Engine replacement insurance question...

af_thefragile

Right I got this brain wave a couple of days ago and I was wondering istead of buying a used engine and replacing the slightly sick engine in my puma with it, now that my puma is almost running fine, I could instead buy a used engine from a breakers yard for cheap and rebuild that instead in my spare time so eventually I'll have a near new engine to go in my puma and it should make the car run like new!

The biggest thing stopping me doing this would be the insurance costs. How would the insurance people deal with a car with a replaced engine??

And also the ford 1.4l sigma engine shouldn't be hard to find as it's the same one that goes in the fiesta. But I was thinking what if I stick a 1.6l engine instead? How would the insurance react to that?
Again this is pretty much a straight swap as the 1.6l puma is identical to the 1.4l model. The only difference is the engine and gearbox. And I heard the 1.6l engine performs quite well with the 1.4l gearbox. Shorter gear ratios = faster acceleration.

And before anyone tells me to sell the puma, it'ld be immensely cheaper for me to replace the engine in my puma with one I rebuild myself and basically fix the car than buying a new car. A decent new car would cost me atleast €5k and it's gonna be some boring Toyota. I like the way my puma drives and handles and i'ld prefer driving it than some Toyota or some other soft car as such. And €5k is more than enough to fix my puma to like new. Also as i'll be fixing the car slowly over time, I can spend the money as I save which would be more convenient for me than paying all the 5k at once...


Anyway, main question is what would the insurance for such a car be like? How much would the insurers look to rip into me for opting to drive a (slightly) modified car??

L-M

All I can say is you're asking for trouble. Once you've the pointless engine conversion done you'd have to get an engineers report done and then change over the tax to a 1.6, then try and get your insurance company to insure you on it, which is a task in itself.

Just get another 1.4 and leave it at that.

TestTransmission

af_thefragile wrote: »

Right I got this brain wave a couple of days ago and I was wondering istead of buying a used engine and replacing the slightly sick engine in my puma with it, now that my puma is almost running fine, I could instead buy a used engine from a breakers yard for cheap and rebuild that instead in my spare time so eventually I'll have a near new engine to go in my puma and it should make the car run like new!

The biggest thing stopping me doing this would be the insurance costs. How would the insurance people deal with a car with a replaced engine??

And also the ford 1.4l sigma engine shouldn't be hard to find as it's the same one that goes in the fiesta. But I was thinking what if I stick a 1.6l engine instead? How would the insurance react to that?
Again this is pretty much a straight swap as the 1.6l puma is identical to the 1.4l model. The only difference is the engine and gearbox. And I heard the 1.6l engine performs quite well with the 1.4l gearbox. Shorter gear ratios = faster acceleration.

And before anyone tells me to sell the puma, it'ld be immensely cheaper for me to replace the engine in my puma with one I rebuild myself and basically fix the car than buying a new car. A decent new car would cost me atleast €5k and it's gonna be some boring Toyota. I like the way my puma drives and handles and i'ld prefer driving it than some Toyota or some other soft car as such. And €5k is more than enough to fix my puma to like new. Also as i'll be fixing the car slowly over time, I can spend the money as I save which would be more convenient for me than paying all the 5k at once...


Anyway, main question is what would the insurance for such a car be like? How much would the insurers look to rip into me for opting to drive a (slightly) modified car??

I never knew you owned a Puma,you should start more threads about it :pac:

af_thefragile

^Cmon man, it's a motors forum and the question is about insurance, not about my puma...

Limerick man wrote: »

All I can say is you're asking for trouble. Once you've the pointless engine conversion done you'd have to get an engineers report done and then change over the tax to a 1.6, then try and get your insurance company to insure you on it, which is a task in itself.

Just get another 1.4 and leave it at that.

I don't mind sticking with a 1.4l engine. It's still decent power and if I really wanna go mad, I can always stick a turbo on it sometime later!!
It maybe is a but pointless but I'm really interested in learning on working/fixing car and engine mechanical parts and i'ld love to be able to buy a cheap engine from a breakers yard and rebuild it slowly as I find the time and money just for the heck of it and then when done stick the new rebuilt engine in my puma.


As I said my puma has an excellent chassis for a 11yr old car so if I just replace the engine and the suspension, I should have a car that handles like new.


Anyway, if I just stick with the 1.4l engine, what would I have to do with the insurers? I know many people get engines replaced in their cars after their old engines die...

L-M

Nothing, a 1.4 is a 1.4.

Alanstrainor

You'd buy another "sorted" puma for 1500...I know you love your car but drive it until it dies and replace it with something similar. You could perhaps look at getting a classic to work on. I think you have to be over 23/25 to insure one though...

af_thefragile

^well for €1500 I could pretty much also stick a new engine in my puma and it'ld be even more sorted than what car i'ld get for that money. Like they're 10yr old cars at the moment and the engines have done atleast 70-80k miles. They're all gonna have some hidden problem. Better fix what I have than buying another car and then spending more money fixing it...


Also about classics, well the classics i'ld like to work on are fairly expensive to find and i'ld really just wanna give a shot at rebuilding an engine. If it works it'ld be great. If it doesn't, well I can't see why it shouldn't!

Limerick man wrote: »

Nothing, a 1.4 is a 1.4.

So I won't need to tell the insurers I replaced the engine in my car if it's the same size engine??

Alanstrainor

af_thefragile wrote: »

So I won't need to tell the insurers I replaced the engine in my car if it's the same size engine??

The parts are like for like, same size, power output etc. So no need to tell the insurance company.

af_thefragile

Alanstrainor wrote: »

The parts are like for like, same size, power output etc. So no need to tell the insurance company.

Sweet! I might start looking for a 1.4l ford sigma engine around breakers yards and all. How broken does an engine need to be before you can't rebuild it anymore? I'm talking about a complete overhaul. New gaskets, piston rings, crank bearings and basically replacing everything that's worn out beyond repair with a new part...

Esel

You'e be much better advised to find a good engine - hear it running, get a mechanic to give it the OK before you buy it, fit it without doing any work (apart from water pump, timing belt, tensioner - unless it 's a chain?), then, if you reaaalllly want to, you could rebuild your old engine at your leisure.

You have to notify the Motor Tax office about the engine change, strictly speaking.

af_thefragile

Esel wrote: »

You'e be much better advised to find a good engine - hear it running, get a mechanic to give it the OK before you buy it, fit it without doing any work (apart from water pump, timing belt, tensioner - unless it 's a chain?), then, if you reaaalllly want to, you could rebuild your old engine at your leisure.

You have to notify the Motor Tax office about the engine change, strictly speaking.

The current engine runs fine. For now at least. And I'ld say with a bit of care should be able to last another year at least. So I really don't need to change it for now.

How would you be able to run the engine you're getting especially when you're getting it from a breakers yard and hence it would be dismantled from the car...

I got the timing belt done on my car earlier last year so its not a new waterpump, timing belt, tensioner and the lot.


Seriously my car isn't as broken as I first thought it was. I was doubtful it'ld last a year but it keeps on running fine. Just need to keep a close check on the oil levels and keep topping it up every time the level drops. But the engine always starts first time, doesn't overheat or anything and might be a little sluggish but still pulls fine. I was scared over the winter because I didn't start it for a month and the battery went flat, I thought the engine might have had it, but I jump started the car and it's been running perfectly since then... I've done close to 250miles since tuesday and it didn't once go wrong.

Esel

af_thefragile wrote: »

The current engine runs fine. For now at least. And I'ld say with a bit of care should be able to last another year at least. So I really don't need to change it for now.

How would you be able to run the engine you're getting especially when you're getting it from a breakers yard and hence it would be dismantled from the car...

The engine does not have to be in a car to be able to start and run.