Mike,

Without knowing you, I have to only guess at your previous "CB"
experience, and in doing so, will guess that it is a far cry from the
knowledge and experience a good LMR technician has. Commercial radio is
not CB! Only guessing from the description of your system that you gave,
that is is poorly maintained, at best, and that the repeater had probably
been neglected for quite some time? Several hours of labor would not be
prohibitive, under those circumstances.

Assuming you can properly solder/crimp, and install RF connectors,
I'd guess that you probably can save some money by doing some of the more
basic work yourself. However, you will need more than a CB type SWR
meter. I'd suggest a Bird Model 43 with the appropriate slug for your
frequency and power. That will set you back at least $300.00+. Also,
you probably ought to purchase some good quality connectors, antennas,
and antenna cable/NMO installation kits as I expect you will find several
of the busses needing them.

Good luck trying to do it yourself.

Ed K7AAT