How much for an engine rebuild? how longs a piece of string?

Has anyone done it? Got about 120000 on the clock and everythings perfect (Restored Sportline from Ross) but the engines seen better days. I don't thik it would need anything major and I don't want to get me pants pulled down over the cost.

Thanks

check GSF they do a Head gasket and bottom end set which includes all the seals and gaskets for the whole engine.
will have issues sourcing intermediate drive shaft bearings which you could do with getting from www.techtonicstuning.com in the US, no where else does them the UK. May be worth pricing up a complete bearing/gasket set from them although you have to call through orders with them

You can either do a cheap engine rebuild, or a proper one.

I have to say though, if the engine is running and pulling well - don't take it appart just for the sake of it!

as already said, if theres nothing wrong with the engine, then just make sure its well serviced, and has good oil and filters and leave alone.

as for the how long is a piece of string well there are 2 trains of thought, the quick one:

twice as long as half of it,

or there is the quantified version:

now a piece of sting has to be useful, yes? so a "piece" that is only 20mm long cant really be used, so this is just scrap, but a piece that is say 30mm long could be used to tie bits together etc,  so now we have a lower limit… rolls of sring are sold in lengths upto say 50m or even more, now this is too long to be useable, so using common sense the longest "piece" of string you could sensilbe use would be say, 2m, so now you know how long a piece of string is, somewhere between 0.03m and 2m

   ops:  sorry, i couldnt resist.

I may need to get my engine rebuilt in the next couple of months. I have got two quotes, both from good garages to rebuild the engine - they were ?550 & ?500 + VAT.
Hope that helps. But as everyone says - if its not broke - dont fix it.

there is another saying too. a good used unit is better than a new one.

^^^^^^ and much cheaper too!

Jez-stark said

I may need to get my engine rebuilt in the next couple of months. I have got two quotes, both from good garages to rebuild the engine - they were ?550 & ?500 + VAT.
Hope that helps. But as everyone says - if its not broke - dont fix it.

Are you sure that's a full engine rebuilt?  Sounds more like a price to do the head.

I'd always budget at least a grand for a full engine rebuild if you don't know anything about cars and just want to drop it off at the machine shop and pick it up a week later.

A head skim will cost you at least twenty quid, a crank regrind at least another ?30 and balance for about ?150ish, a set of big end shells, maybe ?25ish, a full gasket set including the bottom end and a decent head gasket (I'd always go G60 head gasket and G60 exhaust/inlet as you can't fit them the wrong way) will set you back the best part of eighty quid.  A new set of valves will cost about sixty quid or getting them re-cut (tripple angle is the way forward here!) a similar amount.  Fresh oil and filter, new belts, new plugs, etc robably accounts for fourty or fifty quid.  Probably add another fifty odd quid for new bolts, washers, nuts and any odd studs ('coz you'll usually snap a couple).  Then there is shims for the tappets, stretch bolts as you need to use new head bolts when it goes back together, etc, etc, etc…

If a garage can do the whole job for ?500, and it costs about this for just the parts and the engineering works, how much are they charging for labour.  I'd be suspicious.  You might find you end up with a serviced and jet washed second hand unit that looks fresh and is on new belts but hasn't acutally been appart.

Believe it or not, my mate took his Saab in for a rebuild and when it came back, it mysteriously had a different engine number.  Turned out to be an untouched second hand unit they'd got out of a crashed car and stuck under the bonnet.  Still charged him the best part of two grand for a reuild too!! (that was a genuine Saab dealer too!)