft shop, whom, again gets paid SALARY, for the express purpose of helping the military personnel that are allowed to use the facility as part of their compensation package, is, in no way, just showing up out of the kindness of their heart. So to liken it to an analogy, if you we’re contracted to provide guide dogs to the blind, and you told the blind person “I can give you this dog for free, but if you want me to teach it to lead you safely around, it will cost you $1000” then that would be a breach of the contract, and an abuse of your entrusted position. The bottom line is, no, you should not work for free, but your compensation should reflect the reality of the situation. How would you like to compete for business against someone that doesn’t have to pay for anything, do you think you’re bid would be able to fairly compete? Sorry as someone with multiple combat deployments and 18yrs of service, I hate to see people take advantage of Soldiers. If dude was going to do this with his own equipment at his own shop, that would be a different story all together, but I bet that’s not how it’s going to go down. And the military sponsored facility should have set rates that reflect this, and do from what I’ve seen.

 

i guess i missed the part where the guy was "working" at the hobby shop. if it is his job to help the soldiers with there cars. then i would say **** no to paying for it. but if it was just some guy that was like "hey, i can weld. $50/hr" then w/e pay the man or learn to weld.

 

concur

 

Sorry I seemed to cause so mch drama... The shop itself doesnt offer welding but he offered to do it on his own time from his house thus the $50/hour fee.. I think I'm gonna go with him.. Contacted av and it was $90 per hour and said it'd be atleast 2.5 hours and i can't really afford that.. Thnks for your opinions guys

 

again, whoever you go with, if you fit and prep everything yourself it shouldnt take much more than an hour to do the welding

 

Ol, what do I need to do to properly prep the material?

 

just bevel any joints that need it, wire wheel or brush the to be welded areas and wipe it all down with acetone just before you bring it to him and put it all in a box after cleaning it to keep it clean. it might also cut time down to number each piece/joint if its not obvious where they go for someone whos never seen it.