Engineering Fees.. Am I being ripped??

[Ed]

Hello,

I approached my engineer about the upcoming process of engineering inspection.

he knows the project and actually did some ground work for me in the very early stages of the project.

He tells me fees are around the $1500 mark (OUCH....)

Can somebody verify these fees are for real.. I think its excessive.  I dont want to change engineer because he knows my project. Just want to know this is a realistic price.



Cheers

Ed

[Fast_Eddie]

Why don't you politely ask for a fee proposal that documents the scope of work that is required for his service?

That way you can assess whether it is reasonable or otherwise by ringing around a couple of other engineers and discussing their equivalent rates/service.

[FATBOY]

the engineer im using is going to charge around 550 -600 for the full engineering on my panelvan

cheers fatboy

[HARKO]

Is that for a V8 swap fatboy or 6 ,I was quoted $7 - 800 for the red 6 conversion in FB wagon then when I told him about the ute details "Chopped ,floor cut out and placed over a full chassis ,engine upgrade to 350 with supercharger ,HQ brakes, air ride suspension "
He said arrrgh ummmm wwwwwell ummmm you may have to see another engineer for that  
Woos ! Makes me think is he an engineer or a bookworm . - Knows the details but is bluffed when he actually has to look.

Another engineer in the local area is passing a mates EH wagon at the moment with mods like 15*15 rears 15*4 fronts ,308 set up for nitrous, full cage integrated into new chassis rails ,flat floor with the rails protruding through half above and half below floor ,with a false floor above ,Pedal box as in touring cars etc etc.
The only complaint my mate had was that he wont allow grinding of welds at all .
God knows how the RTA will allow it all.

[nicko]

Hi Ed,whats your mate been charged,as that should give you a good guage to work from in your costings,
its always a case of" let your fingers do the walking "amazing just how much you can save sometimes, except for the airbags and roof chop,all the other work is from (been there done that}which any Engineer should be able to quickly look at and pass,so it would be very interesting to here his costings,i would try talking to him and telling him your not happy at his price,you never know he might be quite reasonable about it.if others have done work similar to you ,who do they use,worth while talking to Harko's Engineer maybe.

[FATBOY]

yeh its for an injected 5 litre with turbo 700 box cut down borg warner twin spot calipers on the front  discs on the rear
ps my front end conversion from v6 conversions finally turned up today 6 months in the waiting im the first one he has done he did a rear mounted rack vs steering column sump modification and extracters that hug the block

cheers fatboy

[COL58FE]

g'day ED,if your close to south west sydney there's an engineer two or three door's up from EAGLE performance on Aird's Rd Minto.I found him good when i was doing my 82 TF Cortina from a four banger to a 302 cleveland-c4-9' 3.55,XB brake's etc.But that was in 1998 i intent to use him again for fe-chev-2spd-9'-3.55,only thing can't remember the name but the performance shop will guide you-there cool fella's to.hope it help's price back then was for the lot $350-00,p.s booking only too.he like's a beer too (it might help).cheer's col...

[Ed]

thanks for your replies guys,

I shouldnt stress out so much my project is comparably tame to some of those mentioned, and isnt treading the fine line of legality in any sense really.

I downloaded the list of authorised signatories from the RTA site, on the up hand there were 4 guys listed in nearby areas who I may just call.

Cheers

Ed

[Chuck]

Hey Ed

Am sweating it out in a seedy internet cafe in Saigon, try Peter Gillard in Leichhardt.  I had a chat to all the enigineers in our area and he was a) the only one that knew what he was talking about when it comes to old hens, and b) the cheapest.  Dont have any more details other that his business is ADA Complaince or something like that - should be in the book (sorry notebook is about 7000km away).

Chuck

[Ed]

Chuck,

Ur in Saigon and still thinking of us!

Will hit the yellow pages and find ur lead.

Cheers

Ed