rebuilding an EX engine help

i have a 89 clipper cabby 1.8L

i have smoke and oil being consumed, how would i go about rebuilding the engine? is it worth it? and what parts do i need and where can i get them?

i know i need new
- piston rings
-bearings

please dont tell me to tune the carb, or check any hoses, or anything else. i either have to rebuild this engine or buy a new one (second hand) which i have been offered with 110k miles for £120 (im on 130k) but is not in a car with no paperwork. what would be the best choice? take the bet with the 2nd hand engine, rebuild this one, or spend months finding a suitable ABF replacement.

Get your self a set of bore gauges&digital caliper of eBay to measure the bores this will tell you if you need rebore On the block
Also check your crankshaft for wear too or you could keep eye out for 2e,agg 2.0 block 

130,000 miles is no mileage for one of these engines, I would be looking at why it's burning oil, clean out the metal gauze under the rocker cover as if it's blocked it forces oil out of the exhaust.
What oil are you using?
Worn valve steam seals may not be helping.

I'm on 270,000 miles and just about to rebuild mine.

I took the head of my Mk1 Scirocco when I was restoring the car and that had done 135,000 miles and there was no wear in the cyinders when I took the head off for new valve steam seals and valve guildes.

I have asked 3 garages all 3 say that the engine needs rebuilding. maybe even with a new head. I am not sure off of the top of my head my oil is in the back of the car, which i will have back in a couple of days.

to be perfectly honest the previous owner hadnt done a very good job looking after it, it may look nice on the outside but inside rotten as a pear apart from most of the body work, as have replaced nearly all working components on the car now. and then come back with failed mot on this one thing, carb has been tuned 3 times, and have let it run for ages, my hydraulic tappets are also worn out and it needs a new camshaft most likely. i am at 10% to pass i need to be under 3% so ive been told.

I've know theses engine go to 500,000 miles, never know a worn out camshaft or head worn out, valve guides and valve stem seal are not expensive to replace, I've just had some replaced on an engine I'm rebuilding for my brother.

The only real way to tell what it's like inside is remove the head.

Do you get a rattling sound from the bottom end on tick over?

10W40 semi synthetic oil is what you need anything thinner will just blow out of the exhaust.

Forgetting to change the oil or driving the car hard when cold may not help the engine but 130,000 miles is not alot for these engines, they are not old British engines which need rebuilding every 100,000 miles.

the engine has a continuous tapping noise whenever it is on.

i have never rebuilt an engine before so would not know what i am looking for just be taking it apart to try and rebuild it myself, garage wants £700 to do it. i havent had much luck with garages so don't really want to say yes.

10W40 rings a bell i think that is what i have got since i got the car.

i always check the oil as it is an old car i would not expect it to keep up to todays standards, and try top it up ever 2 weeks. over a month you may run out.

How many miles do you do with the oil from max to min on the dip stick, (it's about a 1 litre)?
Is there any oil leaks from the engine, do you leave oil on the floor?

not many the car kept breaking down, so it hasn't been drive much at all in the past 6 months. i couldn't say, maybe i've put in over two full bottles in that time. and its been undrivable for at least 3+ of those months. cant see any oil leaks on the drive.

Well apparently the 'tappety' noise is a sticky valve guide, mine comes n goes, but sounds daffodil awful! My engine (swapped with donor due to unknown bottom end noise) has no bore wear at all! Nothing like the much lower mileage Austin engines I stripped down many moons ago!

If it helps, I'm planning to ditch the EX in mine in the spring because of similar problems - mine is burning coolant (white smoke) and pressurising the water hoses so I suspect head gasket failure. Might be useful as a source of spares once it's out?

Stone said

If it helps, I'm planning to ditch the EX in mine in the spring because of similar problems - mine is burning coolant (white smoke) and pressurising the water hoses so I suspect head gasket failure. Might be useful as a source of spares once it's out?

Head gasket is a straight forward fix, £50 ish in gaskets and new bolts and takes a weekend ?

I'm sure, just that I'm not that confident I could get the timing right afterwards

I was really struggling to get the intake manifold off (thought it might have been the coolant channel gasket) and the exhaust side looked like it'd be a total nightmare.

Also I have found a 1.9 overbore with a ported head, forged pistons and 270deg cam which I thought would go nicely with a conversion to a manual gearbox! Suppose I could try out the ported head with my block, though. Can the coolant outlet on the back of the head be blocked off? I'm using a Weber so it's not needed for the carb, and it would tidy up a couple of branches of the coolant system which keep leaking…