I don’t have a lot of experience with GA maintenance but I have had a crash course over the last 6 months.
My advice is to use written estimates.
In all other industries that I deal with including big airplanes, written work orders are an absolute must. In WA state, if your auto mechanic does work not on a written estimate, the customer is legally not obligated to pay.
Yet in GA, at least around here, asking for a written estimate is treated as an affront to the integrity of the shop.
Current case in point, I asked for an assessment of the panel lights not working. 3 days later I am told the pedestal was rewired “because it was a mess” and all failed bulbs replaced. “Please pay at the window.” I was expecting a tech to do a quick check with a 12 v tester and let me know there was or wasn’t power there.
In another case a written estimate was grossly overrun and when questioned the answer was, “well the work needed to be done”. It may well have but simply updating the estimate when additional work was found would have dramatically improve the business relationship.

PNW Flyer wrote:I asked for an assessment of the panel lights not working. 3 days later I am told the pedestal was rewired “because it was a mess” and all failed bulbs replaced. “Please pay at the window.” I was expecting a tech to do a quick check with a 12 v tester and let me know there was or wasn’t power there.
In another case a written estimate was grossly overrun and when questioned the answer was, “well the work needed to be done”. It may well have but simply updating the estimate when additional work was found would have dramatically improve the business relationship.

The shop who fiddle fawked my IO-470 did this same garbage to me. We signed an agreement for an inspection with repairs not to exceed a certain limit. Ten months later after disappearing off of the face of the earth with nothing more than a “it’s coming along” status update half way through the project, we get a bill twice over the limit that was agreed upon with no notifications that the engine was going to need extra work (which was part of the signed contract). If this guy would have abided by the contract and let me know that the 470 was worse than the original inspection led us to believe, we would have gladly spent money with them to upgrade up to a 520 or 550. Oh and it doesn’t help that the engine wasn’t put together right either.

So yeah, don’t do that. lol.

Thread drift aside, one tool that I really like is the wobble plus extensions from Snap-On. I was pulling my induction and exhaust off the 185 to track down my oil issue and they’re really slick. All of their 1/4” and universal stuff is really good too.

I’d also recommend to take a peek at what you are able to do as an owner, specifically what you can do with owner produced parts. owner produced parts.

one tool that I really like is the wobble plus extensions from Snap-On. I was pulling my induction and exhaust off the 185 to track down my oil issue and they’re really slick. All of their 1/4” and universal stuff is really good too.

Very good advice! One of the best tools. Also, we used to make “Wobble” & “Thin wall” sockets using a grinder.

Learn to TIG and MIG. Which is just as important as learning to rivet well.

Congrats! Sounds like you are in the right place to keep learning the trade - working with the two best GA aircraft out there in my opinion...

My advice?
Account for your tools at the end of each job, never accept leaving one behind in an aircraft.
Be familiar with the FAR sections that pertain to you, and go look it up when you have a related question. It'll all fall into place eventually and you'll become the expert.

PS: The above posters are correct regarding an A&P returning to service an aircraft that had been through an annual inspection with noted discrepancies. The IA completed the annual inspection and does not need to re-release the aircraft, that is within the privilege's of the A&P rating. The next annual due date would be the date the IA signed off the inspection, not the date the A&P returned the aircraft to service.

Logbooks & other aircraft records....
remember that these are valuable documents.
I just saw an incidence of a lost airframe logbook yesterday, luckily it was found after an exhaustive search.
I've seen other incidents where the lost logbook(s) never did show up.
What does that do to the aircraft's value?
Keep them in a safe place, preferably in the office (not the shop),
or in the owner's custody.
If you need to refer to them in the shop, it's easy to just photocopy what you need.

Some people are good mechanics, some are good at paperwork,
IMHO a good aircraft mechanic (and esp an IA!) is good at both.
And doesn't let himself get behind on either one.

Lycoming (at the factory) training. EXCELLENT!

https://www.lycoming.com/contact/training

Note: Drive up the road and see the original Piper Factory and Museum after class.

If you get distracted during a task, go back 3 steps when you start again to ensure you get it done correctly. Takes more time, but better then missing something important.