I have to agree with Ken Wilfords' comment about a deposit on a big job
with one additional comment.  When you put a couple of grand in parts and
labor into someone elses vehicle, it becomes part of that vehicle, which is
titled in someone elses name.  Not getting a deposit is putting yourself at
risk.  The legal recourse, of a mechanics lean, takes more time and money,
which only adds up to more of your businesses/personal cash tied up for
extended periods of time. If the base vehicle isn't of great value, the
mechanics lean is worthless, and the vehicles' highest/best use is a parts
vehicle. Now you have to spend more time removing your parts.
    On Turn-key kits that we sell, I do not ask for a deposit as it is a
simple transaction.  They pay us and I sell the product. Doing an install of
an engine in a customer vehicle would require a deposit of 50% or at least
enough to cover the parts.
    Our business is actually a bit less problematic than most car-repair
models.  People come to us with the intention of spending money to make
their van better.  Much easier than a customer base who has to pay for an
unplanned repair, again.
    As a side note, Ken is about as honest a guy as anybody ever met. I
bought a van from him a couple of years ago.  He was honest abouts its
condition.  He recommend some repairs and gave me a quote which I thought
was low. Everything worked perfect, and the the engine he installed (mine)
ran better than it ever did in its previous host (mine also).  The quote was
the final invoice, with no extras. What more could anyone ask?

   John
   East Coast Vanagon