On Wed, 16 Jan 2002, bob wrote:
> Listers:
Greetings, Lister.
> I recently received outrageous quotes from Whitepost and Apple
> Hydraulics for rebuilding my TR6 master brake cylinder and boost servo.
What exactly is "outrageous? $1000? $1,000,000???
I had two MC's done a couple of years ago, the price was around $100 ea.
and turnaround was a week or 10 days from me putting the stuff in the box
'till me re-installing on the car.
Suffice to say, I was very satisfied with the process.
> The prices significantly exceeded the cost of buying brand new!! What's
> more, they could care less; that was their price.
Well, you have to be careful what you mean here. I have seen NOS "new"
MC's that had pitted bores and dried out seals. So you pay $250 or so and
then you need to spend more money to get 'em to work. The MC seal kit is
about $25. The plastic reservior is about $45 for the part (if I recall
correctly)... I have not seen any of these problems with the real new
stuff that is out there now.
The TR6 uses a stepped bore, so the sleeves that they press in are more
expensive to make.
As for them "not caring less", as a person that does direct customer
interaction on a daily basis, I can only ask: "what exactly did you say to
them". Remember that negostiation is a two-way street.
> In addition to your comments on this situation, what has been the
> group's success in buying the rebuild kit for each of these components
> and just doing it yourself?
Rebuilding is easy and straight-forward. The kits don't really have much
in them, just some seals and some springs. The process is not exactly
"rocket science". But, if you do rebuild, make sure that the bore is
smooth and that there are no pits, especially deep in the bore (the
corrosion seems to collect right at the "step" between the large bore and
the small bore.
Rebuilding the brake booster is more problematic owing to the scarcity of
actual parts to rebuild with. But then one must ask: "why are you
rebuilding the brake booster?" Is it leaking? Is it rotted out? To be
honest, I still haven't rebuilt a booster, because all it consists of is a
diaphram and a few springs and clips. My suggestion in the absence of a
diagnosed booster failure is to clean it up with a wire brush, paint it
the proper semi-gloss black paint and reinstall it. If you're really
nuerotic about appearance, carefully mask the white plastic hose
connection thingie so you don't get any paint on it.
Summary: this stuff is not "free", but it certainly does not cost too much
money or take too much time to do. If you have to lay out $200 and the net
result is a "safe" brake system, how much is that worth?? As another user
of the public roads, I'd have to say a lot (based on my own selfish view
of things.)
:-)
> Thanks much.
>
> Bob Fabie
> '75 TR6
You're welcome.
rml
'74 TR6 CF14111U '73 TR6 CR1871UO
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