V8 first round of problems

["Nathan B. Thomas" <nathan@huxley.baz.com>]

Took my car in for the free oil change my garage offers...it is of course
the best way for them to get your car in the service bay to find other
problems.  In any case, here's what I came out with:

-Leaky vavle cover gaskets- $200 to replace all the relevant gaskets

-Bad CV boot- $200 to replace it

-Frozen rear emergency brake actuators- maybe $100, maybe $1600!

The first two are pretty straighforward, and won't kill me to put off
a bit.  The last one would be no big deal except that the car won't
pass inspection without fixing it.

The reason for the spread is that it may be possible to fix the caliper,
but if not the whole thing needs to be replaced, supposedly at $800
apiece.  They're made by Lucas, which explains everything.

Any BTDT's on these?  Thoughts on parts/labor rates?  Does anyone know
of a place to get a working set of rebuilt/used rear calipers for cheap?

btw- its a 1990 V8 Quattro.  They said the calipers match the 200TQ Wagon
from the same era.

TIA<

nate


-- 
Nathan B. Thomas
nathan@baz.com