Re: A raft of engine rebuild Q's

[Jim Jarrett <jarrett@rpa.net>]

Quoting Ben Channard <zeroid@hotmail.com>:

> 	I'm the new owner of an old 8V JH and want to keep rebuild costs to a
> 
> minimum but I don't want to be penny wise and pound foolish. When I
> called a 
> machine shop and talked to the owner, I realized that I have no idea
> what to 
> ask for since I don't know the jargon nor how to prioritize the myriad
> 
> services.


I saw the Cheapass(tm) perspective, let me give you another:

I dropped a 16v in a Rabbit convertible over the past two years.  My goal is to 
build a show-quality car that runs the best it can.

I took the engine in to a shop for a rebuild.  Since the engine was of 
questionable origin (thanks Mike Leach! <g>), and I had Brett VanSprewenburg 
breathing down my neck (hi Brett....<G>), I followed a couple of ideals:

1) "Do I ever want to be here again?"

Let's consider your questions about reusing bearings.  You know where they go.  
Consider if they finally do fail, and the engine is in the car.  How huge a PITA 
and what sort of collateral damage would a failure of an old part be vs. the cost 
of new ones?  To me, it was worth replacing them.

Apply that to your project.  If it's a party you can get to easily, maybe make do 
with the old one.  But if it means dropping oil pans, removing heads, unbolting a 
zillion things, why risk it?

2) "What is the final goal of this?  Show? Performance? Longer life? Make it just 
run longer?"

To that end, I also had the block cleaned/fluxed, tanked, and painted.  I got new 
2nd oversize pistons and had the block bored out.  This got me more displacement, 
going to the "go" goal, and I knew the piston sleeves and pistons themselves were 
fresh.

I think it cost me a total of $1200 for the bottom end; ~600 for parts and ~600 
for labor.  I certainly couldn't have done those things myself, and it came out 
very well.

E-mail me privately and I can send you exactly the list of parts I got and the 
services the engine shop provided, I don't have it handy right now.

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