Classic car mechanic/retoration technician
Discussion
Good evening all,
I have been in the motor trade all my working life but over three years ago I took the plunge to go on my own
I now run a small in business in Yorkshire restoring and servicing classic cars, with an ever increasing work load,I am looking to expand but I am finding it increasingly difficult to find a good reliable all round technician!
I would like your opinions on what you would think the average wage is for the right man? I know if you pay peanuts you get monkeys etc,etc, and would be willing to pay the right man the right money
Also can anybody advise me of a good place to advertise the position?
Look forward to hearing your thoughts
Thanks in advance
I have been in the motor trade all my working life but over three years ago I took the plunge to go on my own
I now run a small in business in Yorkshire restoring and servicing classic cars, with an ever increasing work load,I am looking to expand but I am finding it increasingly difficult to find a good reliable all round technician!
I would like your opinions on what you would think the average wage is for the right man? I know if you pay peanuts you get monkeys etc,etc, and would be willing to pay the right man the right money
Also can anybody advise me of a good place to advertise the position?
Look forward to hearing your thoughts
Thanks in advance
Welcome to my world !
It is very difficult to find someone with the correct skillset, particually in yorkshire for some reason..Many of the old boys have now retired, and they skills havnt been passed down...I am sending cars further and further away to get work carried out on them toa proper standard...the people locally I do know are rammed packed out with work...
My mate down here in the South East has been looking for a junior to train in the business for the past 5 years , he's had 4 so far that have come and gone .They don't seem to like getting dirty , or realising work time is not a time to have a smart phone permanently attached to an appendage.
He is easy going if you show willingness and pay attention .
Some fabulous cars in his place last time I visited including a DB5, Daytona spider , Shelby mustang and several E types among others .
He is easy going if you show willingness and pay attention .
Some fabulous cars in his place last time I visited including a DB5, Daytona spider , Shelby mustang and several E types among others .
I have people begging me not to retire.....
Us "old boys" are retiring / dropping off the twig etc.
40+ years of very hard work takes its toll I'm afraid.
I do agree. When I want to sub out paintwork or valeting/detailing or chroming etc It is very difficult to get a decent job done. Bit of a case of stable door / horse etc.....
Us "old boys" are retiring / dropping off the twig etc.
40+ years of very hard work takes its toll I'm afraid.
I do agree. When I want to sub out paintwork or valeting/detailing or chroming etc It is very difficult to get a decent job done. Bit of a case of stable door / horse etc.....
Well I made the decision to clear the workshop of all employees over the past month or so: simply too many problems employing people. In this day and age there seems to be a problem with identifying acceptable standards of work. You cannot compromise when working on these cars; you cannot make mistakes, you cannot take shortcuts. There is also the serious issue of what it costs a small business to employ people; and this latest ludicrous requirement to pay into a pension fund is for many, the final nail in the coffin.
The worst aspect to this is that my personal reputation is on the line. The employee makes the mistake and I get it in the teeth from the customer. Just cannot do that any more.
The most helpful person I now have in the business is the girl in the office. She keeps the paperwork spot on and sifts out all the stupid phone calls trying to sell me life insurance, health insurance and jsut about every useless service that I don't need! This frees up my time in the workshop.
Someone mentioned 40 years taking its toll. I find I have to stay dead fit to do this. It is physically very hard work. No drunken nights or abusive diets; in other words you have to look after yourself.
I'm not sure how much longer I can sustain this, but I will miss working on these cars when I go.
J
The worst aspect to this is that my personal reputation is on the line. The employee makes the mistake and I get it in the teeth from the customer. Just cannot do that any more.
The most helpful person I now have in the business is the girl in the office. She keeps the paperwork spot on and sifts out all the stupid phone calls trying to sell me life insurance, health insurance and jsut about every useless service that I don't need! This frees up my time in the workshop.
Someone mentioned 40 years taking its toll. I find I have to stay dead fit to do this. It is physically very hard work. No drunken nights or abusive diets; in other words you have to look after yourself.
I'm not sure how much longer I can sustain this, but I will miss working on these cars when I go.
J
jith said:
Well I made the decision to clear the workshop of all employees over the past month or so: simply too many problems employing people. In this day and age there seems to be a problem with identifying acceptable standards of work. You cannot compromise when working on these cars; you cannot make mistakes, you cannot take shortcuts. There is also the serious issue of what it costs a small business to employ people; and this latest ludicrous requirement to pay into a pension fund is for many, the final nail in the coffin.
The worst aspect to this is that my personal reputation is on the line. The employee makes the mistake and I get it in the teeth from the customer. Just cannot do that any more.
The most helpful person I now have in the business is the girl in the office. She keeps the paperwork spot on and sifts out all the stupid phone calls trying to sell me life insurance, health insurance and jsut about every useless service that I don't need! This frees up my time in the workshop.
Someone mentioned 40 years taking its toll. I find I have to stay dead fit to do this. It is physically very hard work. No drunken nights or abusive diets; in other words you have to look after yourself.
I'm not sure how much longer I can sustain this, but I will miss working on these cars when I go.
J
Some good points regarding the employing of staff, but there are only so many hours in a day one person can work and charge out, not sure how a good living can be made without more output?The worst aspect to this is that my personal reputation is on the line. The employee makes the mistake and I get it in the teeth from the customer. Just cannot do that any more.
The most helpful person I now have in the business is the girl in the office. She keeps the paperwork spot on and sifts out all the stupid phone calls trying to sell me life insurance, health insurance and jsut about every useless service that I don't need! This frees up my time in the workshop.
Someone mentioned 40 years taking its toll. I find I have to stay dead fit to do this. It is physically very hard work. No drunken nights or abusive diets; in other words you have to look after yourself.
I'm not sure how much longer I can sustain this, but I will miss working on these cars when I go.
J
I've been doing restorations for people for around ten years now so I'm still fairly new to the game compared to some. The trouble is not many youngsters have a interest in anything old and it's a expensive and time consuming game training them to do even basic jobs.
A very valid comment about needing more staff. With only myself in the workshop, that's only one persons profit but again it's tough finding another pair of hands I can trust to put my name to there work.
O.P, where abouts in Yorkshire are you?
A very valid comment about needing more staff. With only myself in the workshop, that's only one persons profit but again it's tough finding another pair of hands I can trust to put my name to there work.
O.P, where abouts in Yorkshire are you?
I would love to get into this kind of work, however it's difficult to get anyone to give you a start! There is certainly a skills shortage in this area, but unless employers are willing to risk employing and training young people then this trend is going to continue. Not all young lads are going to take the piss, plenty are dedicated and hard working, it's just a matter of finding the right ones!
POORCARDEALER said:
jith said:
Well I made the decision to clear the workshop of all employees over the past month or so: simply too many problems employing people. In this day and age there seems to be a problem with identifying acceptable standards of work. You cannot compromise when working on these cars; you cannot make mistakes, you cannot take shortcuts. There is also the serious issue of what it costs a small business to employ people; and this latest ludicrous requirement to pay into a pension fund is for many, the final nail in the coffin.
The worst aspect to this is that my personal reputation is on the line. The employee makes the mistake and I get it in the teeth from the customer. Just cannot do that any more.
The most helpful person I now have in the business is the girl in the office. She keeps the paperwork spot on and sifts out all the stupid phone calls trying to sell me life insurance, health insurance and jsut about every useless service that I don't need! This frees up my time in the workshop.
Someone mentioned 40 years taking its toll. I find I have to stay dead fit to do this. It is physically very hard work. No drunken nights or abusive diets; in other words you have to look after yourself.
I'm not sure how much longer I can sustain this, but I will miss working on these cars when I go.
J
Some good points regarding the employing of staff, but there are only so many hours in a day one person can work and charge out, not sure how a good living can be made without more output?The worst aspect to this is that my personal reputation is on the line. The employee makes the mistake and I get it in the teeth from the customer. Just cannot do that any more.
The most helpful person I now have in the business is the girl in the office. She keeps the paperwork spot on and sifts out all the stupid phone calls trying to sell me life insurance, health insurance and jsut about every useless service that I don't need! This frees up my time in the workshop.
Someone mentioned 40 years taking its toll. I find I have to stay dead fit to do this. It is physically very hard work. No drunken nights or abusive diets; in other words you have to look after yourself.
I'm not sure how much longer I can sustain this, but I will miss working on these cars when I go.
J
jith said:
Well I made the decision to clear the workshop of all employees over the past month or so: simply too many problems employing people. In this day and age there seems to be a problem with identifying acceptable standards of work. You cannot compromise when working on these cars; you cannot make mistakes, you cannot take shortcuts. There is also the serious issue of what it costs a small business to employ people; and this latest ludicrous requirement to pay into a pension fund is for many, the final nail in the coffin.
The worst aspect to this is that my personal reputation is on the line. The employee makes the mistake and I get it in the teeth from the customer. Just cannot do that any more.
The most helpful person I now have in the business is the girl in the office. She keeps the paperwork spot on and sifts out all the stupid phone calls trying to sell me life insurance, health insurance and jsut about every useless service that I don't need! This frees up my time in the workshop.
Someone mentioned 40 years taking its toll. I find I have to stay dead fit to do this. It is physically very hard work. No drunken nights or abusive diets; in other words you have to look after yourself.
I'm not sure how much longer I can sustain this, but I will miss working on these cars when I go.
J
Been there done that employing people. You spend the majority of your time blowing their noses and wiping their arses.The worst aspect to this is that my personal reputation is on the line. The employee makes the mistake and I get it in the teeth from the customer. Just cannot do that any more.
The most helpful person I now have in the business is the girl in the office. She keeps the paperwork spot on and sifts out all the stupid phone calls trying to sell me life insurance, health insurance and jsut about every useless service that I don't need! This frees up my time in the workshop.
Someone mentioned 40 years taking its toll. I find I have to stay dead fit to do this. It is physically very hard work. No drunken nights or abusive diets; in other words you have to look after yourself.
I'm not sure how much longer I can sustain this, but I will miss working on these cars when I go.
J
I have a mate working for me on a ad-hoc basis. He is a retired engineer and my best mate, so it works well.
I can't keep fit. I am disabled after a near death accident 8 years ago - but still keep doing this stuff....
I've just finished writing an article on the resurgence of apprentices in the classic car trade. Anyone who knows Jaguars knows the name of Bill Heynes who designed the XK engine while on fire watch during the war. Well, I am pleased to tell you that he has taken now up an apprenticeship but this time on the bodywork side. Not all employers are avoiding youngsters, but it seems that the bigger ones are taking them on, such as CKL, JD Classics and CMC to mention a few names well known in Jaguar circles. I am sure it must be the same in Aston, Ferrari and other circles, but I just write for Jaguar magazines. The lad who did most of the bodywork on my D/XKSS conversion was Ollie, an apprentice for whom I have a lot of time, now still with CKL but out of his apprenticeship.
Oh, if you are scratching your head about the above, it is William Heynes who has taken up the apprenticeship, the grandson of the famous Bill. A nicely squared circle, wouldn't you say?
Oh, if you are scratching your head about the above, it is William Heynes who has taken up the apprenticeship, the grandson of the famous Bill. A nicely squared circle, wouldn't you say?
Interesting subject, I'm on the other side of the fence. I did my apprenticeship with Mercedes-Benz straight from school in '99 and stuck with them until 2010 when I moved to an independent specialist. A year or so ago I moved to a Ford main dealer, essentially because the pay was better.
I'm starting to get to the stage now where the desire and enthusiasm to be fitting discs and pads and doing oil changes all day is definitely waning and I'd love to get in to something more specialised like classics (I used to love tinkering with the old Mercs from time to time when they'd come in) or more niche performance vehicles. Deep down I'm a real car enthusiast and would love a job where I could allow that passion and enthusiasm to thrive. The problem is that at 32 I can't afford to make a leap and then face a large drop in income whilst I was getting up to speed with the specifics. But conversely, as I may lack the particular knowledge needed to drop straight in to a specialised role and hit the ground running, I'd probably be overlooked anyway. It's a difficult situation.
I'm starting to get to the stage now where the desire and enthusiasm to be fitting discs and pads and doing oil changes all day is definitely waning and I'd love to get in to something more specialised like classics (I used to love tinkering with the old Mercs from time to time when they'd come in) or more niche performance vehicles. Deep down I'm a real car enthusiast and would love a job where I could allow that passion and enthusiasm to thrive. The problem is that at 32 I can't afford to make a leap and then face a large drop in income whilst I was getting up to speed with the specifics. But conversely, as I may lack the particular knowledge needed to drop straight in to a specialised role and hit the ground running, I'd probably be overlooked anyway. It's a difficult situation.
It's a tough call. My guy was a long term motorbike mechanic and quickly proved his worth. If you have a mechanical aptitude then you can quickly pick up the skills required for classics. The problem is if you diversify and work on all marques. We specialise in one model only and after 40 years l still come across stuff l haven't seen. Learn how to tune carbs, set up suspension, drivetrain rebuilds and you will quickly have marketable skills. Maybe buy a gearbox (or something similar) and strip it to find out how it fits together. I'd be really impressed if l was approached by someone looking for work who was doing that kind of stuff. It's about how many effective hours you can be charged out for to the customer to cover your salary that should determine what you can be paid.
1954etype said:
It's a tough call. My guy was a long term motorbike mechanic and quickly proved his worth. If you have a mechanical aptitude then you can quickly pick up the skills required for classics. The problem is if you diversify and work on all marques. We specialise in one model only and after 40 years l still come across stuff l haven't seen. Learn how to tune carbs, set up suspension, drivetrain rebuilds and you will quickly have marketable skills. Maybe buy a gearbox (or something similar) and strip it to find out how it fits together. I'd be really impressed if l was approached by someone looking for work who was doing that kind of stuff. It's about how many effective hours you can be charged out for to the customer to cover your salary that should determine what you can be paid.
Just had a look on your website you do some nice work.Gassing Station | Jobs & Employment Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff