Engine Rebuild (First Time)

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8 Apr 2007
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Well I have been interested in cars for a long time now and always wanted to rebuild an engine to get some more experience.

I am handy with a set of tools changed radiators, calipers, wishbones, alternators ect..

Would just like to know what engine should I start on? obviously nothing expensive as it could go **** up, was thinking along the lines of a 1.25 Mk5 Fiesta, would that be ideal?

I have built a good tool collection now so that shouldnt be a big problem, if I do need anything I can always purchase it.

I have read a lot on forums and threads and also have a Haynes manual.

Any advice? :D
 
just get any engine from a scrap yard , take it apart , investigate , put it back together , scrap it

if it where me id be tempted by something like buying a moped thats got a seized/blown dodgy engine , that way you get to learn about engines then see your work in action and even make a potential profit

obviously if youve got loads of space then you could apply the same to a project car
 
always in demand once fixed too , as are 125 bikes for example

big plus is being easy to work on because you can lift the engine about without a hoist and stand
 
Get one for whatever engine you take to pieces...

Then throw it straight in the bin. The Haynes book of lies isn't he best guide for working on engines. About all they do is troll you by saying something is simple and done in a certain way when it is neither simple or done that way. ;)
 
Then throw it straight in the bin. The Haynes book of lies isn't he best guide for working on engines. About all they do is troll you by saying something is simple and done in a certain way when it is neither simple or done that way. ;)

Yes, but if the OP did maybe buy a 1.25 Fiesta as mentioned, it might help to at least know that on such an engine, non of the pulleys are keyed iirc. This could prove helpful before tearing into it and reducing it to its component parts...
:)
 
Buy a car you like. Buy an engine, either same or better if its an easy swap. Rebuild engine bigger and better than the original
 
Yup. Have a look on the Essex section of club gti. Someone has done an inexpensive and very effective itb conversation on a 2.0 16v gti engine
 
Yup. Have a look on the Essex section of club gti. Someone has done an inexpensive and very effective itb conversation on a 2.0 16v gti engine


Sorry for detailing the OP slightly. Was that using Jenveys etc or bike TBs. It would cost me nothing more than time and throttle bodies going down the bike TBs route as fabricating a manifold can be done myself. Have a look at drexels golf thread for pics of my manifold for bandit 600 carbs on my current engine.
 
FInd an engine that has every part available for it in either OE or modified form.
You then have the choice of building something a bit hotter than standard or if rebuiling to OE spec, getting hold of the part you broke taking it apart incorrectly. :D

I'd say get an A series engine out of an old mini, bore that out, port the heads, fit bigger valves and cams, roller rockers oh and get hold of a hand full of Dave Vizard books.
 
Then throw it straight in the bin. The Haynes book of lies isn't he best guide for working on engines. About all they do is troll you by saying something is simple and done in a certain way when it is neither simple or done that way. ;)

Reminds me of this :


Haynes: Rotate anticlockwise.
Translation: Clamp with molegrips then beat repeatedly with hammer anticlockwise. You do know which way is anticlockwise, don't you?

Haynes: Should remove easily.
Translation: Will be corroded into place ... clamp with adjustable spanner then beat repeatedly with a hammer.

Haynes: This is a snug fit.
Translation: You will skin your knuckles! ... Clamp with adjustable spanner then beat repeatedly with hammer.


Haynes: This is a tight fit.
Translation: Not a hope in hell matey! ... Clamp with adjustable spanner then beat repeatedly with hammer.

Haynes: As described in Chapter 7...
Translation: That'll teach you not to read through before you start, now you are looking at scary photos of the inside of a gearbox.

Haynes: Pry...
Translation: Hammer a screwdriver into...

Haynes: Undo...
Translation: Go buy a tin of WD40 (industrial size).

Haynes: Ease ...
Translation: Apply superhuman strength to ...

Haynes: Retain tiny spring...
Translation: "Crikey what was that, it nearly had my eye out"!

Haynes: Press and rotate to remove bulb...
Translation: OK - that's the glass bit off, now fetch some good pliers to dig out the bayonet part and remaining glass shards.

Haynes: Lightly...
Translation: Start off lightly and build up till the veins on your forehead are throbbing then re-check the manual because what you are doing now cannot be considered "lightly".

Haynes: Weekly checks...
Translation: If it isn't broken don't fix it!

Haynes: Routine maintenance...
Translation: If it isn't broken... it's about to be!

Haynes: One spanner rating (simple).
Translation: Your Mum could do this... so how did you manage to botch it up?

Haynes: Two spanner rating.
Translation: Now you may think that you can do this because two is a low, tiny, ikkle number... but you also thought that the wiring diagram was a map of the Tokyo underground (in fact that would have been more use to you).

Haynes: Three spanner rating (intermediate).
Translation: Make sure you won't need your car for a couple of days and that your AA cover includes Home Start.

Haynes: Four spanner rating.
Translation: You are seriously considering this aren't you, you pleb!

Haynes: Five spanner rating (expert).
Translation: OK - but don't expect us to ride it afterwards!!!
Translation #2: Don't ever carry your loved ones in it again and don't mention it to your insurance company.


Haynes: If not, you can fabricate your own special tool like this...
Translation: Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!

Haynes: Compress...
Translation: Squeeze with all your might, jump up and down on, swear at, throw at the garage wall, then search for it in the dark corner of the garage whilst muttering "******" repeatedly under your breath.

Haynes: Inspect...
Translation: Squint at really hard and pretend you know what you are looking at, then declare in a loud knowing voice to your wife "Yep, as I thought, it's going to need a new one"!

Haynes: Carefully...
Translation: You are about to cut yourself!

Haynes: Retaining nut...
Translation: Yes, that's it, that big spherical blob of rust.

Haynes: Get an assistant...
Translation: Prepare to humiliate yourself in front of someone you know.

Haynes: Refitting is the reverse sequence to removal.
Translation: But you swear in different places.

Haynes: Prise away plastic locating pegs...
Translation: Snap off...

Haynes: Using a suitable drift or pin-punch...
Translation: The biggest nail in your tool box isn't a suitable drift!

Haynes: Everyday toolkit
Translation: Ensure you have an RAC Card & Mobile Phone

Haynes: Apply moderate heat...
Translation: Placing your mouth near it and huffing isn't moderate heat.
Translation #2: Heat up until glowing red, if it still doesn't come undone use a hacksaw.

Haynes: Apply moderate heat...
Translation: Unless you have a blast furnace, don't bother. Clamp with adjustable spanner then beat repeatedly with hammer.

Haynes: Index
Translation: List of all the things in the book bar the thing you want to do!

Haynes: Remove oil filter using an oil filter chain spanner or length of bicycle chain.
Translation: Stick a screwdriver through it and beat handle repeatedly with a hammer.

Haynes: Replace old gasket with a new one.
Translation: I know I've got a tube of Krazy Glue around here somewhere.

Haynes: Grease well before refitting.
Translation: Spend an hour searching for your tub of grease before chancing upon a bottle of washing-up liquid. Wipe some congealed washing up liquid from the dispenser nozzle and use that since it's got a similar texture and will probably get you to Halfords to buy some Castrol grease.

Haynes: See illustration for details
Translation: None of the illustrations notes will match the pictured exploded, numbered parts. The unit illustrated is from a previous or variant model.


HAYNES GUIDE TO TOOLS OF THE TRADE
HAMMER: Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer is nowadays used as a kind of divining rod to locate expensive parts not far from the object we are trying to hit.

ELECTRIC HAND DRILL: Normally used for spinning steel Pop rivets in their holes until you die of old age, but it also works great for drilling mounting holes just above the brake line that goes to the rear wheel.

PLIERS: Used to round off bolt heads.

HACKSAW: One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board principle. It transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable motion, and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more dismal your future becomes.

MOLE-GRIPS/ADJUSTABLE spanner: Used to round off bolt heads. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.

OXYACETELENE TORCH: Used almost entirely for lighting various flammable objects in your garage on fire. Also handy for igniting the grease inside a brake-drum you're trying to get the bearing race out of.

WHITWORTH SOCKETS: Once used for working on older cars and motorcycles, they are now used mainly for impersonating that 9/16 or 1/2 socket you've been searching for for the last 15 minutes.

DRILL PRESS: A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings your beer across the room, splattering it against that freshly painted part you were drying.

WIRE WHEEL: Cleans rust off old bolts and then throws them somewhere under the workbench with the speed of light. Also removes fingerprint whorls in about the time it takes you to say, "F...."

HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK: Used for lowering car to the ground after you have installed your new front disk brake setup, trapping the jack handle firmly under the front wing.

EIGHT-FOOT LONG DOUGLAS FIR 2X4: Used for levering a car upward off a hydraulic jack.

TWEEZERS: A tool for removing wood splinters.

PHONE: Tool for calling your neighbour to see if he has another hydraulic floor jack.

SNAP-ON GASKET SCRAPER: Theoretically useful as a sandwich tool for spreading mayonnaise; used mainly for getting dog-doo off your boot.

BOLT AND STUD EXTRACTOR: A tool that snaps off in bolt holes and is ten times harder than any known drill bit.

TIMING LIGHT: A stroboscopic instrument for illuminating grease buildup.

TWO-TON HYDRAULIC ENGINE HOIST: A handy tool for testing the tensile strength of ground straps and brake lines you may have forgotten to disconnect.

CRAFTSMAN 1/2 x 16-INCH SCREWDRIVER: A large motor mount prying tool that inexplicably has an accurately machined screwdriver tip on the end without the handle.

AVIATION METAL SNIPS: See hacksaw.

INSPECTION LIGHT: The mechanic's own tanning booth. Sometimes called a drop light, it is a good source of vitamin D, "the sunshine vitamin," which is not otherwise found under cars at night. Health benefits aside, its main purpose is to consume 40-watt light bulbs at about the same rate as 105-mm howitzer shells during the Battle of the Bulge. More often dark than light, its name is somewhat misleading.

PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER: Normally used to stab the lids of old-style paper- and-tin oil cans and splash oil on your shirt; can also be used, as the name implies, to round off Phillips screw heads.

AIR COMPRESSOR: A machine that takes energy produced in a fossil-fuel burning power plant 200 miles away and transforms it into compressed air that travels by hose to a pneumatic impact spanner that grips rusty bolts last tightened 30 years ago by someone in Dagenham, and rounds them off.

PRY (CROW) BAR: A tool used to crumple the metal surrounding that clip or bracket you needed to remove in order to replace a 50 pence part.

HOSE CUTTER: A tool used to cut hoses 1/2 inch too short.
 
Properly rebuilding an engine is not a cheap job if it actually needs it especially if you have no use for the engine. Taking an engine apart and throwing back together is not rebuilding.
 
i suppose youd need shells, rings, a rebore, gaskets, bolts, a skim

thatll cost, but nothing on cars is cheap.

those basics up there will make it a pretty solid engine again (if done right)

then youd want stuff like water pump, belts, pulleys, guides, tensioners. on an old golf those bits might cost you about £100, but on other engines ive had it can be much dearer

hence why i said get a car that you like. i always planned to do this to my mk3 golf 16v but never had a garage and after 237k it never failed!
 
then youd want stuff like water pump, belts, pulleys, guides, tensioners. on an old golf those bits might cost you about £100, but on other engines ive had it can be much dearer

The parts for my E30's engine are shocking, ECP/CP4L HT leads? That'll be £100 sir. Dissy cap and rotor? £90. Pretty much all of the parts are 2-3 times more than I'm used to paying on things such as 205s. :(

On the 205 I could replace all of the belts, pump, leads etc. for £100-£150 but on the E30 it's costing me...actually I've not worked it out and I'd rather not (it'll be around £400-£500 I think). :o

So yeah, some engines are cheaper to do a service on than others, this is even before you rip apart the block to replace the piston rings you fried...
 
i suppose youd need shells, rings, a rebore, gaskets, bolts, a skim

thatll cost, but nothing on cars is cheap.

th

If it needs a rebore then you need new pistons and rings. If the crank is worn it will need to be reground and oversize bearings fitted. Oil pumps often wear and need replacing, and the valve guides and maybe even cams and followers can wear.

To do a proper rebuild is an expensive job, even on engines with relatively cheap parts such as an A Series. On some engines just a full gasket set can cost over £200.

I suspect the OP just wants to take an engine apart and put it back together (which is fine) and an old pushrod engine one of the Ford Crossflow derivatives (Valenica, HCS, Endura E) will be cheap and simple to dismantle with no special tools needed.
 
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