Hello guys.

 

I have found myself a 300zx now, only thing is it failed its MOT on needing 5 new brake pipes. Garage quoted 260-270 to fix it. I was wondering if this is a good price for this job to be done or not?

 

Also, was thinking on some kind of bodykit for it, a SWB nothing outrages just a nice bleding one, how much would this cost?

 

Main thing tho its the brake pipes, how much should this cost, is it a big job etc....?

bout 50p each so yea good price - i hate garages

are you serious? they cost 50p each?

 

Is there anyone close to greenock that nows how to replace them? Or have a garage that wouldnt rip me off?

I don't think you'd be able to buy the lines, so you'd be using a pipe making kit, in which case, material costs would be pretty small.

ive just had my brake pipes done at a price of £400, they quoted me £250 till they got it up on the ramp, they said it should have been closer to £550, you have to drop the subframe or diff off to get to them all

 

as for bodykit, if its just skirts front bumper and rear skirt for the rear bumoper, i would say around 2K for buying fitting and painting

 

if you want a wide arch kit fitting like on mine, i would imagine it would be close to 5K

you see, the price of mine doesnt seem too bad now does it, ive prob got about 11k in mine

sorry yea thats if your using a pipe kit - wich most garages have dont know how anyone can justify that price if there using the correct equipment and know what there doing time taken actually working on the car would'nt amount to that, however i just found out polar ford near me charge 115 quid per hour to work on your car........receipts come with lubricant obviously...

material cost for the lines is minial, its the labour of fittingthem that is the killer, if you are soing some, you may aswell do the lot as they will be ready to go soon

sorry yea thats if your using a pipe kit - wich most garages have dont know how anyone can justify that price if there using the correct equipment and know what there doing time taken actually working on the car would'nt amount to that, however i just found out polar ford near me charge 115 quid per hour to work on your car........receipts come with lubricant obviously...

 

nissan charge around £700 for a full front to back brake line replacment, the garage i used worked on my car for about 13 hours but only charged me £400 as they under estimated for the work, the diff has to be removed to get to the compensator, it is a pig of a job to replace all the pipes

material cost for the lines is minial, its the labour of fittingthem that is the killer, if you are soing some, you may aswell do the lot as they will be ready to go soon

 

true - cos how far behind in corrosion is the rest of the lines not very ill bet... iv worked at citroen and pugeot and 2 back street garages when i was in my late teens - alot of questionable things go on at both therfore i do the work myself or get the guy i set up the garage with to do it or zworld - i dont trust anyone with my brakes -

you cant be too carefull, i used http://www.eclipse-performance.com they build rally cars and know what they are doin

 

you could alwas pm jefftt to get a price off them so as you know what you are lookin at price wise

Brake pipes at the rear are very inaccessible requiring diff / sub frame removal, the ABS unit is in the boot and all the pipes have to go there and back out to the calipers, the photo show before and after replacement, typical cost is £350 to £400

 

Jeff TT

 

 

 

Craig

 

My mate does work for a garage in Newmilns outside Kilmarnock. There are called Motorpoint and have experience of working on Zeds as the owner and my m8 are previous zed owners. Best to phone for a quote but i'd say the price u have is good. Their number is 01560322820.

 

Cheers John

Its not easy fixing cars for a living guys it takes many many years to lean this trade.

Makes me frown when people think all mechanics are bad or crooks etc.

daz.

they are all crooks EXCEPT the ones that still have a passion for it, which is virtually non, if you ask your mechanic what car they drive and they say austin metro or something like that - "gets me from a-b" then walk away - he hates cars, hates his trade and hates you but loves your wallet! lol!!

 

i know a hell of alot of mechanics and id trust about 10% of them with my car

Thats a very very sad comment to make.

Its a very difficult and challangeing job and customers all look at you the way you discribe above then it makes the job even harder .

Do you understand all the different elements of your car and how they interact together etc.?

And how to fix them ?

It takes years and years and years

 

daz

it is a sad comment - missed the point a little - every day i hear another example of rip off merchants operating as 'mechanics' its a tough job yes... i spent 3 years in college and learnt very little however i was then apparently then qualified to work on peoples cars? peoples brakes?, tyres? (bits that stop you from dieing) and was there someone checking what i was doing? a competent older mechanic? no? of course there wasn't how could there be? the amount of dodgy strange occurrences that went on were there in black and white happening there infront of me - if your brakes fail because a 17 year old scrote bag forgot to use nylock nuts on the back of your calliper thus they fell off isn't going to care if your dead -

 

and in answer to the do i understand all the elements of my car and how they interact. no i dont not fully but couple this forum with jeff from z world and a set of spanners and youv got a better chance than nissan has or a back street garage has any day (bar zworld obviously because of the reason i mensiond earlier)

 

to be honist i dont know why im arguing - i know im right lol!

 

if i want a dodgy mot i know over 20 guys i could ask, do us a back hander £50(thats a bad thing lets be honest) thats 20 mechanics with 0 integrity with another 20 gaffers who are willing to look the other way..... not good atall and its gotten worse the deeper we get into recession.........

Edited April 26, 200916 yr by alxlaw

Then your talking to the wrong people clearly.

And three years at college doesnt make you a qulified mechanic. In in the trade anyway.Its just the begining.Another 5 years at least after that before anyone would consider you to be compitant.

plus

Should i tarnish everyone in your profession with the same brush?

 

For sure theres good and bad out there. but come on should you be slagin off ever mechanic because you mix with the bad ones at some time.

As already said, that is a very good quote for replacing the metal brake lines. It is far from a rip-off. There is a LOT of labour involved in replacing the metal brake lines, including dropping the rear subframe.

Edited April 27, 200916 yr by Yowser

Ditto.

Then your talking to the wrong people clearly.

And three years at college doesnt make you a qulified mechanic. In in the trade anyway.Its just the begining.Another 5 years at least after that before anyone would consider you to be compitant.

plus

Should i tarnish everyone in your profession with the same brush?

 

For sure theres good and bad out there. but come on should you be slagin off ever mechanic because you mix with the bad ones at some time.

 

 

"doesn't make me qualified" thats the problem! to many kids unsupervised thinking they know what there talking about - because at the end of the 3 years at college you get the impression you do know it all - like platting fog!!

 

everyone knows good mechanics and everyone knows crap ones, the bad out weigh the good round manchester - and ill slag anyone who rips people off and does a shoddy job!!

 

and i havent tarnished everyone? the few specialists there are, they are the people to go too (as i said before)

 

i mix with mechanics on a daily basis most of my friends are mechanics, just so happens most of them are also bellends! lol!!

 

unsurprisingly missed the point again

Craig, i'd make sure the guy who quotted you knows what is involved replacing the Zed brake pipes as you could end up with a bigger bil like stellaz did. The price Jeff quoted sounds more realistic and thats from an experienced Zed expert.

I Havnt missed the point.

It just seems you just dont like mechanics.

Which is fine every one has there gripe.

I Havnt missed the point.

It just seems you just dont like mechanics.

Which is fine every one has there gripe.

 

generalising again - i give up

 

Craig, hope you get your car sorted, if you want it done at optimal price and by the best in the business ring jeff or a 300 specialist or find a trust worthy mate that moonlights as mechanic lol!