What it cost to have my local garage put "Jesus" in shape:
R&R Water Pump, Fan Clutch, and all Belts:
Transmission Service
R&R Fuel Filter:
R&R Tie-Rod End and Idler Arm:
Tune-up:
A/C Service:
R&R Wiper/Cruise/Signal Switch Ass'y:
Check Valve Seals (R&R Left Valve Cover):
Dx and Repair Broken Wire, Pass. Side Power Window
R&R Exhaust System (except muffler/tailpipe - includes sales tax)
Total: $1407.56
(does not include sales tax except for exhaust system work!)If I had done this work the way I usually do I would have paid somebody else only for the work that requires a hydraulic hoist or special tools I do not own. That would be the Exhaust Work ($140.00), A/C Service ($140.59), & Front-end Repairs ($150.10) - a total of $330.69.
Most of the parts for the rest of the work could have been obtained for much less than my garage charged me ( the Fan Clutch, Ignition Wire Set, and Cap and Rotor were outrageously priced!). All-in-all I probably could have done all the work required for half what it cost me to pay someone else to do everthing. I have to say, though, that I have had no problems with any of the work I paid to have done other than the belts that keep slipping. (I just had the car in for some tire work and they tightened the belts for me at no charge six months after they did the initial work!)
I also bought a "Hidden Hitch" Class II trailer hitch, a set of center caps for the 14-inch Rally Wheels, and an electronic module for the third brake light installed on the car (to keep it from flashing with the turn signal) from J.C. Whitney - I think the total bill for all that was around $130.00.
The car was in good enough shape that I was able to use it for the 1500-mile round trip to move my daughter home from school in North Carolina in December without any problems at all! It cruised at 70mph on the Interstate without a hitch up-and-down the West Virginia mountain grades and pulled-down about 20mpg to boot. (The trailer hitch was to save me the potential cost of renting a tow-bar for the over-loaded 4-cylinder S-10 my daughter drove back from NC! I had a towbar and the S-10 had a hitch too - with the hitch on the Monte Carlo I was prepared to tow either car in case of a breakdown...)
I have tried to keep it out of the road salt this winter and am slowly getting the surface rust all touched-up (although I have been too cheap to have touch-up paint mixed for the car, the stuff I'm using kind-of matches!) and I am getting the engine compartment nice and clean. The car really needs a complete paint job, and the windows need adjusting and, maybe, new weatherstripping - other than that it runs and drives great and it doesn't look half-bad! The 267 is really a better performer than I expected - I had to adjust the T-V cable to get the tranny working right but it seems to be working really well now and the wider tires I have on the car make it handle pretty well too.
Current milage stands at about 46,000 and my wife is finally thinking seriously about buying another newer car to replace the '98 S-10, so there's a good chance I will have the Monte Carlo out by the side of the road in a couple months to see if I can get back some of the money I have put into it. If anyone in the area is interested drop me a line!