Billing/Cost

At regular intervals we provide complete documentation on your project including: Billing Invoices, Hour Summaries, Photos covering the repaired/restored areas, Labor Records, etc. We invoice every 2 to 4 weeks via fax, mail, or email. The labor records from our employees provide written information pertaining to your project each day your project is worked on. With each invoice, you will also receive a summary of the total hours performed by each crew member.

Labor Rate per Hour

When searching for a reputable restoration/street rod building shop, you will find services are charges by the hour or “time and materials”, as do we.

Question #1: The main question is how efficient is the shop’s system, or how much work do the employees actually get done for each hour charged?
Answer: At Chariots of Fire SRS, we have the craftsman that make correct decisions and are equipped with all the necessary tools to give you a good hours worth of work.

Question #2: Does the shop crew understand the financial commitment that the customer is putting forth in a project?
Answer: At Chariots of Fire SRS, our craftsmen are dedicated to their assigned projects. They take the customer’s financial commitment seriously as they work individually as well as a team to see that the project receives the best of their abilities to achieve the optimum efficiency level.

What Type of Project Are You Interested In? (Concours – Restification -Custom-Street Rod)

All of these choices will cost money to build correctly, but the condition of the project you start with and your own personal desires will determine the amount of time/cost.

  1. Concours is a totally original example of a restored vehicle. If the project starts out 100% complete, then there is very little homework to do – just disassemble and rebuild all components replacing what is necessary with N.O.S. parts if available. If Concours is your desire, but you are starting with a basket case condition with numerous parts missing, then you can expect a more expensive project although a parts car donor would help greatly.
  2. Restification is a project that has totally stock body, but a late model reliable drive train with suspension modifications for road handling – the classic look with a 90’s V8 and transmission
  3. Custom Rod is usually referred to as a 1949 and newer body style with custom modifications to the drive train, suspension, interior and the body including custom paint jobs such as flake, pearl, candies, graphics, etc.
  4. Street Rod is a 1929 to 1948 body style and is usually built with all new parts. This project is custom built for the driver to fit him or her specifically. Everything from mild to extreme drive trains is installed including the latest Billet items. Custom paint jobs with body modifications are quite common.

You can combine any of these for your own preference. We are here to build your dream ride, “Your Way”!

Cost Estimation

  1. Because of the obstacles involved in the restoration or custom building of a project, time estimation could not be accurate. Examples of such obstacles: Hidden sheet metal rust out. Rust is trapped in many areas that only a qualified person could find after every body panel is removed and stripped to bare metal. Once found, how long will each section take to repair? Is god rust-free original factory metal available from a desert area salvage yard? If we decide to purchase reproduction metal panels, will they fit well? Are we fabricating panels from scratch? Any of these choices can change from day to day depending on available and cost. Which will be the most efficient way to go? We cannot see the salvage yard piece until it gets to the shop, etc… Based on these questions, a customer can see how inaccurate it would be to truthfully estimate cost during body/metal work.
  2. Availability of mechanical parts – On Concours original restoration, many parts have to be date coded or part number correct. Are these parts available to purchase? A part that is available today may not be available tomorrow. Is the part an exact duplicate of the original? Was the part on your project the original style or did someone change it 15 or so years ago? If the original part was missing, what does the original part look like so we can be sure if the correct part during comparison before purchasing on the customer’s behalf? If we have to use a replacement that resembles the original part, how much modifications will there be to make it fit and work properly? If a project does not run when it comes into our shop, we have no way of knowing what parts worked properly before. Therefore, each part must be completely disassembled to know which internals need replacing, etc. These are a few of the main questions that will have to be asked for every part in question.

If I Restore or Build a Custom Vehicle will it Ber a Good Return On My Investment if Sold at a Later Date?

  1. The value of any particular vehicle depends on how much collectable and/or desirable it is. For example, let’s say that there is a Fiat with 1000 parts and a Ferrari with 1000 parts to restore. Although no two cars are the same as not two snowflakes are identical, we will still use this to compare value. Let’s say that these two cars have the same rust, same dents, same price of parts, same availability to find parts and take the same time to fully restore them right down to the minute. The value of the Ferrari is worth $250,000 and the Fiat is worth $6,000. So, regardless if it took the same investment to restore them we would still have a value problem. Supply and demand will always set values and we cannot change that. The customer dictates the investment by what vehicle he or she loves. REMEMBER – condition, parts availability and your own specific desires will dictate the expense to restore a Classic or build a Street Rod/Custom.

Customers – Beware of “Price Quotes”

We are often called by customers who have had their project at another shop but the other shop did not do much work on their vehicles before stopping. The shop is usually a body shop doing mostly production work and other late model insurance paid repairs. A common scenario goes like this: They show the customer a shiny paint job and say they can restore their vehicle for “X” number of dollars. At this point several things usually happen:

  1. The “production shop” uses the customer’s project as fill in work and IF they slow down on production insurance paid work.
  2. After a few hours into the project, the repair shop realizes that they bit off more than they could chew so they sit down on the job, meaning they do not work on it anymore. They realize they priced the job wrong and they will note make adequate profit if they continue. They tell the customer that they will get back to it as soon as they can, but usually never do. By the time the customer gets totally frustrated; their project is sitting in a corner with a ½ inch of dust on it. A year or so later, the customer finally pulls the car out. We have taken in this type of “already started” project numerous times and usually after taking inventory we find that all the parts were thrown into boxes and nothing was tagged or bagged as to location or photographed. This basket case situation makes for a much more expensive time consuming project, all because the project was not approached professionally by a fill-time restoration facility that specializes in restoration and understands this type of business. We know the nature of this business and time plus materials is the only way to approach the project. We do not rely on insurance companies to pay our bills. Our customers pay our bills with their own personal finances and we respect the fact that it took hard work for you to get the funds to build your project. Therefore, you deserve the attention to qualify, efficiency and an organized approach that our company, Chariots of Fire Street Rod Service, is dedicated to giving.

Responsibility Disclaimer

I hereby authorize work to be done with necessary materials and hereby grant Chariot Street Rod Service and its employee’s permission to operate said vehicle on Chariot Street Rod Service property. An Express Mechanic’s Lien is hereby acknowledged on sold car, truck, or vehicle to secure the amount of repair therein. Chariot Street Rod Service is NOT RESPONSIBLE for fire, theft, or accidents while in possession of customer’s vehicle or parts of or for vehicle. COFSRS assumes no liability after automobile leaves our property. Customer is responsible for liability insurance while in COFSRS shop or on property. Chariot Street Rod Service is NOT RESPONSIBLE for voids, warping or any damage on media blasted articles. Owner’s signature authorizes Chariot Street Rod Service to use customer credit card if provided.

The customer understands and recognizes that racing parts, specialized street rod equipment and all parts and services sold by Chariot Street Rod Service are exposed to make varied conditions due to the manner in which they are installed and used. Chariot Street Rod Service will not be liable for personal or property damage caused by the use or misuse of any product or service sold. Chariot Street Rod Service makes no warranties, expressed or implied, on any part manufactured by Chariot Street Rod Service or other manufacturer sold or installed on automobile. The only warranty is by the manufactured parts company. There is no warranty, expressed or implied, as to whether the goods sold hereby will protect the purchaser or ultimate user of such goods from injury or death.