Doug, Paul or Michael Tzetlin, Designer, Minirestorer or whoever you are,


You have to be honest with the work that is involved in refurbishing a subframe. If I added up my time using hand and machine tools, I would figure for a rear subframe, and this is what I would pass onto you. Workshops are not a charity, and nor do they operate in 5 minute increments. If it takes 22 minutes, then it takes 1/2 an hour.

So:


Subframe, Remove from car: 1
Radius Arms, Remove: 0.5 hour
Radius arm bush and needle rollers, remove(both): 1
Radius arm bush and needle rollers, replace(both): 0.5
Radius arm bush and needle rollers, hand ream(both): 2
Subframe blast: 1
Subframe Prep, Prime, Paint: 1
Brake Lines, Remove, Fabricate: 1
Slave Cylinders, Remove, refurbish and reinstall: 1.5
Brake Limiting Valve, Remove, Refurbish:1
Brake Pads, Replace 0.5
Wheel Bearings, Remove, refurbish and replace(both): 1
Drums, Remove, machine, replace: 1.5
Rebuild subframe: 2
Reinstall, align refurbished subframe: 1.5

So I get 15.5 on just the rear alone. If I was to consider a job in my home or work workshops.

I will have missed a stack of things, and presumed that the parts don't need to go to a machine shop to be machined, so there will be a stack of things I haven't managed to account for. I'm not going to make the numbers up however to make the difference. I'm just saying there's things I can't account for.... So no offence to the business owners out there who might deal with greater numbers than these to repair a rear subframe.

I reckon the numbers are fair, particularly for a small workshop environment where the room needs to be created and the scale of economies can't be utilised as if you did one subframe after the other infinitum. If you've never reamed rear arm bushes, you probably don't know how difficult this can be for time. I've been generous there as I usually take 2.5 to 3 hours to ream, as I am careful, but not the slickest at the job and don't do it often enough to do it quickly.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

I am not just having a go at the person who posted this thread and will probably up-set some people with my comment BUT,!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
if you want to stuff around with minis or any car then do your self a BIG favour and learn to do the work your self or just buy a cheap korean pile of crap and sell it when it needs the oil changed.

It pisses me off when you bust your arse doing a job to help someone out and 9 times out of 10 the job is done cheap, but then there are some who just whinge. That's why I refuse to do any more jobs for anyone or make parts for them.[ apart for those I know]

Working on minis is not rocket sience. even my daughter can restore cars, she is on her 3 HR holden now and she learnt to do it by her mistakes, thinking and having a go.

End of rant by a cranky old man. I will get my beer and go back to the shed

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Research is the difference between speculation and investment. Anyone who copys some one else will always be second
www.minisprintgt.com

was she in Australian Classic Car mag a while ago???

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The trouble with a lot of people these days seems to be they take advantage of others without batting an eyelid.
This very reputable ( to most everyone who has had dealings with him)
mini mechanic/mini enthusiast and allround great bloke who loves nothing more than to see minis like ours kept on the road, has in the last few years had his faith in us severly tested!
He is, to be kind, old school, where a man's word is taken as gosple,
where information and skills gathered over decades in this industry is given to so called enthusiast free of charge! not to mention time spent on the phone helping these losers, again without charge!
Then in return he has not only being threatened with harm but has had to take hit after hit from scum who just do not pay. A few hundred here a few thousand there.
I personally have witnessed people look this man in the face and agree to what work needs to be done, only to bitch and lie and moan when the time comes to pay the usually very resonable and always conservative bill.
One wonders why he keeps going.

Cheers

AND I"LL DRINK TO THAT [ a cupa tea that is]
GR

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"It's better to be not informed than ill-informed"

She and her hubby were in a mag a few years ago when she did the 2nd HR and robert finished his EH wagon.
They just spent 6 months here with us and of course she found a HR premier sedan complete and un-molested with a 179 HP donk and she did a lot of work on it including a engine re-build and fitted a M21 box. I made a set of triple 1.3/4" SU's and manifold for it.
They drove from here to sheparton for a holden show and then back to Tassie. It never missed a beat including towing the Navara after that broke down.

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Research is the difference between speculation and investment. Anyone who copys some one else will always be second
www.minisprintgt.com

This is why i don't like dealing with customers (no offence to the good ones). I just like to go down the back of the workshop and do the job. I hate calling people up and explaining whats wrong and pricing up some parts and labour so they can agree to go ahead with it, then pull it all apart and find out its got even bigger problems. (like the camry i thought was a blocked thermostat, but then i noticed the water pump had no blades, then it became timing belt kit as well. I hate explaining to people that $100 job just skyrocketed)

i just say fix it and call me when its done, dont look at the cost when I sign the credit card slip. If it needs it done, I just pay it!

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Have to agree with GR
My drink is a beer though

What if you spent all your money at the pub and on smokes so you had to scrounge around for the money to fix you get to work in?

Sometimes we get jobs that sit at work for weeks because the owners don't really need the car and don't have the money available so it stays at work. What happens then when we charge storage and the bills bigger?

After saying all this, it doesn't happen very often, but i just like to avoid the potential bad customer and keep my head under the bonnet.

no sympathy for the weak willed who submit to their pathetic addictions instead of sorting their finances out. If your priority is to spend your money on drugs (of any kind, legal or otherwise) then you should just step off instead of wasting everyone elses time and money.

Much sympathy for the small businesses and tradesmen who have to finance the wasteful lives of these idiots.

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the world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page
66 Mini Minor sponsored by http://www.lifeonthehedge.com.au/ The Dog Harness Specialists
It was a pleasure ausmini. I'll miss all you misfits and reprobates

What if my addictions are mini related

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I still remember coming up with over 3K to pay for my first mini mechanic repairs. Out of my depth was an understatement

Crappy rebuild aside, I could see where the expenses were and footed the bill on my shitty part time subway wage. How I scraped the cash together I still have NFI.

Like someone said before, learn to repair stuff yourself. It's a tad more rewarding, and frees your cash up for more goodies, rather than going to someone elses labour.