I charge time and a half to watch and it’s double time if you want to help.

I'd legit avail of this if mechanics offered it.

I tell people "You can watch me work if you want, but it won't make me work any faster," and then if they still don't take the hint I aggressively ignore them.

i always ask if i can watch quietly (well, okay i might make oohs and ahhs) because "i love to see how things go together" and the big smile and excitement in my eyes either makes me a friend or gets a polite no. once it got me a job application but my hand isn't steady enough.

yeah my next question is "how much to rent tools and shop space"

if we had room in the garage, and money for the kit, my wife and i would probably really enjoy building some kind of kit car. i mean building the legos was fun, kit cars are just that x100