price quote question

[ctrover]

80-100K?!!!!They must be messing with you.You can get a great restored example for around 15k.

[jp-]

I hope they were going to kiss you first!!

At $2700 for the brake job they better be replacing all the lines, every piece including the backing plates and replacing all the wheel bearings. Then taking me out to dinner.

And a nightcap...good hooker...etc...

You can get the Green Bible on CD.
Than just print out the pages you need at the time and you don't worry about getting them greasy!

The grease adds something to it. That way when I flip to any particular page, I can say, "Yep, been here before."

Doing it yourself is half the fun of owning a rig like this is getting your hands dirty.
Impress your friends with your automotive repair skills.
When they come by and see the parts spread all over the garage floor!
Then they see you driving it later.
But be careful they will be calling you everytime their cars make a new noises.

So true! I can't tell you how many times I heard, "You'll never get that thing running..." Six months later it's, "My car is making a noise can you fix it?" "Well maybe... for $2700."

[greenmeanie]

"My car is making a noise can you fix it?"

The answer to that is "Bring it back when it stops making the noise."

[Bertha]

New to the board but pretty familiar with 109's. They are a tough truck to get a good hard pedal on. Unfortunately 2,700 is probably not out of line to have a reputable shop refurbish the entire braking system, especially on the 6cyl. If your only issue is pedal travel, then your best bet might be an adjustment to start with. I find on the 109's, when replacing the drums and shoes together, you should have the shoes shaved to meet the contour of the drum. This is what creates a lot of the problem with the pedal feel. Good luck with your truck.

[Jim-ME]

Brake work on a Rover is relatively simple to do compared to other vehicles. For the kind of money that you have been quoted to fix/replace your existing brakes everything should be gold plated with a lifetime no wearout warranty. Do yourself a big favor and do them yourself. The better you know your Rover the better off you will be in the long run and there is no better teacher than trial by error. If you make a mistake you will only do it once. Don't be afraid, buy the parts, do them yourself and the reward of doing it yourself will be beyond description. Besides you aren't alone as we will help as most of us have already been there done that.
Jim

[O'Brien]

Jim-ME - thanks for the encouragement Had to swear to the wife i would keep this rover for a long time, and part of that was doing the work myself. I'll probably get around to doing the brakes sometime in december, as these next couple of weeks are filled up with weddings and thanksgiving, and a quick trip out to NYC.

you can bet i will be burning up the boards with brake questions come december! at least its still warm enough in L.A. in december for me to work on it in my car port. people think it's 'cold' here when the high is in the low sixties! hahaha

[Terrys]

Bertha is not far off the mark.

Anyone whose experience is based solely on 88s probably isn't aware of the differences, but I have had plenty of both 88s and 109s. 109s are much more expensive to do brake work on. The wheel cylinders are different, expensive, and some are very difficult to get, especually so on earlier years.
NADA 109s are even more. The remote servo unit isn't available anymore, and I think kits are few and far between. XKs Unlimited used (as in NLA) to offer a generic remote servo for MK II jags, which were almost the same, and I have a brand new one on the shelf. MCs and lines are the easy part. That said, $2700 is a bit high, but the west coast always seems high to New Englanders.
Now, as for dropping 80-100K, uh, yeah, right. I have a friend in CA who bought a very nicely restored S2 109 for $18K in MA and shipped it out.
I just sold a completely rebuilt, everything new, 88 for under $12k. Many say I'm an idiot, and I won't argue, but I know what it takes to do one, I've been driving them since the late 60s.

[thixon]

Agreed on all fronts. 109's are a bit of a pain compared to 88's, but let's be honest here. Series trucks are easy to work on relative to other cars from their era. I'd much rather do a break job on a 109 than do anything on a triumph TR6. Don't even get me started on the timing belt replacement of my audi allroad.

Do the work yourself. If you don't want to shuck out for the "green bible" get the haynes manual. Its a bit more cryptic, but I successfully went through my first series, making it into a dialy driver, using only that manual. Do I lke the green bible better, lord yes, but it can be done with the cheaper haynes. If you have 2700 to throw at the truck for brakes, go ahead and convert to disks up front. You can do it, I promise.

You have a few things going for you in a series rig that you dont have in other cars. First, they're simple.....very simple. My 6 year old is learing how to work on a car by helping me with my latest project, a 66 IIA that he's named "the falcon". He can name every part of the motor, and (with my help loosening and tightening, and moving the hand crank) can adjust the valves, and replace wheel bearings/seals. Remember, he's six. These things are just giant erector sets. Next thing you have going for you is that there is plenty of room to work and see what you're working on. That helps alot. Your final advantage is the ace in the hole. There are plenty of people on this board (myself and others) who are great mechanics, and have owned many series trucks. There is no problem you can describe that we hav'nt already been through. We'll help you. Send us photos, email us questions. A series is a great car to gain mechanical skills by working on. Learn on the series. Next you'll be replacing the CV axles on the neighbors Honda!

As for the 100G's....The guy is on crack. Even by west coast standards that's a joke. You'd have to intentionally try to waste money to pull that off. I restored a 1961 fuelie vette for less than 30k plus the price of the car. That included a full rebuild of every system, paint, interior, and some frame resto.

Travis
'66 IIa 88" a.k.a. "the falcon"

[friar mike]

shop rates

Man I need to rise my rate's here at my shop.

[friar mike]

I restored a 1961 fuelie vette for less than 30k plus the price of the car. That included a full rebuild of every system, paint, interior, and some frame resto.

Travis
'66 IIa 88" a.k.a. "the falcon"

30k on a vette ? car and all ? with in the last 20 years? man have I got a few things for you to restore around here. must be cheep livin down in the lower 48.

[siii8873]

I am just completing a restoration on a 73 land rover. I can't imagine spending 1/10th of 100k unless your trying to obtain an as new vehicle and are going to buy all new parts weather they are needed or not.
All parts will not need replacing many can be removed, disassembled, cleaned, seals replaced, reassembled and ready to go. Be prepared to spend ~5-10K and having everything take 3-4 times longer than you expect. This will put you in a great vehicle that you will know very well when your done.
Brakes are no big deal, quite simple. If you go to the RN catalog and price all the parts of the system it will give you a good idea of material cost. If you plan on resoring this vehicle this is a good job to do yourself.

[O'Brien]

All parts will not need replacing many can be removed, disassembled, cleaned, seals replaced, reassembled and ready to go. Be prepared to spend ~5-10K and having everything take 3-4 times longer than you expect. This will put you in a great vehicle that you will know very well when your done.

now see, that's exactly what i thought getting into this. sure, my 109's frame probably needs some attention. sure it's got some dents and will need some new panels. i'm fine with this, and what you've said above jives with all the reading, research, and questions i've asked over the last two-three years before actually buying a series. that's really why i asked my question to begin with. it just struck me as kinda off in a way that i couldn't put my finger on. granted, i am sure that the workmanship and parts are totally worth the quoted price. without a doubt those guys know every damned rivet and weld blindfolded and sleeping upside down. i'm just not 'that guy'. i'm the guy that needs a couple catalogs and a little spare time!

once again, you folks are all super. it's great to find such a wonderful and helpful community. cheers to you all and RN for being such gracious hosts

[Momo]

price quote

O'Brien,

I sent you a PM, so check your inbox. I'm in SoCal.

[thixon]

Hey Friar Mike

30k for the resto, plus the cost of the car. Sorry if I wasn't clear. I had about 50k in it overall.

Travis

[greenmeanie]

Thixon,
What year of allroad have you got? Any mods? I'll give you that the 2.7T is like the starship enterprise compared to the series. I've done one on a friends B5S4 and my wife's allroad is about due. There now appears to be an idler pulley reliability issue with the aftermarket T-belt kits so I'm in two minds about paying an indy to do it so that I get a warranty. That's one expensive engine if the T-belt goes wrong.

It is quite odd that in my family we look on the IIA as the reliable car that evryone uses when the allroad and the 101 are down. She gets run and abused and not a whole lot of loving but she just keeps on rumbling along.

Cheers
Gregor