So my MOT garage phoned. The car has failed.
The NS handbrake cable has seized, the calliper has gone too, and the pad is missing a spring kit. They want £494 for all that. I don't want to pay that for a car I was planning on selling and that is probably worth just over a grand. Replacing the caliper is easy. I did the other side a year or two ago. But they recon 2 hours labour to do the cable as it goes over the fuel tank, plus an hour and a half for the rest. Is this not a DIY job then?
We moved house recently and discovered that you can't actually get a car into the garage at the rear as it is too tight to turn in. So work will have to be done on the drive.
Just make sure your fuel tank is near empty and DIY the crap out of it s:) :) s:)
494 for new caliper, new handbrake cable, new pads, new clips, and 2hrs labour isn't horrendous. New caliper will be 50% of that.
2nd hand from Dick, 25 quid
Cable, 20?
Pads, 20 (if that)
Spring clip kit, 15
Brake fluid, 15
So that's just under 100 to DIY. I know what I'd do
Get genuine new cables. Expensive but worth it. The pagid ones dont fit as well as OE equipment. Do it once, do it right.
Did mine last February cold even in the garage. Its best to do both if you are dropping the tank. I fitted Pagid ones but reused some of the original brackets. You do not have to take the tank all the way out, just lower it enough to get your hands in a side at a time, best with the tank as empty as possible, I did disconnect the fuel line but capped it off to keep fumes at bay. Give it a go and save the Money.
Did mine on the drive last year using Pagid cables and refurbed calipers from Bigg Red. Still doing fine. Probably took about half a day, but I had a couple of bolts that I had to drill out and retap. As others have said, make sure the fuel tank is near enough empty, put a jack under it with a lump of wood on it to spread the load then take the bolts out. Lower the jack slowly, you only need about 4" to get the old cables out and new ones in. Hth.
See my n/s brake cable replacement Sep 17. I did not drop the petrol tank due to recently filling up. Not the most refined bodge, but it worked perfectly well