is this a reasonable price?
if it is im getting another car
ridiculous

 

Hi mate try Alex at http://www.northernbodyshellprep.net/

 

API in Harbury - about 15m S.W. from Rugby - do it for around £900 + VAT = c.£1-1.1k (assuming just a mild head skim). STI MLS gaskets included in the price.

Get it done before 4th Jan and you'll save 2.5% in VAT charges lol...

 

Woulda thought area of £1200

 

sounds expensive to me

 

It's an engine out job - so it's the labour that costs. The skim is a few quid, and the steel gaskets around <£150...

 

Alex travels to you as well

 

cant see someone wanting to do this job on next mans drive in this weather.

 

Take it you dont know Alex lol.

 

Is Alex a brass monkey, then? (Actually, he'd have to be a titanium one! ).

 

no lol but i wouldnt want alex taking my engine out on my drive , id feel sorry for the guy in this weather!!

anyway i think £500 plus parts sounds like the sort of price id expect for some lucky mechanic in a warm garage to do the job.

 

ive emailed him and asked for a price.
i dont know where he is from tho. im in rugby.
would a single garage an a drive be enough space?

 

£1500 sounds at the top end of the pricing but not far out, its not as easy as it sounds.

 

and a 2 poster ramp bet he would love you!

 

haha yes i wish

 

its a doddle for a good mechanic who works on subarus all the time.

 

Alex has been known to change a clutch in the dark and rain on his own outside a costumers house

 

The mentalist.

 

lol That guy sounds like he loves abit of hard cold graft..

 

Have you met him lol

 

[QUOTE=carpboy;9757954]Have you met him lol[/QUOTE

lol

 

wow do you think he will marry me

 

It's great if said mechanic can tell by just looking at the heads whether if they are warped/cracked, but they can't so its off to an engineering firm to confirm this, hence part of the cost....

Tony

 

you only need a straight edge to check for warpage plus to the op ,has the car overheated, any ideas why your hg has gone.

because as tony said , heads could be warped,cracked, water pump or stat could be shot plus you would want a new pulley and belt kit really, running without antifreeze can cause it btw especially now as its freezing.

 

Head gaskets done at API on a GC8 cost £750.00 + VAT Genuine Sti gaskets only here, no Czechoslovakian copies or any of that nonsense - WITH a warranty. Moonlighters working in drives tend not to give any sort of warranty on parts OR workmanship.

David APi

 

Bit harsh that David for genuine mobile mechanics.
Just because they havent a workshop doesnt mean they cant do a good job.

I'm an over enthusiastic DIYer and built my entire car on my driveway.

I won this years Scooby shootout Modified 1/4 mile class on its first outing.
Did a 10.9 second 1/4 mile in it at York Raceway the week after
and it managed 601bhp /565 ft lbs on its last dyno run.

Just goes to show what can be done on a driveway.

 

Careful Daz you will upset the gravy train

 

...again.

 

Again thats a harsh comment. I had an ex-Zen mechanic work on my car. He came to my house and the work was the best I'd had on my car and guess what? He done it on my drive which was gravel!

Hardly call him a moonlighter.

 

There have always been ' enthusiastic amateurs ' out there, They will never take the place of proper professional businesses. They come and they go.

Companies like APi, 'Clinic, RCM, et al., have trained staff, proper workshop facilities, INSURANCE, knowledge of a wide range of skills. AND support when jobs go wrong.

If you want to contact a moonlighter, who works from a van or a driveway on his cellphone, you have no chance unless he wants to answer your call.

Sure, moonlighters are cheap, cheap isn't necessarily best.

David.

Apologies to the OP for the hijack, l'll say no more on this subject.