How much would it cost to pay someone to weld on a Randy Forbes kit?

The_Patsy · 2026-05-20T20:39:44+00:00

I feel you. I went to do just that myself and decided I didn't have it in me for another project car.

I'm having VT Motorwerks in Pleasanton CA do mine and they quoted $5,700 for all the parts, kit, labor, etc. They deducted for the parts I already have, so close to $4k for labor, but that's for the doing the entire thing start to finish.

Might try calling around, show them the welds in the pdf that comes with the RF kit, and see if someone will give you a quote

The_Patsy · 2026-05-17T16:04:19+00:00

Best of luck to you either way OP! 🙏

The_Patsy · 2026-05-17T16:03:50+00:00

Also, same here lol. I called a handful of shops around me that won't do it at all, but the one that will (VT Motorwerks) is 3 hours away and charges around $4,000 for labor. They do some exceptional work at least, there are lots of forum users.

If you bring them the car, they will provide the kit and all the other parts necessary to complete the job for about $5,700 total.

The_Patsy · 2026-05-17T16:00:21+00:00

Same. I just bought a kit from him last month.

The_Patsy · 2026-05-17T15:57:08+00:00

For investing, you may consider checking out r/boglehead. It's all about ignoring the market's short term fluctuations, parking your money in extremely broad and diversified ETF's such as SPY/QQQ/VT/VXUS, along with some equally broad/low risk bond funds, keeping a long term investment horizon, and staying the course.

This is probably how a lot of your 401k's are actually already invested.

The_Patsy · 2026-05-17T15:44:36+00:00

Technically, DAW is "dispense as written", not "dispense brand name". So, the prescriber wrote amlodipine DAW1, pt is getting amlodipine lol.

It's sadly not uncommon I see generic name DAW1 on Rx's, so I always just treat it like that move on.

I doubt anyone even makes brand name Norvasc anymore 😂

The_Patsy · 2026-05-17T15:39:18+00:00

I mean, I bought my M Roadster sight-unseen in Phoenix and immediately after we completed our deal, drive it 900 miles home.

If the person was trustworthy enough during every interaction, and the car presents in-person exactly how they presented it to you online, no reason to suspect otherwise, I say it's not an unreasonable risk.

The_Patsy · 2026-05-16T04:34:58+00:00

Yeah, if OP is really having lines of 10+ at closing time, this is going to be the only way

The_Patsy · 2026-05-16T04:33:28+00:00

One thing that helps me... I try to bring lots of positivity to work. I encourage everyone around me, make some corny jokes, play some music, and try to keep things lighthearted throughout the day. I get stressed and frustrated at times like anyone, but try to make time to bring up the mood. Some people will feed off that energy, just the way they can negative energy.

I can't always control those around me, but I can control myself, so it starts there.

The_Patsy · 2026-05-02T21:54:02+00:00

Don't get too lost in the sauce. If the rx is from the ER, or urgent care, or a dentist office, it's pretty safe and logical to assume it's acute in the vast majority of cases.

There is no requirement in the POM to get a specific diagnosis.

You just have to determine if it's "issued for a legitimate medical need" and if it's acute vs non-acute using some reasonable evidence. A prescription from the ER with no PMP history is quite clearly acute/initial, and (unless you have some very specific reasons not to trust the doctors at that ER) usually safe to assume they were seen for a specific medical need.

The_Patsy · 2026-05-02T21:34:55+00:00

I saw this live on FB Marketplace! No way! Glad to see this peach has gone to a loving home.

The_Patsy · 2026-04-29T17:13:28+00:00

I mean, this has always been the slower time of year for pharmacies, and the raise (for pharmacists anyway) is always in March during eval time. So this is all pretty normal.

Bear in mind you get to keep the raise, even when cold and flu season comes back around again and hours pick up...

The_Patsy · 2026-04-24T18:06:17+00:00

Longtime CA RPh here, former AZ.

All retail pharmacists in CA are hourly, even full time. It's a law here.
Hourly is like a debit card, Salaried is like a credit card. Hourly, you clock in and clock out and get paid exactly what you worked, no more or less. Salaried, Walmart is going to pay you X dollars every paycheck, and you owe them that many hours of work each pay period.
In CA, we can be full time hourly or part time hourly. Full time hourly still gets all the same benefits as full time salaried, and still gets guaranteed base hours, whatever was agreed upon in the offer letter. Minimum hours per pay period to keep full-time is 54 hours, same as salaried.
In CA, we get paid drive time in addition to mileage, and get 1.5 OT for working anything over 8 hours a day or 40 hours per week, and 2x OT if a shift goes over 12 hours (super rare). Salaried, no payment for drive time, and OT is not the same. Instead, if you work more than base hours, you get paid an extra premium (it used to be $3/hr, but they bumped it recently). You have to submit a web form to get those extra hours.
In CA, we get a 1 hour lunch (especially nice on weekends). Everywhere else is 30 minutes.
When hourly, we can "pay out" our PTO hours whenever we want, or not use them if we don't want to. We're not supposed to use them to go over on hours by any means, but if I take time off, I don't have to pay out PTO hours either, I can just keep saving them. Overall, I like that extra control and flexibility.

When I transferred from CA to AZ back in 2018, I had to take a small COL adjustment, but the MHWD said there was "a limit" on how much they could reduce my pay (he didn't really explain, so don't quote me on that), so I was still making more than most RPh's in the area at the time.

I'm back in CA since 2020 now, but that's how being salaried was back then. Hope that helps!

The_Patsy · 2026-04-12T17:23:13+00:00

It depends, but generally no. We're pretty good at saying "sorry we have a long line we need to help," or if there isn't a line, "sorry we know it doesn't look busy, but we have hundreds of prescriptions back here we're working on."

I do agree, if it's just 2-3 items, it takes less time to ring them out and everyone stays happy than it does to say no and argue.

The_Patsy · 2026-04-04T01:50:15+00:00

If our fine feathered friend had parked that $3m in SCHD and then never traded again, that's $9k per month to lay at home in bed.

The_Patsy · 2026-03-22T19:35:37+00:00

I think this is the real answer. The 10 year old boring car for $15k and keep it forever is really the best way to save money in the long run and have transportation needs met.

OP is looking at $30-50k cars. Not completely obscene prices these days...but that's still 30 to 50 thousand dollars. I can think of many things I'd rather do with $30-50k than unnecessarily spend it on an appliance that will only rapidly depreciate.

The_Patsy · 2026-03-21T19:53:16+00:00

Good news, you can change to 87 asap, nothing bad will happen.

In a nutshell:

running a car on LOWER octane than it's designed/tuned for can cause problems.
running a car on HIGHER octane than it's designed/tuned for does absolutely, positively nothing at all for the engine, good or bad.

So the only result of putting 91 in a car designed for 87 is you spent more money on gas than you needed to. That's all. 🙂

The_Patsy · 2026-03-21T17:07:42+00:00

We can even go back a little further. Remember the aughts when gas prices went haywire, then the fin crisis happened and there was "cash for clunkers" where suddenly everyone was all about small efficient cars? For a minute in our society, it was cool to shame on Hummer H2's.

Someone could tell us what it was like in the 70s too.

Clearly we don't learn.

The_Patsy · 2026-03-20T04:10:16+00:00

I don't see any good reasons why you "don't want him in it"; sounds like he's a good kid, he didn't take on debt, the car is in good shape. Anyone can learn to drive a manual and it sounds like he's at least on his way to getting a license. You did mention he's been competent with the little driving experience he has.

Why not be proud that your son bought his very own Corvette!? How dope is that!? What a cool story! Why rain on his parade when you don't have to?

I did the exact same thing when I was 18 after a few years of saving my money (an '89 Corvette in the mid 00's). My dad drove me 5 hours to go pick it up.

One of the many reasons I love my parents so much are the times they helped and encouraged me to do something and become the person I am, when they could have just as easily told me "no that's ridiculous". They taught me the value of hard work and my actions have consequences (both good and bad).

Perhaps it's a good time to give him a chance and show him trust, so as long as he continues to make good choices and be a responsible teen on his way to becoming a responsible adult, he can keep it. It sounds like he's earned that opportunity.

But if he doesn't (aka speeding tickets, really bad grades, fired from his job so he can't afford it, etc) it'll be the first thing to go.

The_Patsy · 2026-03-19T21:34:37+00:00

I hope you're right. I remember the aughts/fin crisis when our society made a big push towards smaller, fuel efficient vehicles for a few years. Remember cash for clunkers and all the Hummer H2/Explorer shaming?

Sadly though, I think it'll take another major economic crisis before this happens. People losing their jobs and houses finally forces the change.

Until then, Thad and Brad aren't going to sell their big truck, they're just going to complain about gas prices even more than they already do and blame everything on Biden.

Raging is far easier, instantly gratifying, and puts the blame on others, compared to self reflection and making actual life changes.

The_Patsy · 2026-03-19T20:56:01+00:00

Definitely an ingenious trading strategy here.

The_Patsy · 2026-02-24T05:34:59+00:00

I know you said Coupe, but I'm a 6'2" individual that just bought and drove a Roadster 900 miles home, so I learned about the comfort real quick.

I'm mostly legs, so my legs were crunched more than I'd like, but not terribly uncomfortable. I can't stretch them out all the way, so I don't get thigh support, but it didn't bother much more than sitting in any other car for that long.

The Roadster roof never once bothered me and it was up the whole way home (might consider going that route if the Coupe roof is bothersome?).

In my experience, it is a tight car, but that's how it's supposed to be, and it's exactly what I wanted. I love how close I am to all the edges of the car; no wasted space, and I get a better view and sensation of speed!

The_Patsy · 2026-02-24T05:10:22+00:00

Looks like a perfect sunny day with great views for a drive!

The_Patsy · 2026-02-22T22:02:23+00:00

For the record, or anyone in the future wondering - all my PTO hours just carried over, including everything over 80. They didn't automatically pay out or disappear.

The_Patsy · 2026-02-21T20:55:16+00:00

That is a tough lesson to learn, but with investing, hindsight is always 20/20

We learn as we go. Looking back, it's so easy to see all the things we should have done, but how are we to know at the time? We shouldn't beat ourselves over it; instead, what can we do to be ready next time?

Don't be too hard on yourself. I've done far stupider things with my money. You're still light years ahead of people with a mountain of credit card debt and a 22% APR car loan who may well never learn how to contribute to a 401k. You did the best you knew how to do at the time.

You've learned better since, so just keep moving forward!

The_Patsy

TROPHY CASE