Scary quote from local shop

Hello all. Since having my 67 GS400 for 1.5 years now, I have never really taken it to a muscle car mechanic that knows these cars well. Finally found a local shop that works on classics and got a quote. Well scary quote. Good thing is that they pretty much told me all the things the car needs so I can pick and chose. First round will be to tune the car accordingly as the rest can be done slowly. Couple of things that they wrote up are:
1. Replace upper and lower control arm bushings
2. Replace sway bar bushings
3. Replace motor mounts since they are collapsed
4. Replace tranny mount since they are collapsed
5. Adjust rear upper arms as they are hitting body

Number 1 and 2 was a surprise as front end does not make noise or squeak. My questions to you guys is:
1. How do I check on my own to really know if true or BS?
2. How hard is it to replace motor and tranny mounts on these cars?

I have done it in other cars, but not on the GS. Thanks

 

If you don't mind me asking what was the total amount?

 

Overall for all they recommended to fix from tuning, mounts, oil pan replacement, radiator replacement, etc... over $8k. My goal was to have fixed the oil leak from behind the flywheel and tune the car. So that is what I am planning on sticking with for now.

 

Well, if you've never worked much on cars, this can expensive real quick. But parts cost on what you listed items 1-4 isn't much. Control arm bushings, $50-75 plus the cost of pressing the old ones out and new ones in if you don't have a press or access to one (maybe $100). Sway bar bushings and end links, $40 tops. Tranny mount, $25. Engine mounts, $100.

So only a couple of hundred bucks in parts for the suspension. For someone who's done it before and is handy with a wrench, as long as it's not all rusted, this sounds like three to four days work or so. Getting the control arms off can take an hour or two each side plus putting it all back together an hour or two each side. Tranny mount maybe an hour. Same for the sway bar end links and bushings. Engine mounts is a good sized job, but can be done with a lift in a couple hours a side . I don't own an auto shop, just going by how long things take me. And I think that would be on the high side considering I have no lift and very limited pneumatic tools. Also, my car is pretty clean on the underside as I've pretty much replaced everything underneath including all those suspension bushings, brakes and lines, fuel lines, etc. So I would not have to be dealing with anything that's rusted or a bolt that would break off while trying to remove it.

A lot of this stuff is pretty simple and can be done with 4 wrenches and 4 socket sizes.

Now when you start adding oil pan gaskets (perfect time to do with the engine mounts), a radiator ($500 for a real radiator, not a aluminum "will fit" one), and a tune (whatever that would include like plugs, wires, rotor, cap, points/condenser if you still have them, set timing, adj. carb, possibly replace vacuum lines) it can all start to add up.

But $8K does sound like it's getting a bit high. Somebody's wife may really like the Emperor's Package at Ceasar's Palace.

It might be worth your time to check around for some place that might not be real close to your home. But I would definitely get some more quotes. The stuff you have listed is pretty straight forward and would think can easily be quoted over the phone with a couple of good pics texted to the shop so they can see the state of the car. So here's my wild ass guess, of say $1500 for all the parts and 32 shop hours at $125 and hour ($4000 labor), that's $5500.

 

I think buried in your list was ‘rear main seal’ (oil leak behind flywheel). There’s a bunch of your labor cost right there.
Patrick

 

$8k for that? Walk.

 

Referencing what was said above, that's about 4 hours for the bushings, like I thought.

Oh, I thought the oil leak was the back of the oil pan that was leaking.

 

If you are mechanical and have the tools, you can do a lot of that yourself and save some $$$$. A lot of stuff looks worse than it actually is (though there are things that are worse than they look). What you may lack in knowledge is made up by the fact you have all the time in the world. People here are happy to help out if you get stuck.

 

Thanks everyone...

Thanks for the info. Actually they were charging close to $900 just to replace plus parts... I will take a look at the car once I pickup and see how bad the bushings are.

 

According to them it was not the rear main seal. That it was at the block where there is a fitting that transfer's oil between the block. I had that fixed by a previous mechanic but I guess they did the job wrong. Hopefully they get it fixed but you are correct it is a time consuming fix as they have to bring the tranny down. That fix is 6 hours at $110 per hour.

 

As for parts, which bushings and motor mounts are recommended?

 

Some shops see a classic car and hear “ka-Ching!” thinking that since it’s an old car, the owner must have some extra $$ lying around and it’s their turn to drink from the tap. I’ve had people tell me dozens of times that I must be able to afford this or that just by taking one look at my car.

 

I see you're in Miami. The estimate you received is making more sense now. There's a guy in WPB that my brother uses who is as honest as the day is long. He even helped me out when I flew down to pick up a 77 TA I had purchased about 5 years ago. Don't have his name or number but will get it for you if you're interested.

 

Yeah. "It must be nice to have money..."

Well, I have been working since I was 10 and helping and or providing for around 4 other people for 50 years.

And it allowed me to "learn to earn, learn to purchase wisely, how to do things properly for myself, and how to take good care of what I have."

And along the way, what I never had time for was being jealous of another's fortune, nor coveting of same.


To hgiljr,
Lots of great people here with a wealth of knowledge and a willingness to help you, help you.

Some of these things you can do for certain.

See if you can't break it all down in a good list and let the folks take a stab at helping you get a solid game plan.

Might be folks near by that can help by looking at things or showing you some "how to"s.

 

Here is what they listed that I should be able to tackle myself:

1. REPLACE LOWER CONTROL ARM BUSHINGS
2. REPLACE SWAY BAR BUSHINGS
3. REPLACE RADIATOR WEEPS FROM SEAMS
4. REPLACE MOTOR MOUNTS - COLLAPSED
5. REPLACE TRANSMISSION MOUNT - COLLAPSED
6. ADJUST PARKING BRAKE
7. ADJUST REAR UPPER ARMS, HITTING BODY
8. REPAIR TACHOMETER by installing TACH ADAPTER
9. REBUILD STEERING BOX LEAK
10. REPLACE KINKED FUEL FEED LINE
11. INSTALL PCV VENT
12. REPLACE HOOD HINGE, ORIGINAL ONES SAG
13. TIGHTEN BELTS
14. REPLACE UPPER CONTROL ARM BUSHINGS

 

Adjust rear upper arms because they're hitting the body??? I don't see how that's even possible unless your springs are totally shot. Adjust parking brake, 10 minutes. Install PCV vent, 30 seconds. Replace hood hinge. 10 minutes. Tighten belts, 10 minutes. Install tach adapter? One wire will make a tach work. A lot of this stuff you can do yourself with a $29 set of tools from Sears. And that's a lot of collapsed mounts and bushings. Is everything in the car totally original?? Replacing a radiator is an hour. And what kind of radiator is he putting in? I'd ask to see the kink in the fuel line.

If the oil leak is from the rear oil plugs or a crossover tube installed at the rear of the block for better oiling, that could be an expensive fix because I think you may have to get the trans out of the way. But 6 hours still seems like a long time for a complete shop. These older cars come apart pretty quick and simple. This isn't a modern car we're talking about with wires and all that other crap going everywhere.

Sounds like one of the shops that figure if you have the disposable cash for a car like that, you have a pile to have it maintained. I'd be looking around for some other quotes. And half that list can be done in your driveway one afternoon, if it needs to done at all.

 

The car has a lot original or replaced with original part along the line. I didn't even know the radiator was bad as I have never had to pour any anti freeze in the 1.5 years I have had it. Each time I check it, its full. I didn't even ask which brand as I was not going to do it. I simple said thank you for the detail list and let's just go with what I originally asked which was fix oil leak and tune. It is a shop that does fix a lot of classic cars especially vettes. I will do these two repairs with them and go from there. The rest I will tackle and post as I fix for feedback and assistance. Thanks again for all your help...

 

The radiator might be good with a cleaning and re-solder as required.
You would need to pull it anyway to replace.
A radiator shop should be able to evaluate it if you take it in.
There are quite a few in your area.