Becoming a mechanic/car restorer Career change at 31

[HairyDubber]

Hi guys, Basically im after some advice im wanting to become a mechanic im a pretty confident home mechanic and used to help a family friend when i was a kid who was a mobile mechanic.
When i left school at 16 i started an apperentship in a garage but a few weeks after the company folded and ended up training to be a carpet fitter.
im now 31 and want to get back into the automotive industry, i have a paticular passion for classic cars, i have recently joined this forum and have been welding up my works van and have really enjoyed this type of work aswell.
Im after some advice on how to go about this? ovbiviously i do have more finacial burdens compare to a younger guy but am keen to have a change in career and do something i really enjoy.

 

[Paul G]

IMHO

As a mechanic you are competing with garages that charge 70/80 pounds an hour.
Charge half that for simple servicing and people will form a queue.

As a welder if you charge £15 an hour your a "robin bar steward", or so your customers will tell you.

As for classics, a gallon of oil for a Morris 1000 used to be £2/19/11
Most owners still think this price has never changed.



I once had to price making two inner rear wings for a Morris 8.
When I got there (20 miles) the first thing he told me was that he could buy them from the owners club for £30 each.
I said, "why didn't you buy them"?
"They were only painted in grey primer" he replied.


Make what you will of this.

Paul G

 

[Rocketman]

As far as car restoration goes it similar to body shop rates which is less than garage rates. Generally speaking £30-£40 an hour tops. But because you get a car in and then do a lot of work on it in a block it works out to have less overheads in administration etc.

Trouble is this. No one will go to a guy and want a proper restoration done if they don't have a proper garage to work from which will probably include in house spray booth. Also proof of many restored cars to top notch quality is a key to getting work.

Going to someone to restore a car they expect them to know a lot about car restorations. Doing some welding on a van is miles off what you need to know.

TBH
To have a chance of doing this professionally your best bet will be to get a job at a classic car restorer for a few years and then think about setting up your own business.

There are a hell of a lot of people who spend many thousands of pounds getting there classics restored but they go to the pros you see.

 

[shed or dead]

It's also worth bearing in mind that most classic car enthusiasts are tinkerers themselves and either undertake most work themselves, or know someone who does the tricky stuff.

Straying off topic a bit, it always breaks my heart when I see a mint looking classic, then look under the bonnet to find that the owner Arc'ed the wings on with blobs 'n' burns, then I realise that a shiny paint job probably hides more filler than metal.

 

[BrokenBiker]

my neighbour is trying this at the moment. no one will give him the time of day as he hasn't got qualifications, or a garage/spray booth.

 

[Rocketman]

Brokenbiker

Suppose it comes down to this if you were going to spend 10K on a restoration how much of a risk would you take to save a few thousand. I think a lot of people who needed that kind of service wouldn't be willing to.

 

[brightspark]

if u were starting off from scratch and have nothing to show i would imagine it would be verry dificult to get work . on the otherhand if u had a classic motor that u had restored and took it to shows and a lot of interest was shown u could hand a few cards out offering your service s and do it on a part time basis and see how it goes then progress from there

 

[BrokenBiker]

Brokenbiker

Suppose it comes down to this if you were going to spend 10K on a restoration how much of a risk would you take to save a few thousand. I think a lot of people who needed that kind of service wouldn't be willing to.

especially when he has to ask me to do his welding jobs, as he cant weld. i agree, if i had something like an old merc or bmw and i didn't know how to restore it myself i would be looking for someone with a gallery of photos of previous jobs, in house paint facilities and a well kitted out workshop

 

[HairyDubber]

Thanks for the advice guys, I'm not claimingto be a master at anything I would just like to know a good way of getting into the motor trade

 

[Bill Edwards]

I think your best bet would be to try and get a job in an ordinary garage. You may think you've some capability, but even a basic backstreet garage will probably make you realise just how much exists that you didn't know about, never mind getting good at it as well.

That job should keep the bills paid while teaching you - OK, lots of the stuff on modern cars isn't of any use on classics, but you'll still gain a huge amount of experience and will then be well placed to work on classics if you move to that in the future. By working at a normal garage you stand a chance of making contacts, perhaps allowing you to find somewhere to work on classic cars instead.
Setting up your own business doing full restorations is pretty near impossible unless you've great premises, plenty of money for machinery and a good reputation. That isn't something you can really do well even if you have the money, without a lot of experience - more than you'll currently have from your own jobs (well, I'm assuming you don't run a Land Rover anyway!).

 

[rich the mechanic]

I don't know in the car trade but I'm in the motorcycle trade and the restorers very rarely do everything, it is usually some mechanical services sometimes with body/paint work and everything else is sub contracted out to engineering and specialist firms alot of them are just dis-assemblers and rebuilders and to be fair a little bull and the internet goes a long way. One of my customers vans says he's the top UK restorer and I wouldn't touch his finished work with a barge pole knowing what I do of his "work" such as 'don't balance the wheels we don't want the engine to feel rough.'

 

[the snooper]

I don't know in the car trade but I'm in the motorcycle trade and the restorers very rarely do everything, it is usually some mechanical services sometimes with body/paint work and everything else is sub contracted out to engineering and specialist firms alot of them are just dis-assemblers and rebuilders and to be fair a little bull and the internet goes a long way. One of my customers vans says he's the top UK restorer and I wouldn't touch his finished work with a barge pole knowing what I do of his "work" such as 'don't balance the wheels we don't want the engine to feel rough.'

he could find himself in trouble if he gets a dissatisfied customer that shows he isn't, that's why Carlsberg has always advertised probably the best lager in the world.
and also self praise is ne recomendation

 

[rich the mechanic]

he could find himself in trouble if he gets a dissatisfied customer that shows he isn't, that's why Carlsberg has always advertised probably the best lager in the world.
and also self praise is no recomendation

I know it might say UK's number 1 but it is something like that and I agree with you which is why I make sure my side of the contract is as it should be and stay out of it and funnily enough he is not on my recommended list when customers ask for someone to do something we do not do.

 

[the snooper]

I know it might say UK's number 1 but it is something like that and I agree with you which is why I make sure my side of the contract is as it should be and stay out of it and funnily enough he is not on my recommended list when customers ask for someone to do something we do not do.

best to protect yourself

 

[ronan]

Its easy to be a restorer of classic bike tbh, i know plenty of old boys who spend huge money on restoring or having bikes restored, and then never, and i do mean never take them out on the roads. Some haven't had any oil in them and they are trailered to shows.

 

[Robotstar5]

i know plenty of old boys who spend huge money on restoring or having bikes restored, and then never, and i do mean never take them out on the roads. Some haven't had any oil in them and they are trailer to shows.

I remember seeing a Sunbeam S7 or S8 at a show and the owner admitted there were no internals in the engine or gearbox!

 

[ronan]

I remember seeing a Sunbeam S7 or S8 at a show and the owner admitted there were no internals in the engine or gearbox!

The chancer ! Thats cheating !

To the op, if you have a classic car or bike you have restored yourself and made a nice job of, if you show it off and tell people what you can do, you'll find you will start to get work, small jobs at first. Thats the way its been with me and doing little bits of welding and machining.

 

[Stueeee]

I don't know in the car trade but I'm in the motorcycle trade and the restorers very rarely do everything, it is usually some mechanical services sometimes with body/paint work and everything else is sub contracted out to engineering and specialist firms '

I have two friends who (independently of each other) do vintage car restoration work, they have been doing it a long time and have built up from doing this stuff part time whilst holding down a day job. Each of them is a specialist in a single area -both engineering related. Neither of them do panel & paint, interiors etc. or other general restoration work. They're both booked out with work months ahead (often from other restorers), but then they're not charging huge labour rates. TBH although they make money, it probably wouldn't work for either of them financially if they had to pay rent on a unit, have to go and buy the tools/machinery that they already had etc.

 

[the snooper]

I have two friends who (independently of each other) do vintage car restoration work, they have been doing it a long time and have built up from doing this stuff part time whilst holding down a day job. Each of them is a specialist in a single area -both engineering related. Neither of them do panel & paint, interiors etc. or other general restoration work. They're both booked out with work months ahead (often from other restorers), but then they're not charging huge labour rates. TBH although they make money, it probably wouldn't work for either of them financially if they had to pay rent on a unit, have to go and buy the tools/machinery that they already had etc.

that's the key, if you want to run your own small business be good at it and don't try to charge people over the odds, just make a decent living and you will win the trust of the customers

 

[rich the mechanic]

Its easy to be a restorer of classic bike tbh, i know plenty of old boys who spend huge money on restoring or having bikes restored, and then never, and i do mean never take them out on the roads. Some haven't had any oil in them and they are trailered to shows.

A lot of the proper shows/contests now have to be ride/drive in events even if trailered there they have to enter under their own power. I am not a purist although a spotless example is good thing to behold I would much rather see a useable machine.