tee
Part of things
Posts: 700
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May 25, 2018 16:18:38 GMT
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Hi guys so chap working on my car can no longer continue due to personal circumstances but has tested and 2 cylinders are low on compression, now I know further checks are needed but what would prices range from - best and worst case scenario ie top/ bottom/ full rebuild?
Also recommendations of garages/ individuals would be great ideally 100 miles of east midlands.
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T
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Have you been on the zclub.net/ site/forum, plenty of info there, I think there is someone on the forum that makes panels and sells on ebay, can't think who off the top of my head right now tho. |
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'76' Datsun 260z 2+2 UK RHD.... owned since '95' none of that rust free LHD import shenanigans!
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May 26, 2018 15:03:38 GMT
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Not z-specific but I tried my 1st full engine rebuild recently, good results and it worked out a lot cheaper than I thought. I spent a long time hunting the parts I needed so I could keep the costs down, and having a local engineer who was willing to advise / supervise made the whole project possible forum.retro-rides.org/thread/203024/rootes-engine-overhaul-regrind-rebore  |
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May 27, 2018 19:51:18 GMT
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Probably a bit further than you want to travel but give Fourways Engineering a ring.
They are in kent and have been doing Zeds for over 40 years.
Their number is 01732 884288.
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May 28, 2018 11:41:08 GMT
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Probably a bit further than you want to travel but give Fourways Engineering a ring. They are in kent and have been doing Zeds for over 40 years. Their number is 01732 884288. Fourways are indeed highly recommended, I've used them myself, but being a specialist..... how deep are your pockets  |
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'76' Datsun 260z 2+2 UK RHD.... owned since '95' none of that rust free LHD import shenanigans!
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stealthstylz
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,837
Club RR Member Number: 174
Member is Online
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May 28, 2018 16:14:34 GMT
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A basic rebuild on any engine is generally about £1100+VAT as long as the basic parts are OK, otherwise they're extra (oversize pistons, rebore etc etc)
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May 28, 2018 21:18:42 GMT
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Probably a bit further than you want to travel but give Fourways Engineering a ring. They are in kent and have been doing Zeds for over 40 years. Their number is 01732 884288. Fourways are indeed highly recommended, I've used them myself, but being a specialist..... how deep are your pockets You pay peanuts you get monkeys. (Not always the case i know) |
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tee
Part of things
Posts: 700
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May 28, 2018 22:14:14 GMT
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Don’t mind around £1k but some are quoting £4K, I have found a place near Birmingham who have given a fair price, nomad you don’t want to have a stab at doing another engine rebuild?!
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T
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^   I'm touring for a while so don't have access to tools or an engineering workshop, no harm in asking but afraid I can't help. It looks like I'll be visiting Birmingham (Kings Heath) in a couple of weeks, happy to meet up for coffee & chat if you're near there? Just guessing here : I'd expect pistons to all wear at the same rate, if you have a snapped piston ring etc you would get 1 low compression reading, you have 2 so I guess the problem isn't worn pistons. Check by putting a bit of oil down the bores and retest compression? Maybe try to get the head off and check valve seats / regrind valves etc. Worst case is you then know the head is ok - so the problem is bottom end. |
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,194
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Don’t mind around £1k but some are quoting £4K, I have found a place near Birmingham who have given a fair price, nomad you don’t want to have a stab at doing another engine rebuild?! Depends on the car does that price. For instance it would be crazy to not change the piston rings or shells unless they were perfect. On some cars they are a fortune, others they are pence and that's before you look at quality. The bearings for the big ends on my M3 come to £350 and that's irrelevant of the source. Porsche 944 bearings ain't cheap either! I remember being quoted £5k for an engine rebuild on a 944 engine, but it did want a rebore, which in a 944 engine is a resleeve due to their Alusil design. On a Mondeo 1.8 I paid £900 to drive in a car, have the valve all changed out and new seats fitted due to VSR, even though the garage claimed I could get away with a few valves and a reshim; I at this point stayed quiet as I really doubted that, given how variable the compression readings were and how poorly the engine ran. A new head from Ivor Searle was £450 but I still need to pay someone to fit it into a car running LPG. I would have done at the time but I had another troublesome that was meant to replace it, but it was far worse than we could imagine. As for someone to rebuild a Datsun engine I'd speak with dickdasterdley here. He knows J parts, how pricey and awkward they can be to source and have been there with his Skyline. My advice? Go with someone who has a reputation behind them. Yes, it's not cheap but do you really want that question mark over your head? I'd personally chat with EMC Motorsport. Kevin rebuilds engines day in day out as well as preparing race cars. He's one of the few people out there to have a car to have a 968 complete the 24 Hour BritCar. That's quite a feat in any old car. FWIW I was in a similar position for my M3 but for a bottom end rebuild. Despite alot of thought I ended up going to a known BMW specialist, and even then I was questioning their work before I went in; I am terrible. I was going to go to a Southern one until I read that ARP bolts (which this specialist used) can distort conrods and bring the holes slightly out of round. Not good! |
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Last Edit: May 30, 2018 0:43:01 GMT by ChasR
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May 30, 2018 12:55:29 GMT
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My advice? Go with someone who has a reputation behind them. Yes, it's not cheap but do you really want that question mark over your head? Absolutely! I've seen some absolute horrors from so-called specialist engine builders, one of which seemed to "rebuild" engines armed with a tin of silver paint, a large adjustable and a claw hammer. Absolutely dreadful, and he wasn't cheap either. Go with reputation and recommendations! Price sometimes isn't a good indicator of quality but I'd certainly not be going bottom dollar for something like that. Choose carefully, even if it means spending a bit more or sending it further away. Court cases are long and stressful. |
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I rebuilt a flathead v8 engine at home myself, and only including the parts needed (pistons due to siezing) new rings, main bearings and gasket set and a couple of valves, the bill in parts alone was probably £800ish, now i know thats a very expensive engine to build due to parts availability and shipping etc... but the number of hours i spent doing it, if i'd been paying for labour would have pushed it to near £4k i'd say.
So depends what needs doing on your engine really, whether its a straightforward strip and replace rings and rehone, or whether it needs boring out to the next size depending on damage done to cylinder walls if there was a cracked ring, as this would involve oversize pistons and oversize rings etc...
so pricing is very hard to judge tbh
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