[hadagto]

What do you feel is a fair wage for a welder fabricator in America? If you’ve never done welding fabrication at a high level I wouldn’t expect you to understand. Also supply and demand factors in with job skills. If more fabricator welders are needed than the amount of people willing or able to do the work wages for those folks will necessarily go up and that is what you are seeing.

Learn a technical trade skill and you can almost name your price these days this applies to welders electricians plumbers etc. That is why the costs for that type of skilled labor has outpaced inflation.

 

[MuhThugga]

Wages depend on the area, so Kooks should move their operation to an area with a lower coat of living and pass the savings along.

 

[hadagto]

Wages depend on the area, so Kooks should move their operation to an area with a lower coat of living and pass the savings along.

Where I live is a low cost of living area and welder/fabricators are being paid over $50/hr. Maybe you should start a business of your own if you think you know how to do it better and can produce headers of equal/better quality at a lower price.

Maybe they are already located in the best spot for them in terms of finding the number of people they need with the skills they need.

A lower cost of living area may not have enough skilled labor in the area.

This forum is famous for running off vendors by being whiners about costs or time it takes to bring products to market. Think about it not only are we small in numbers so the return on investment of R&D is lower, but we are also whiners who will bitch about the price and every little detail of a product. Now we have even less aftermarket support as a result compounding the price problem for GTO parts.

I couldn't afford to pay others to work on my cars or do my tuning so rather than bitch about their prices I learned how to do EVERYTHING myself. If you don't want to pay the prices your option is cheap china stuff or do it yourself. Or bitch and moan which will get you nowhere because no one cares about your feelings.

I don't even own a damn thing made by Kooks but I'm fine with them charging whatever they want. Supply vs Demand will take care of everything in the end if they price themselves out of the market then they wouldn't be in business.

 

[hadagto]

Here you go... link to a custom stainless header kit... cost is $1600+ for the kit alone before you've done any of the fabrication or welding needed to finish the kit.

Custom Headers - GPHeaders, Inc.

 

[Mick Naughty]

How long are they gonna keep those 3k headers on the shelf? Not like there are more cars being made that they fit on. Think the best practice is to sell the stuff cheaper to get it moved.

Noticed that the last time I bought parts from hotchkis. Price went down to a fraction of what is was over a couples years.

Or never compromise. Get all the money you can, while you can. Someone’s gotta restore one in a decade and want a YouTube sponsor and overspend on it.

 

[Nothubertjfarnsworth]

How long are they gonna keep those 3k headers on the shelf? Not like there are more cars being made that they fit on. Think the best practice is to sell the stuff cheaper to get it moved.

Noticed that the last time I bought parts from hotchkis. Price went down to a fraction of what is was over a couples years.

Or never compromise. Get all the money you can, while you can. Someone’s gotta restore one in a decade and want a YouTube sponsor and overspend on it.

i was under the impression they were made to order, and they simply still had the jigs and other equipment to still make them.

 

[zech912]

Wages depend on the area, so Kooks should move their operation to an area with a lower coat of living and pass the savings along.

I see Kooks are made in NC? Should be a good place I think. It is true, whenever I see a business based in California I am automatically suspicious, their built-in costs are far higher than, say, Ohio. I am specifically thinking of HRE vs Forgeline, the high end of the wheel market. One, I like Forgeline better, but two, for the same target market, Forgeline has a significant built-in pricing advantage. Good for them. That is free markets, as it should be.

 

[Mick Naughty]

i was under the impression they were made to order, and they simply still had the jigs and other equipment to still make them.

Yea that would make sense. Assuming it was a timely manner and would lessen the chance of a poorly welded flange that breaks off during install. But you get what you pay for I guess.

 

[gametech]

GTO tax grows everyday

GTO tax is nothing compared to one of my motorcycles. It uses a 220/50/20 rear tire and a discontinued engine. The last remaining new old stock tire on ebay is priced at $1750 + $200 shipping, and the only company in the world that ever made a tire that size for anything trashed their molds at least 10 years ago. At least there are alternatives for most any part I want for the GTO, even if they have to be custom made.

 

[rockinlespaul]

What do you feel is a fair wage for a welder fabricator in America? If you’ve never done welding fabrication at a high level I wouldn’t expect you to understand. Also supply and demand factors in with job skills. If more fabricator welders are needed than the amount of people willing or able to do the work wages for those folks will necessarily go up and that is what you are seeing.

Learn a technical trade skill and you can almost name your price these days this applies to welders electricians plumbers etc. That is why the costs for that type of skilled labor has outpaced inflation.

140 hr. for me to break out the welder. I just finished plating the frame on a Stingray. A small section right where the gearbox and power valve mounts to the frame. Did some upper and lower arm bushings too and alignment. Final cost was over 5K.

 

[Bill S]

GTO tax is nothing compared to one of my motorcycles. It uses a 220/50/20 rear tire and a discontinued engine. The last remaining new old stock tire on ebay is priced at $1750 + $200

Being a motorcycle enthusiast, you got me curious so I had to research what bike it is. Holy cow that cost $36k back in 2009, about $53k in today's dollar.
Definitely not in my toy budget. I'm happy with my new $6.5k new bike
Old bikes can be a glutton for punishment to keep operational, hence my vintage ones are Hondas. Reliable and easy to maintain. I do have a rare bike, but a second complete backup and a third parts bike just in case (CX650 turbo).

 

[gametech]

Being a motorcycle enthusiast, you got me curious so I had to research what bike it is. Holy cow that cost $36k back in 2009, about $53k in today's dollar.
Definitely not in my toy budget. I'm happy with my new $6.5k new bike
Old bikes can be a glutton for punishment to keep operational, hence my vintage ones are Hondas. Reliable and easy to maintain. I do have a rare bike, but a second complete backup and a third parts bike just in case (CX650 turbo).

With only 156 of them made before Sheldon filed bankruptcy, Avon had no market. They only made 1 initial run of tires and after a few years decided the molds were taking up too much shelf space. The Wolf mostly sits in the garage while the Indian Challenger racks up miles. Once I fixed a couple of design flaws in that X wedge engine and got a tunable ecm, the Big Dog has been a pretty good bike, however. I took it to the parts store many times over the years when working on the GTO or Mercedes.

 

[hadagto]

140 hr. for me to break out the welder. I just finished plating the frame on a Stingray. A small section right where the gearbox and power valve mounts to the frame. Did some upper and lower arm bushings too and alignment. Final cost was over 5K.

... and you are probably worth every penny. I'm currently a metrologist. I calibrate measuring devices of all types as well as design gauges, templates, jigs, and measuring devices using bricscad and solid edge. I do a little bit of welding/fabrication at home to save money. I work with welder/fabricators/edm operators etc on a regular basis at work. The more I learned about welding/fabricating doing my own work while working with actual welder/fabricators at work has only made me respect the guys who are really good at this stuff which I am not. I've seen some really nice welded up stuff the looks amazing and if you posted photos of these dimes on the internet everyone would be in amazement of the welding skill, but when you measure up all the angles and such it's out of spec. Only a few of our guys can really weld/fabricate great looking welds while also having all the angles/dimensions in spec and nearly dead on nominal.

I wouldn't expect people that don't do these things or work around truly great welder/fabricators to respect the value of their work.

Everyone these days wants the degree that will give them an office job and less and less folks want to learn a dirty trade. Our skilled trade workers doing the dirty skilled labor are paid more than I am and rightfully so.

 

[rockinlespaul]

... and you are probably worth every penny. I'm currently a metrologist. I calibrate measuring devices of all types as well as design gauges, templates, jigs, and measuring devices using bricscad and solid edge. I do a little bit of welding/fabrication at home to save money. I work with welder/fabricators/edm operators etc on a regular basis at work. The more I learned about welding/fabricating doing my own work while working with actual welder/fabricators at work has only made me respect the guys who are really good at this stuff which I am not. I've seen some really nice welded up stuff the looks amazing and if you posted photos of these dimes on the internet everyone would be in amazement of the welding skill, but when you measure up all the angles and such it's out of spec. Only a few of our guys can really weld/fabricate great looking welds while also having all the angles/dimensions in spec and nearly dead on nominal.

I wouldn't expect people that don't do these things or work around truly great welder/fabricators to respect the value of their work.

Everyone these days wants the degree that will give them an office job and less and less folks want to learn a dirty trade. Our skilled trade workers doing the dirty skilled labor are paid more than I am and rightfully so.

The newer generation doesn't know what real work is. They would rather work at McDonald's for 15-20 dollars an hour and get a free meal. We've been trying to hire more wrenches at our shop for several years now and nobody wants to do it. They are pussified as far as I'm concerned. My neighbors have 2 sons. One in his 40s and one in his 50s. They don't even work! Just sponge off the family and waiting to inherit everything I guess. I don't get it.

I should clarify that the 140 hr is the shops rate. I don't get all that. We are a union shop and everyone works on commission which is 40% of the labor so in all reality, I get 56 hr. I take pride in any work I do and strive to do the best possible job I can.

The outer plate that I welded took several hours for me to make it exactly how I wanted it. I want it to look factory when it's finished so there were holes to match the holes in the frame and I also notched the plate in 3 areas so there was access to the bolts holding the gearbox. In case they ever wanted to pull the gear out for any reason. The bottom plate was challenging as well as that's where the mount for the power valve mounts to the frame. Inside was challenging as well. Very little room to weld when the gear is in place.

It doesn't matter what I'm doing. Bending a Ford I beam for camber while doing a alignment, welding, rebuilding a rear differential, swapping a crossmember, etc...I try to do my very best. Doing a job is fine but doing it to the very best of my ability is what I strive for.

Beats the hell out of "do you want fries with that burger?"

 

[gametech]

... and you are probably worth every penny. I'm currently a metrologist. I calibrate measuring devices of all types as well as design gauges, templates, jigs, and measuring devices using bricscad and solid edge. I do a little bit of welding/fabrication at home to save money. I work with welder/fabricators/edm operators etc on a regular basis at work. The more I learned about welding/fabricating doing my own work while working with actual welder/fabricators at work has only made me respect the guys who are really good at this stuff which I am not. I've seen some really nice welded up stuff the looks amazing and if you posted photos of these dimes on the internet everyone would be in amazement of the welding skill, but when you measure up all the angles and such it's out of spec. Only a few of our guys can really weld/fabricate great looking welds while also having all the angles/dimensions in spec and nearly dead on nominal.

I wouldn't expect people that don't do these things or work around truly great welder/fabricators to respect the value of their work.

Everyone these days wants the degree that will give them an office job and less and less folks want to learn a dirty trade. Our skilled trade workers doing the dirty skilled labor are paid more than I am and rightfully so.

My ability to minimize heat distortion when welding normally needs to be supplemented with an air hammer, lol.

 

[5ft24]

What do you feel is a fair wage for a welder fabricator in America? If you’ve never done welding fabrication at a high level I wouldn’t expect you to understand. Also supply and demand factors in with job skills. If more fabricator welders are needed than the amount of people willing or able to do the work wages for those folks will necessarily go up and that is what you are seeing.

Learn a technical trade skill and you can almost name your price these days this applies to welders electricians plumbers etc. That is why the costs for that type of skilled labor has outpaced inflation.

So you think all Kooks headers are hand welded by individuals? What have you been smoking. 99% of the welds are done by automated welding machines. So pay rates for welders has no bearing on their price

 

[Abs]

If you are thinking of buying anything, probably better do it now. Once the proposed tariffs kick in even offshore products will cost as much or more than onshore products.

Good point. Will be interesting to see what happens to speed engineering headers. They seem to work for people pretty well at an amazing price point. Maybe $600 shipped with o2 extensions, upgraded clamps, etc.

 

[Abs]

Just to help some people out in this inflated economy, there's an 05-06 corsa catback on ebay right now for $600 shipped. Not perfect shape but the imperfections wouldn't be obvious and would be pretty hidden.

On Facebook market place, there's a guy in effort pa selling an 05-06 spintech catback for $180. He's dropped from 250 and would probably sell for 150 at this point.

 

[hadagto]

So you think all Kooks headers are hand welded by individuals? What have you been smoking. 99% of the welds are done by automated welding machines. So pay rates for welders has no bearing on their price

False...

Kooks has a lot of great equipment and a robot welder for precisions jobs and an ARMY of human welders welding the headers using jigs. This is stated in this article from February 2024.

How Its Made: We Pull Back The Curtain At Kooks Headers & Exhaust

 

[MuhThugga]

Good point. Will be interesting to see what happens to speed engineering headers. They seem to work for people pretty well at an amazing price point. Maybe $600 shipped with o2 extensions, upgraded clamps, etc.

They'll probably just stop selling them if the tariffs wind up being anywhere close to the nonsense that was promised on the campaign trail.