Engine Rebuild

BeardyGit

Hi all,

I'm going to do a landrover series 3 engine rebuild shortly and I'm looking for a recommendation on someone in the south Dublin, north Wicklow area who can do a job or two for me.

I'm looking for someone who can dip/clean the block (and I mean REALLY clean) and hone the cylinder bores for me, hopefully in the next month or so. There may be a couple of other jobs to do, but I'll tackle those as they come up.

Thanks,

Gil

spidersonmars

Is it a rover V8?

BeardyGit

Well, the 2.25L series 3 engine will be done first....followed by the V8 in the Range Rover Ambulance

The 2.25's 5 bearing diesel lump's going to get a standard spec rebuild before going into my mates '76 109 to replace the tired petrol unit that currently graces his wagon.

The 3.5L ZS-carbed V8's going to get double chained adjustable timing gear, a contactless distributor, a 3.9 camshaft and a few other nice little bits and pieces to make it look smart. A sensible overhaul - Nothing massively different.

I'll do the 2.25 first though - It's an easy engine to work with and a nice learning curve before pulling the V8 apart.

Gil

Spit62500

I couldn't find anyone to dip a block when I looked a couple of years ago - its quite common in Britain but the environmental regulations are blamed here (more likely that no-one'll invest in the proper equipment for the volume of business that they'd have).

I found Loftus Farrell in Harold's Cross to be very helpful and reasonably priced with good quality work - they're the only southside Dublin shop that I know of.

I've read that the Rover V8 rebuild can be tricky - I'm not sure why exactly that is but I'd research thoroughly first. I'd imagine that torque settings would be very important on an alloy block given the risk of stripping threads etc but other than that I would have thought that a methodical approach would do the trick.

MercMad

I found Loftus Farrell in Harold's Cross to be very helpful and reasonably priced with good quality work - they're the only southside Dublin shop that I know of.

...........yep they get my vote. I was there when they dipped my 230SL block. They did a fine job of reboring and overhauling the head. I wouldn't use anyone else !

Ferris

+3 for Loftus Farrell.

They did a perkins 4108 for my Da a about 9-10 years back, probably similar vintage to your landy diesel engine, engines was still running (in our old boat!) last I heard.

BeardyGit

Just called Derek there after digging up his name in a thread of yours from about 2005 MercMad. Nice fella. Say's I'm to strip the engine and bring him in the block, pistons, head and cam/crank shafts and he'll have a look and let me know what needs doing...

Does anyone have a rough idea what the basic dipping and hone job might set me back? Leaving aside the parts and labour and any other headwork etc., I just want an idea for 'stage 1' in the process....

Ta,

Gil

MercMad

Glad you found that thread.

All I can add is they dipped mine and then gave me the estimate. I probably could have taken it away without them doing anything and paid them a few quid for their trouble. As I said they dipped, rebored and decked my block, then he skimmed and ported the head, recut the valve seats and fitted new valve guides.

I gave it to him stripped, as you said he requested, and I believe he charged me almost €600, but that was back in 2004/2005.

Good luck !

shagman

A good contact for the rover V8 rebuild is jim robinson in ballymena http://www.jrv8.co.uk/

macplaxton

+4 for Loftus Farrell.

Complete top overhaul on Daf 66 (Renault 1108): Refaced cylinder head, stripped valve gear, cleaned, valves & seats refaced, pressure tested, removed broken stud, re-assembled. €272

Could have eaten my dinner off it.

Two minor problems. I had to go back as I noticed a cross-threaded spark plug hole. (I should have noticed before taking it in). Fitted with a Time-Sert rather than a Helicoil - another €40-odd. Also 3 of the valve springs were upside-down, but I won't hold it against them.

That was at the start of Feb this year, not cheap (but it did involved more than just a skim), but excellent workmanship. I don't mind paying if it gets done properly.

Sids Not

This is Jim Robinsons work here........You get what you pay for....;)

Ferris

I'd nearly rather put that in my lounge, not in a car. Great work!

BeardyGit

Had a good long chat with Jim there yesterday afternoon. He's fully booked up until October, which has to be a good indication of the quality of his work.

We've agreed that I'll drop the engine fully assembled and full of oil and take it north for teardown. He says that it's most important to look at the whole engine including any telltale signs on bearing faces, journals and the like, rather than just a bunch of parts which have been wiped clean.

I'm happy to go along with that. He'll charge me for his time spent and I'll know exactly where I stand before possibly spending more than I might need to have the jobs done.

I'm really looking forward to this Autumn

BeardyGit

macplaxton wrote: »

+4 for Loftus Farrell.

Complete top overhaul on Daf 66 (Renault 1108): Refaced cylinder head, stripped valve gear, cleaned, valves & seats refaced, pressure tested, removed broken stud, re-assembled. €272

Could have eaten my dinner off it.

Two minor problems. I had to go back as I noticed a cross-threaded spark plug hole. (I should have noticed before taking it in). Fitted with a Time-Sert rather than a Helicoil - another €40-odd. Also 3 of the valve springs were upside-down, but I won't hold it against them.

That was at the start of Feb this year, not cheap (but it did involved more than just a skim), but excellent workmanship. I don't mind paying if it gets done properly.

You see, that's actually enough to put me off altogether. If they spent the time to clean and machine that head and block, resurfacing and rebuilding etc, they themselves should have noticed a crossthreaded spark hole. Okay, anyone has a bad day or misses something, but then to build the head with 3 out of how many springs upside down? That's rather poor attention to detail to my mind....and I wouldn't be at all happy to pay someone else for that standard of workmanship, especially with the confidence that EVEN as an amateur mechanic, I wouldn't make those mistakes myself. And that's without being paid to pay attention to what I'm doing!

Ferris

You should do well on the currency exchange too, try to part pay him now while the rates are good. You'd hedge your bets then.

best of look with it tho.

macplaxton

Gil_Dub wrote: »

You see, that's actually enough to put me off altogether. If they spent the time to clean and machine that head and block, resurfacing and rebuilding etc, they themselves should have noticed a crossthreaded spark hole. Okay, anyone has a bad day or misses something, but then to build the head with 3 out of how many springs upside down? That's rather poor attention to detail to my mind....and I wouldn't be at all happy to pay someone else for that standard of workmanship, especially with the confidence that EVEN as an amateur mechanic, I wouldn't make those mistakes myself. And that's without being paid to pay attention to what I'm doing!

There was no block involved, just the head.

I agree that the spark plug hole should have been spotted and contact made to advise of extra work, equally I should have noticed it first and put it on the list. It may have not been done as I hadn't requested it to be done. Valves: 3 out of 8. It's not the most obvious thing, I was browsing the manual and it said that the coils were tighter towards one end and should be placed that way down. Mechanically, I don't think it makes any difference, but I agree they probably should have at least been all the same way up (even if not the right-way-round).

Anyway, whilst it's the machinists responsibility to do what's asked for, final responsibility as the engine builder lies with me. I treble check everything before it goes back together rather than blame a machinist for doing something wrong. That way I can sort out any problems with my machinist / suppliers before it's too late and have more severe problems down the line.

If the engineering shop was doing the whole job then that's a different matter.

Sids Not

Would you be interested in a low milage 4.6 from a 95 P38 Range Rover.....Complete and was running but with the wiring cut..its in Reading UK , but he only wants £550 ..ferry etc you,re only looking at around a grand euro...