Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron Sutton
This is so accurate it's not even funny. Well ... it's a little funny. 
When we did Greg's 65 Mustang Track Car "Make over" ... Greg (the customer) made it easy on us (the builders). I had a very comprehensive plan & cost estimates. Greg said, "Do it right, the way you think it needs to be done ... and here's the money." So we were able to basically rebuild everything in the entire powertain, suspension, wheels & brakes in 8 weeks. (The body, interior & cage stayed the same)
And like Greg said, there was scope creep ... 20-30% I think. I hate scope creep. I had laid out a plan that was very comprehensive up front. But when you find things you weren't expecting ... what do you do? Your choices are to leave them alone ... to the detriment of the car ... or fix/improve them & add cost. When we got in there, I saw things I didn't like & Greg said to make them right. We found some things that needed rebuilt & we found some things we could improve.
In a full muscle car rebuild ... where you don't really know what the body work needs until you get into it ... whew! Or if you don't know what the customer really wants ... or they don't know ... that's impossible to know exactly how much work it will take. This is where I think planning & quoting a range is the best strategy. Like Brizzio ... here is the price range. If you can't afford that, then this isn't going to end well. I hate to see good guys have a falling out over a car build ... but it happens all the time ... because of the flaws in this process.
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And There you have it. I have worked with Ron and let me tell you when he says comprehensive, it probably included the 1/4" flat washers. If there was creep then it is going to be almost IMPOSSIBLE to not have it.
Greg is right on the mark when he talks about shops not padding the estimate and Customers THINKING it can be done for less.