My welder is a perfectionist but 100 hours of labor? He charges $75/hour which isn't bad but it's still $7500. I live in Southern California where things can be a bit more expensive. Anyone know someone really good in the area for less $$? Thanks in advance.

I could see 100 hrs with paint. Just doing the quarters

@MB911

we charge 32 labor units to install

I'm with dr914, 100 hours sounds nuts....thats 2 1/2 weeks. Yup, need Ben to chime in.

Conversely, if you’re in CA and the next guy can do it in 40 hours but charges $185/hour, you’re still at $7500. What might concern me is the 100 hours. If he’s a good welder and gets good instruction on how to place the flares - fine. If he’s thinking 100 because he’s not good at doing new things, that’s concerning.

Ben’s not only an expert welder but has done a bunch of GT flares. If he charged a consultant fee, it would be money well spent.

My opinion might not carry much weight but I always feel you weld in the flares and then make the rockers fit the opening. Flares are structural, rockers are cosmetic trim.

Good luck with the installation.

Surprised nobody brought this up… sounds like $3400 is considered a great price range for someone who knows what they are doing…. Prob is getting your car to him…

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=369793

That is a steal for Rick to install them. You know it would be done right too.

Jimmy T. at Burbank Coachworks did my Gt steel flair conversion in 1989, for $2,500/ per corner.
These were TiG welded, final details in lead finish, primed and ready to paint. Also brought over the wheel/tire combo for fitment, wherein he slightly stretched the rears to accommodate the 9's included in price.
I handled the fitment of left & right rocker panels (A.I.R. brand).
Moving on to final painting of the car in black imron, but that was Not included in price. I took over on re-assembly of the 914 and saved some cash.

$24,260.00 in today's USD , adjusted to current value of $10k in 1989 dollas'.

What is a labor unit?

It’s cheaper to ship a car to the right person than to have the wrong person screw it up.
Both Rick and Ben are experts.

8 hours per flare. Welded, ground ready for epoxy

I charge $2500 to place, cut , weld, rough grind a set. Takes me 2.5 days depending on process. If you want the TIG welded it’s $3500 but paint needs to be removed in that area prior to my arrival

Ben's sound correct. I had mine welded on and roll cage done 35 years ago for $500.00. I found this from our 1987 PCA club news letter. I purchased factory flares from Fred for $900.00. That was a lot back then.Click to view attachment Click to view attachment

What's the difference/advantages between a regular weld and a TIG weld?

Just to do the flares, probably 4k-6k

BUT (and this is a really big but)

If you do the flares then you have to repaint most of the car which is also a good chuck of change these days...

and if you are dropping all that money to do the paint, you might as well make sure all the metal under that expensive repaint isnt paper thin and full of holes and bondo given these tubs are all 50+ years old, so another 1-2k to blast the tub back to bare metal
plus whatever to fix the rust that I promise you is there.

Basically what I am saying is you could do a half assed superficial job for for 10-15k, a proper job for 30k+, or just find a car that already has flares.

This is the only way to know you are working with a clean tub. I personally dont understand why anyone would dump 5 figures to put lipstick on a pig.




Click to view attachment

There is MIG which is faster but has much higher deposition rates and requires more grinding. TIG is much smaller weld and little to no grinding and much easier to shape

I used 10 hours per corner to estimate flare installation in the past. That was for tig (butt) welded GT flares, ground and hammered smooth inside and out, and finish shaping of the bottom corners which need extensive work to look appropriate.

Ya, TIG is nicer to work. Once it's tacked you can just run the length of the seam with little heat travel.

So without paint being a factor……a 100 hours is excessive. …..in any part of the country.
Not a bodyman, but did stay at a Holiday in Express once.
It is funny (or sad) to see costs from years ago.
Certainly requires talent but hardly rocket science……and certainly .no disrespect to the skilled people that do this work.

I would say Chris Foley is probably right on for what he is doing which is TIG and hammering everything out etc. what I am doing for most customers is going to their homes or shops and doing it typically with what they have for a welder for about half as many hours but the customer has to do much more finish work than what Chris is offering typically

Yes what your being quoted is about crazy. Would be cheaper to fly me out for 3-4 days to do the job pay me and fly me back than the 100 hours your being quoted

You're right. It's not rocket science, it's dedicating endless hours/days as well as investing in the tools and facilities to hone your craft and not deliver something that looks like shit.

Though 100 hrs. sounds like it's on the high end, I can absolutely see how fitting, gas or TIG welding these into position and then metal-finishing to acceptable finish would take pretty close to that. Modifying the rest of the panels to blend is going to take some time as well.

Now if you want to clamp up the flares to the car, lop the fenders off with a cut-off wheel, MIG them in and call it good, that would seem about 20 hours.

Bondo and paint make it pretty when it aint.

Did Porsche press the GT fenders as one unit, or were the flares added to the standard fenders?

I'd love to see what the backside looks like on a factory welded flare, if that's the case.

Welded on after the fact. Just like early 930 turbos.

I'd love to see some bare metal pics, outside and inside.

I just know if I were going to add GT flares, (I am not) I would rather ship my car to someone like Ben or Rick who have done this many times rather than have someone learn on my car and possibly end up with a mess.

the welding is pretty straightforward, the blending at the bottom takes some artistry.