rebuild engine

on avg how much would it cost to rebuild an engine
bore the cylinders
new pistons
new valves
boil the block
new bolts
and any thing else i may have forgot

that anything else you may have forgotten is gonna kill you around here. get ready for some wildly varying estimates. what are your expectations for this engine?

I think it really depends a lot on what's broken. I just did all of the above, plus replaced the cracked head (with a used one), had the crank ground, plus a new oil pump, camshaft, lifters, pushrods, valve guides, valve seat inserts, clutch, oil cooler, and sundry other bits. I'd guess I'm into it to the tune of about $2500 - $3000 for machining, parts and bottom end assembly. Now all I have to do is time the cam, drop the engine in and bolt everything back together.

I didn't intend for it to cost that much but as I took things apart I found a damaged bearings, a gouged crank, broken rings, too much cylinder taper, a scored oil pump, etc, etc.

Add as reqd:
new/used head (mine was cracked)went with used
new valve springs
new bearings
new seals
new gaskets, including Payen head gasket
new oil pump
new oil relief
new cam (if reqd)
new lifters (if reqd)
new double timing chain & sprockets
new tensioner
oil gallery plugs
balance


With the machine work and other stuff I have probably forgotten, and with me doing the disassembly/reassembly, around $2500.

But it was worth it.

DO the transmission seals and clutch rebuild if there is any doubt.

Five grand with a plus or minus variable of three thousand.;)

How's that for a lame response?:I3:

Jack

very lame jack but it is accurate.

I don't want to know. I'm 2 months in, and I'm just dribbling out the money as I go...$350 to machine shop gets me the block done, fill it with $1000 in parts, purchased $100 at a time.

Crap, now I need a head. Paint, oil, lube, sealants, hardware, those 3 tools I ”had” to buy. Hoist? Engine stand? Do I include those?

If you don't enjoy the process there's no way it's worth it. Making a 40 year old engine come to life like new? Priceless.

Or so I hope.

well thanks so far u have been the most help full evry one else just tells me the big numbers to do it like 100% then some

thanks


Tristan

I would say, Tom nailed it, if you are doing the work mostly yourself, to do it right, $2500 in parts and machine labor and you putting it all together, you may get out for less, but budget for that and hope for less. When it comes to machine work, newbies to this job often forget things to get done at machine shop, resizing the connecting rod being a huge one, this directly affects rod bearing clearence that directly will affect oil pressure, this is one the reasons I started my engine rebuild kits with free tech advice, so I could properly guide folks new to this job through the process for the experience I gained ding this professionlly, part vendors don't normally do well as advising folks in engine rebuilding because they sell parts for a living, not build engines for a living. Remember you never tell a engine what it needs to be properly rebuilt, it tells you.

This is the sort of thing that will be part of my MG2012 engine building tech session, it will take you from engine tear down,and inspection, to machine shop, and exactly what happens there and what you ask to be checked and possibly done, to final assembly, plus cover performance issues as well.

This job is kinda like being your home builder, if you don't know what to ask for in subcontractors, you may not get everything you need to properly complete the project, most subcontrators for this job, like part suppliers and machine shop people expect you to know what to ask for, and depending on that person, may not do a good job of informing you otherwise.

If you're having a garage do it, the cost to simply R/R an engine is a day's labor, so figure $700 +/- right there. As noted, the might-as-wells when you have the engine out will run some bucks but save you some bucks in the long run - clutch kit for starters, engine and transmission mounts, stuff you just gotta do or you'll kick yourself later. But, even with a garage doing it, a good one, you can get it done under $5K. I used, and highly recommend, Hap's advice and parts expediting and also used the discount program at Moss for the large volume purchase on my suspension (done at the same time). IF your garage will allow it, buying your own parts and making sure you do all your research up front will save you some parts money. Most of the reputable places most of us use will take the unused parts back readily. If the garage buys the parts you'll pay another 10% - which means an additionaly 20% since you could have gotten a 10% discount - and you don't know what you actually got or from where. Have that head fluxed before you reuse it or you might be sorry.

Dave

these costs are a bit intimidating. i have set myself a goal of saving $500 - $1000 a year toward a future engine rebuild. right now my engine has a bit over 93k miles and good oil pressure. hopefully it will hold out for 5 years/15k miles until i have the amount saved to have a garage do it. who knows, maybe by then i will have the skills to do it myself :)

ad'm, you should already have the skills. you're a top contributor.


aren't we supposed to know everything?



yeah right.

Sorry if the numbers aren't that helpful, Tristan but it's one of those things where the answers will vary widely based on your ability and your needs.

I'm currently rebuilding the engine on my midget, although it is a smaller A series engine, i'd imagine the costs end up pretty similar.

machining total ran $380, thats including cleaning the block, grinding the crank, boring the cylinders, removing and replacing cam bearings, resizing rod big ends and installing pistons to rods. I'm doing the rest myself

I ordered my parts from Hap (his kit service is great because he puts the parts together to suit your individual wants/needs and has them drop shipped to you so you get them quickly and if you spend enough... he covers shipping. Plus if you get stuck you can call Hap with questions, no one on this board knows these engines better.)

Anyway: parts ran $1350 initially.

Then i needed an engine stand $40 from harbor freight.
a few other tools here and there like a valve spring compressor, and a piston ring compressor... let's say $50

Then you get to the "well the engine is all newly painted, it sure makes those bolt heads look bad..." additions that add up (say another $50-60 for incidentals)...

might as well have the exhaust manifold coated and the radiator flushed out while i'm at it... and it goes on and on.

you can get out for $2000, but I'd budget for more. Maybe a lot more. (I also decided to have a shop replace the bearings and seals on my transmission "since it's out" $600)