Shop labor hours advice

[David Burt]

Hey guys and gals.

I'm needing a little advice on a new to me PA30. It's a '69 C-model. It's at a shop and they've provided a labor estimate for various things and I wanted to post times here to see if they are reasonable. Some things just seems high to me. I won't mention shop by name but they know Comanche's.

Replace outboard flap track - 16hrs
Replace Orings in both brake master cylinders - 8hrs
Stab drum replace - 6hrs
Replace engine baffling on both engines - 32hrs
Replace engine isolators on both engines - 12hrs
Replace side glass - 48hrs
Replace gear door hinge and repair a crack - 6hrs

These are a few of the biggies. Just curious what ya'll think about the times. Reasonable??

Thanks so much!

-David

[Larry Martin]

David,

My only experience with your "list" was to have the engine lord mounts replaced. While, I can't immediately find the bill, I think that the labor cost for both engine lord mounts and to install and time 4 mags was about $400 ish.

I think the cost for the mount labor is high.....

larry

[N3322G]

David,

You can always ask for more detail on the estimates - the gear door repair seems about right because they have to re-adjust it to spec.
Flap track may or may not be high because you don't know if it requires alignment relocation - assume they are using pre-made flap tracks
That's a lot of hours on the baffling - is that replacing all the metal and the flexible? Are the flexible parts being custom made for tighter fit? If so, that isn't unreasonable. In 47 years have never replaced metal baffles, only repaired. I'd ask for the detail on something that is going to take a week of work.
Suggest asking for detail on side glass also - does it have to be trimmed to fit? etc.

Since the plane is new to you - you should feel especially comfortable asking them to walk you through the work required. I'd also ask exactly who is doing the work and have they done it before. The shop may be experienced but the person working on your aircraft may be new - never know.

[David Burt]

Thanks Pat and Larry!

Quick update....I spoke with the gentleman this morning and the answer I got was that he as asked the others what they thought the hours should be. On another note, I spoke with Webco this morning and submitted my list of squawks to them to get an estimate but while on the phone, asked about a few of the items as well. Their estimate is much less man hours which seems way more reasonable to me (can't wait to get the final estimate though). Instead of the 48 hours for side windows, he quoted 12 hours. The flap track was 6-8 vs. 16 hours. Baffling was 8 hours both left and right vs the 32 hours (no metal work). Engine mounts were 8hours vs 12 and so on.

To be con't...

[LeWayne Garrison]

Some sounds pretty reasonable, others not so much. 48hr for the side glass seems really, really high. The O-rings is a bit excessive also, as are the lord mounts and baffles. I would question the need to replace the baffles. Crack repair and new sealing strips is almost always sufficient.

[David Burt]

Just wanted to update this...

I ended up taking it north to Webco. Much more reasonable on time(s) and even a better hourly rate. Can’t say enough good things about those folks. Now on to shoulder harness and one piece windscreen.

-David