JOHN LEARMONTH Posted October 5, 2006 Share Posted October 5, 2006 Does anybody have a spare engine they would like to donate to a worthy cause ?mine has just decided that it doesnt need 8 cylinders and 6 will do :'( :'(pressure tests revealed less than 20 psi in two cylinders, one in each bankgot more pressure in the tyres :oJohn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrp3168 Posted October 5, 2006 Share Posted October 5, 2006 There's a couple going on ebay at the moment.Any idea where the problem is, bores or valves?John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOHN LEARMONTH Posted October 6, 2006 Author Share Posted October 6, 2006 pretty sure its the boreshad the heads refurbed in june last year so would be suprised if its the valvesi think that i have 2 options either dump the bottom end and get a new oneor refurb the existingit just depends on how much its going to cost Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOHN LEARMONTH Posted October 6, 2006 Author Share Posted October 6, 2006 looks like its £2600 to have the engine rebuiltdoes anybody know it this sounds about right ?john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stagnant Posted October 6, 2006 Share Posted October 6, 2006 John,Yep, sounds about right for a proper specialist job with all machining done and critical bits changed/rebuilt inc oil pump, jackshaft, timing chains etc etc. Personally I think it's better to get your original engine rebuilt rather than buy a replacement short engine - many are expensive junk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wakaday Posted October 7, 2006 Share Posted October 7, 2006 John.I have a very good bottom end for sale. It has had a rebore and crank grind and was fitted then suffered head failure and replaced with a Rover version. I did the conversion and took the engine in part payment. The heads have been removed and the bores greased so as not to let them rust. You can tell its not done many miles because the honing marks are still on the fresh bores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOHN LEARMONTH Posted October 9, 2006 Author Share Posted October 9, 2006 Thanks wakadaybut the guy who is doing it wants to use my existing engineon the basis that if he does all the work he can gaurantee that it is done correctlyand he can give a gaurantee on the engine and worki can see his point of view and i would rather get it done right this time from the starthaving wasted a lot of money in the previous 18 months on work that was less than satisfactoryand it seems like he isnt ripping me offhowever i suspect that the price will rise as i dont want him to put back on any ancillaries ie carbs, rad ect that might be suspect and have an impact on the new engineJohn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wakaday Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 No worries John. It will be on Ebay shortly starting at £10 and going to the highest bidder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOHN LEARMONTH Posted October 19, 2006 Author Share Posted October 19, 2006 Just thought I’d give u a quick update on my engine, I went over to see it last nightIts out of the car and most of it is stripped apart from the headsThe pistons were showing a lot of wear in the bores and were flopping about which explains the excessive oil usageThey are already 20 tho over so must have been done once already in the pastThe heads are quite straight having been machined only last year however the valves have been hitting the top of the pistons and there are dints in the tops of the pistons about 2-3mm deepneedless to say the valves look like they are all bent to hell, hence no compressionhead shims that were put in were doing no good and u can see where it has been burning across from one piston to anothernot sure what is going to happen with the heads now, next step is to measure them up and see if they are salvageablehas anybody heard of this sort of thing before ? what is best to do now thicker shims, new heads ?John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOHN LEARMONTH Posted October 23, 2006 Author Share Posted October 23, 2006 Does anybody know where my legal position is with regard to the faulty work done on the heads of my car ?i took the damaged valves and pistons down to the guy who did them and whilst he agreed that it was an almighty c***up and not satisfactory he was not prepaired to put his hand in his pocket and refund my £1200 i paid for them doinghe did offer to put the car right for me however i have lost faith in his competance to get the job done rightand thinking about it he is being quite cute because there is no way of knowing what has gone wrong until u take the engine to bits and its now in another mechanics hands so taking the car back to him is not an optioncan i demand my money back ? or am i just wasting my time ?thanks John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrp3168 Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 Sounds bad JohnI suppose you will have trouble taking legal action withoutat least getting an expert opinion, which you will have payfor, so you may be throwing good money after bad.What about your local trading standards?If you have nothing to loose I'd be tempted to take the headsback to the original garage and get them to sort out the mess.John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobble350 Posted October 24, 2006 Share Posted October 24, 2006 £1200 for heads?! I fully rebuilt my engine using the best of everything for less. Don't believe professionals will do an expert job. Its like child care, nobody will take more care than you to do the best job.Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wakaday Posted October 25, 2006 Share Posted October 25, 2006 I have seen quite a few engines with valve to piston contact but only ever so slight. Was it timed up correctly on the chains? The engine I have on ebay at the moment suffered a similar failure due to a so called proffessional putting the heads back on it. The Timing chains where loose allowing slight valve to piston contact but the biggest problem was due to him using bolts and studs without washers fitted to them. Both H.Gs failed and one head suffered a broken camshaft cap due to being able to flex so much. He blamed the overheating on the radiator being blocked so the guy splashed out on a new rad which didn;t cure it. Final straw was the broken cam cap. The car still ran but the noise was pretty scary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wakaday Posted October 25, 2006 Share Posted October 25, 2006 Another quick thought.You say it had excessive wear on the bores. Did it have the Oil Pump drive refitted? It's an easy omission and probably would have knocked the crank out first.I have seen it done albeit on a TR7 engine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOHN LEARMONTH Posted October 27, 2006 Author Share Posted October 27, 2006 The honest answer is that i am not certain exactly how much work was done i have got some pics of the tops of the pistons and will post them as soon as i can remember to bring my camera into workhave no internet at home due to movingmost poeple seem to agree that it was not timed up correctly and i am currently locked in a battle of words with the guy who did it to try and get my money backhowever i dont think thats going to happen so am stuck with an expensive bill for an engine rebuildJohn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrapman Posted October 27, 2006 Share Posted October 27, 2006 [quote by=JOHN_LEARMONTH link=Blah.pl?b=stag,m=1160052037,s=9 date=1161608381]he did offer to put the car right for me however i have lost faith in his competance to get the job done right[/quote]He is being a bit canny as he knows you will not take the heads back there, sadly that prevents you taking any action, as he has offered to put the work right, and you have declined.Perhaps you need to return the heads to him, get them put right, flog them and use teh profits to buy yourslef another set to get your new guy to rebuild for you.It is the only way you will get any money out of the original guy.Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted User Posted November 1, 2006 Share Posted November 1, 2006 WOW what a mess!Just why can't people put those engines together right?They're nowhere NEAR as complicated as a Maserati SM engine for instance, which have similar problems indeed.I found just blueprinting the STAG engine is very successful. For £2500 that is relatively easy to do. So it comes with a fully balanced tufftrided crank, rods, pistons + lightened flywheel+new clutch and vandervell bearings. In my mind that should ALWAYS have been done at the factory, there would have been few comebacks.Like other blueprint jobs,-The piston head-valve clearances are checked with plasticine before it's ever started, and I never ever had one go wrong.The plus side is, they also knock out 160bhp instead of 145, and have the later waterpump as standard.The only downside is it may wreck your transmission, because that's not used to much more than 135bhp over it's lifetime, so be ready for that.GT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOHN LEARMONTH Posted November 6, 2006 Author Share Posted November 6, 2006 hi pics of pistons as promised Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOHN LEARMONTH Posted November 6, 2006 Author Share Posted November 6, 2006 another pic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOHN LEARMONTH Posted November 6, 2006 Author Share Posted November 6, 2006 and finally engine all in bits, but not for long hopefully Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJT Posted November 6, 2006 Share Posted November 6, 2006 John,What a sad tale. Stag heads do not usually suffer from this problem unless they have been heavily over-skimmed, the timing is off, a chain breaks or Mk2 heads are fitted on an engine with Mk1 domed pistons.Have a look at the heads. If the closed valves do not protrude above the level of the head surface (i.e. if the camshaft is out and you can lay the head on a flat surface without the valves preventing it lying flat) then it is not over-skimmed. Even if they protrude slightly you can get away with the 'thick' headgaskets. Anything more than this and you need 'savershims'.It doesn't look as if you have the early 'domed' pistons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrp3168 Posted November 7, 2006 Share Posted November 7, 2006 Excuse my ignorance but what are savershimsand how do they work?John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOHN LEARMONTH Posted November 7, 2006 Author Share Posted November 7, 2006 i belive that savershims are a thin metal sheet cut the same profile as your engine just like the gaskets usually 20 or 40 thou thickthey help build back up the metal taken off when having the heads skimmedso that the engine retains the correct height for the piston strokeif i am wrong i am sure someone will correct me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJT Posted November 7, 2006 Share Posted November 7, 2006 John, You are correct in your assumption. I have no experience of them, but have heard good reports. You can get them from Tony Hart, who trades mainly on eBay these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrp3168 Posted November 7, 2006 Share Posted November 7, 2006 Thanks.Do they need 2 head gaskets each side then to sandwich the shim?John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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