Am I Being Taken For A Ride By My Garage?

[Atari Boy 11]

The storey so far

 

I bought a leggy (153k) '89 1.6 GTi last year as a weekend toy heading for the ring at the end of May!

When I bought it I knew that the valve stem seals needed sorting and the plan was to do the work with a mate who knows roughly what he is doing.

We got the head off (just) and I got it skimmed/rebuilt etc, then we got stuck. Neither of us (particularly me) are experts when it come to Peugeot 205s and as we go further involved we realised that neither of had the time nor the experience to put the car back together with 100% confidence in our workmanship and not fail on the ring.

I found a local garage that specialises in Peugeots and left it with them.

He says that he is nearly finished which is good but so far he has spent 12 ½ hours on it. Now Nick and I got the head off but we hadnt really sorted the cam belt etc. properly (we cut it to get the head off) so there was extra work to do. He has also replaced the water pump as well as finish off rebuilding the head and replacing various parts that needed sorting.

The question is, is 12 ½ hours about right to do the work so far, I know there are no hard and fast rules and I accept that the car is 18 years old and from experience with it I know that absolutely everything is seized and therefore a b*stard to get off.

I just dont like my leg being lifted.

[Rob_the_Sparky 9]

Sounds long but it depends on what he has had to do. Always a good idea to get a quote, or at least an idea before you let someone start work...

 

Rob

[jonnie205 1]

Dont sound too bad, its never easy finishing off somebody elses work as things need to be found and he has prob had to check the head over and see if its bene built up right. OK its taken him a while but jobs like that can do, especially head gaskets and cambelts

[Atari Boy 11]

I said that I thought that it was maybe half a days work, which I knew was a little tongue in cheek he explained that it would be longer.

Whilst I did not let him on to the fact, I really needed the car to be sorted. Between now and the end of May I need to MOT/tax/insure the car as well get used to it again ready for the ring.