My tool collection has been amassed over many years of being in the hobby. My earliest acquisition is a hammer my dad bought me when I was in the Boy Scouts building a kayak. Other than a nicer ¼-inch drive Craftsman socket set, I’ve been very fortunate in that I haven’t had to get replacements for the tools I’ve acquired.
All that changed in a big way when, at some point between last Friday evening and yesterday afternoon, some thief made off with my air compressor and MIG welder. I totaled the monetary damage and it’s going to probably cost me about a thousand dollars to replace all that was taken. Sadly, my insurance company is of absolutely no help. Any claim made would jack up my premium by $300 per year for the next three years. So, figure in my $500 deductible, and I’d be paying $900 to $500. I’m no math whiz (don’t tell my employer), but that’s not a very difficult financial decision.
Beings I don’t have that kind of money available, I will be saving and scouring Craigslist ads in hopes of scoring a good deal on some good replacements.
A pair of possible opportunities recently popped up to earn some more money and help my fellow Corvair owners at the same time. Last night a group of ‘vair owners held a club meeting for the first time in months. As we went around the room chatting about our cars and projects, one guy bemoaned the fact that he’d recently received a quote of two to three thousand dollars to do a Powerglide swap and a gas tank flush and seal. The guy next to him also complained that, because of a bad back, he’d have to pay someone to install a new exhaust system on his Monza. Hmm. I can do both those.
I pulled up a spreadsheet and plugged some numbers in for hours and parts and came up with about $1300 for labor and parts to install the tranny swap and gas tank seal for the one guy and $360 for the other guy’s job. There’s no way I can work on someone else’s car before finishing Ringo, but once he’s on the road I may pursue these opportunities.
No comments:
Post a Comment