Mechanic Hours per Mod

Steve83 you are totally spot on correct. I deal with this type of stuff everyday. There is no way to accurately estimate much of anything on these older vehicles. I can get a close ballpark, but then your also dealing with the junk Chinese parts. Just recently I've went through (5) condensers & driers on a new Vintage Air system. Not to mention the Freon. Apparently VA had a bad run of condensers that had aluminum residue inside. My guys have spent hours sorting it out and I've spent hours on the phone with VA. And let's not even try to estimate a fuel sending unit. That's a crap shoot whether or not it will read on the gauge correctly. Or how about a simple washer fluid pump & pigtail. If you guys work on these older vehicles you know what we are talking about.

Steve83 is spot on...

R&R on flat rate for a new car is totally different than "best guess" some 50 yr old rig that has who knows what done to it previously!!

BoulderMike22 said:

I agree that “odd” jobs exist on these older vehicles and there are LOTS of variables as some have previously mentioned. However- as a consumer, there should be a common range to expect to pay. You shouldn’t have to take your vehicle to a mechanic/specialist and be completely subject to being taken advantage of because of those variables. If a bolt is rusted and can’t easily be taken out, that may take an extra hour but not 5. If swapping a drum brake to a disc brake, the lets are readily available and easily ordered so there is a difference between parts cost and labor cost.

I think this is a valid thread and should not be deleted. There are things that are clearly common sense to you get what you paid for. Example- a Maaco paint job is vastly different than a 3 stage paint job from a hot rod shop. Labor costs also vary be geographical location. It’s still nice to know generally what something should cost so there is an educated conversation between mechanic and customer.


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Hauling something down to a machine shop to have the snapped off seized bolt cut out with wire EDM may take longer than that, so a bolt takes as long as it takes.

Better to estimate longer and look good when the job takes less time than to estimate too little time and disappoint the customer when it isn't done yet.

Pa PITT said:

I'll bet I've packed 50 set of wheel bearings & I don't think I could do a set in less than 5 hours.

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5 hours is way too much time to pack wheel bearings. That's just one step in the job of changing brake rotors on an '80-96 Bronco, and it doesn't take me 2 hrs to do that whole job in someone else's driveway.

I have both, but I highly recommend the 2nd type:







This & the NEXT few show its use:


https://www.supermotors.net/vehicles/registry/media/150156

BoulderMike22 said:

If a bolt is rusted and can’t easily be taken out, that may take an extra hour but not 5.

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How many things are attached by 1 bolt? And if 1 bolt is rusted to #3!!, probably all of them are. So if each rusty bolt takes an extra hour or 2, it adds up.

And you also have to consider incidental extra labor - some frozen bolts require a torch to remove, and that can mean additional unrelated repair labor & parts. Either to R&I things that can't tolerate the torch, or to replace things damaged by that heat. The shop can either prepare you in advance by telling you "yeah, we can change out that engine mount, but we might also have to replace the exhaust manifolds & Y-pipe", OR they can tell you later "yeah, we got that engine mount changed for ya, but the bolts were rusted so badly that we had to pull the manifolds to extract them, and the Y-pipe broke apart when we were taking it loose." Which would you prefer? Either way: a pro can make an educated guess as to how much extra labor will be involved in doing an "apparently-simple" job on an antique off-road truck with who-knows-how-many latent problems. But even an educated guess can be off by hours.

So I'm still NOT discouraging anyone from posting what a particular job cost - I'm just saying that NO ONE should attempt to "bully" his local shop into letting an internet discussion dictate its pricing. You'll only come away feeling foolish.

If you want to DIY, go for it. But be prepared for all the unknowns that can (& usually DO) crop up when working on a well-used (AB-used?) antique work truck.

If you DON'T want those headaches, find a pro you trust to do it the way you want it done, ask him what HE thinks it'll cost you for him to do it, and ask him what he THINKS would be the maximum increase to that price if all hell breaks loose. Then be prepared to pay him for the work he did correctly (including unforseen work that was incidental to the work you requested). If you think he inflated the bill, don't go back. If you think he ripped you off, try to find some other pro who'll testify to it in your lawsuit.

If neither of those appeals to you, sell your eB & buy a new Escape with a warranty.

how about hours it took to do the job

how long does it take someone to do a particular job?
Wheel bearings, front=2 hrs (Steve83)


here are a couple of mine, includes breaks and cussing
Long arms install= 6 hrs (Skiddy)
Front coil springs= 2 hrs (Skiddy)
C-Bushings = 6 hrs (Skiddy)
Rear Leafs = 4 hrs (Skiddy)
just some of my slow estimated hours

I always triple initial estimates in time and money when working on a Bronco.
Nothing ever goes as planned.

There is also the quality of the work done. I can patch wiring real fast with a box of butt connectors, or spend a lot longer doing a good job getting the routing done nice and clean without inline splices. The details can double the time.

Steve83 said:

...If you DON'T want those headaches, find a pro you trust to do it the way you want it done, ask him what HE thinks it'll cost you for him to do it, and ask him what he THINKS would be the maximum increase to that price if all hell breaks loose. Then be prepared to pay him for the work he did correctly (including unforseen work that was incidental to the work you requested). If you think he inflated the bill, don't go back. If you think he ripped you off, try to find some other pro who'll testify to it in your lawsuit.

If neither of those appeals to you, sell your eB & buy a new Escape with a warranty.

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Agree, and have him do a oil/filter/lube regularly. This way you give him business, and he knows the vehicle. Repair costs will be fair since he is familiar with the vehicle. I miss the old service stations...