This is part of an on going email conversation that I am having with some one who wants to start a company
a bug shop no less
The biz side of things
You need to look at at the hidden cost that need to be factored in to you pricing. You have the paint, abrasives, fillers, thinners, cleaners, cost, ( your cost) do you mark up your cost to the client?, or do they get it for what you buy it for? If thats the case, Do you charge them for the time to order it, and get it? What about the fuel that you pay for when you pick it up?or the time that it takes you? What about the cost of the power that you are using while working on the client car, you pay that... your tools, how do they get payed for? who pays when the compressor goes down. what about the building that you are in, does it need maintaining, who pays for that. both mat and time? Licenses, insurance, how bout the te-shirts and jeans that get ruined , ( thats why we went to dickies work shirts) It all ads up All that stuff is overhead, the cost of doing biz. Then there is your time, what is it worth? What is your knowledge and skills worth to you?How many years/decades of learning do you have under your belt got to figure all that up something to think about.....
Then can you really charge what it should be vrs what the client will pay with out going in to shock If you want to make a living doing this, then this is the price, If you want to do it on the side, or as a hobbyist then you don't need to think about any of this. It doesn't matter what a company does, if it doesn't pay for it self, then its the government.............. i.e. you pay
This got me pondering..
With out the priv sector none of this crap is posable . My job at AirkooledKustoms is to make sure that the company has enough coming in to cover what's going out. Just like every other company, with out that basic job duty the company will not exist...
Now with all that being said
I have to do that part of the job to
do the fun parts
Friday, June 4, 2010
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Fillers
fillers
bondo- while it is a generic term for body fillers, ie plastic epoxies
the actual product 'bondo'tends to have a higher solvent content
while this make it easer to spread, it leads to more shrink, as the solvent
evaporate and the product cures.
If you are going to use plastic fillers then buy a good quality ( we use evercoat rage,and then sparingly )
while body fillers have there place in auto resto, they are usally not used
correctly. If it is applied to thick it shrink and crack as it out gasses and cures.Thin coats of correctly mixed filler is the way ,curing then sanding between coats.
There are dif types( chem makeups) of plastic filler.
talc-
most fillers are talc based,talc being the main solid component
typically use by 90% of the industry for filling small areas and feathering repairs.
alm-
also called metal to metal filled, main solid is alm power typically used in areas of the car that have a higher vibration or shock loads
we use it primarily around doors/trunks and deck lids
kitty hair-
epoxy resin filler with short, fiberglass strands and talc for for its main solids og designed for fiberglass ,it is mostly used to pack it to bad repairs.(we see alot of this.) We use it... to make molds for shaping complex curves out of steel, or on fiber glass
out of those 3 kittyhair is the only one that is NOT hydroscopic .
lead-
to og filler, old skool, not much use today, we still do lead work for some clients, while it is a lost art, it is actually very simple to do.
non lead lead-
same as above but it is a tim based alloy with no lead in it
working temp is slightly lower than true lead
(thanks EPA)
the best way to do a repair, is to do it and not use ANY fillers and metal finish . this is unrealistic for most peeps , their check book, or skill level.
(most people do not have the patience to do this).
the final thickness on filler ( for our shop) can be no more than .075" (1/16"), I want it thiner than that
glazing putty-
talc based, but with much smaller particulate size than standard plastic filler. use primarily for pin holes, ( if you use good fillers correctly you wont have pin holes) and small repairs has a high solvent content -so it will shrink if used incorrectly .
NEVER use one part glazing compound EVER
I still HATE Bondo
bondo- while it is a generic term for body fillers, ie plastic epoxies
the actual product 'bondo'tends to have a higher solvent content
while this make it easer to spread, it leads to more shrink, as the solvent
evaporate and the product cures.
If you are going to use plastic fillers then buy a good quality ( we use evercoat rage,and then sparingly )
while body fillers have there place in auto resto, they are usally not used
correctly. If it is applied to thick it shrink and crack as it out gasses and cures.Thin coats of correctly mixed filler is the way ,curing then sanding between coats.
There are dif types( chem makeups) of plastic filler.
talc-
most fillers are talc based,talc being the main solid component
typically use by 90% of the industry for filling small areas and feathering repairs.
alm-
also called metal to metal filled, main solid is alm power typically used in areas of the car that have a higher vibration or shock loads
we use it primarily around doors/trunks and deck lids
kitty hair-
epoxy resin filler with short, fiberglass strands and talc for for its main solids og designed for fiberglass ,it is mostly used to pack it to bad repairs.(we see alot of this.) We use it... to make molds for shaping complex curves out of steel, or on fiber glass
out of those 3 kittyhair is the only one that is NOT hydroscopic .
lead-
to og filler, old skool, not much use today, we still do lead work for some clients, while it is a lost art, it is actually very simple to do.
non lead lead-
same as above but it is a tim based alloy with no lead in it
working temp is slightly lower than true lead
(thanks EPA)
the best way to do a repair, is to do it and not use ANY fillers and metal finish . this is unrealistic for most peeps , their check book, or skill level.
(most people do not have the patience to do this).
the final thickness on filler ( for our shop) can be no more than .075" (1/16"), I want it thiner than that
glazing putty-
talc based, but with much smaller particulate size than standard plastic filler. use primarily for pin holes, ( if you use good fillers correctly you wont have pin holes) and small repairs has a high solvent content -so it will shrink if used incorrectly .
NEVER use one part glazing compound EVER
I still HATE Bondo
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