I think im going to take my car to ams for the staged upgrades. and being a sunday they arent open and i wanna get some questions out of the way so i dont waste there time. my questions are, what are there hourly labor rates? how long does it take to get a car in and out for a stage one upgrade? when they arent working on your car do they leave it inside or outside?

 

i can tell you from experience they are the best out there in terms of parts and quality they are def the most expensive. the whole stage kit thing is a joke price the stuff out by itself and its much cheaper to piece the stuff together yourself. for example AEM wideband they want 265 you can pick them up much cheaper else where. I am almost positive that their hourly rate is 90 but when you are talking about doing bolt ons any shop can do that and much cheaper. if your doing a big HP build take it to them with a blank check, but hell anyone can install an exhaust and intake and some gauges

 

well i want them to do those little things. casue i wanna doucment every litttle thing on paper and recipets rather then a do it your self. and plus they have all the tools for the job and i may not. but thanks for the quick advice i really appreciate it. you prolly just sold them another customer

 

if youre doing the stage 1 upgrade they offer it is a super simple job. i can change out my catback and swap it with the stock catback in 20 minutes from start to finish. an intake is just as easy and might take 15 minutes at most and a boost gauge is even easier and can be done in 10 minutes. i think you would be better off doing it yourself. all the tools you need are a basic set of sockets and a screw driver

 

AMS is a great place with a good bunch of guys there, trust me youll get quality stuff from AMS to answer some of your questions, since i just got built there not too long ago, i believe there hourly rate is 98 a hour, depending on what on the upgrade shouldnt be too long and competed that day ( also depends on how busy they are), and if the car is over night it will be inside the shop.

Love AMS, there stuff is great, and i recommend you go there for your EVO needs, but you most likely can save money by doing the stuff by urself. Its the fun part of having a nice car to mod and work on it your self and i believe that for the stage 1 all you need are some sockets a screw driver and maybe some PB blaster for them suckers that dont come off to easy.

If you want documented work maybe you can always save the receipts and document your self?? lol but either way GL AMS rocks

 

I believe they are the best also..

 

Intake and cat-back are fairly simple jobs, but you can NOT correctly install a boost gauge in 10 minutes, not even close. Keep in mind when you advise people over the internet that a job is "easy", "easy" is very relative to their level of mechanical aptitude.

 

agreed, no one can do it that fast, it takes more time just to run the hose, wires and mount it. Spending extra money at a shop with a great reputation insures you get things done the correct way and if anything happens they wont back out and say they had nothing to do with it, they will try to help you.

 

im far from being a mechanic. you sure it takes more than 10 minutes? cut and splice with a t fitting and run the tube through the firewall behind the glove box, pretty simple. atleast thats how long it took me, but i guess youre right about people level of ability of trying to do things. ive done all my installs by myself and ive never worked on any car other than my evo.

 

if anything i would for sure take your business too AMS and have them install the boost guage

 

I can tell you from experience that they will rip you of and a basic boost gauge install can be done by yourself. Everyone that says they are the best never explain why they feel that way. Just cause you purchased something online that says AMS doesnt make them the best.

 

i would trust them to do a clutch job and motor build, i think everything else i could do myself though

 

Obviously this is the OP's first few mods and knows very little about their Evo. I would highly recommend taking it to a shop that is know for their quality of work regardless of the price. At the end of the day they will know that their car is still running the same if not better from the time it was dropped off.

 

to the op...people know ams us great and all but wouldn't you rather learn than just simply say all the....(oh im not a mechanic) and let someone overcharge you to do something you can learn and enjoy doin? you dont hear virgins saying oh i dont know how to do her ill just pay someone to do her....lol...just learn and as far as saving documents keep receipts of the parts you bought....its simple...

 

Your better buying the stages and doing it yourself. It'll save you a lot of $$$.