Thread: Engine Re-bore cost

The last time I enquired about this up here near where I live, it was going to cost $55.00 per cylinder = $220.00, just ring an engine re-conditioner and get a price, cheers Dennis
ps and of course you will have to buy new oversize pistons etc etc,,.

$55 per bore sounds about right but that's with you supplying a stripped, cleaned block otherwise they will charge for stripping down & cleaning.

Pistons are available from UK suppliers, typically Britpart so not sure about their quality. You might be lucky & find some NOS ones. Get the pistons before you take it in for the rebore.

If you're reboring then you should consider that the crank may need to be reground and new shell bearings fitted. You won't know until the crank journals are checked for ovality & size. If within spec. the shell bearings for the big ends may still need to be replaced.


Colin

Make sure the Engine guy is familiar with IOE motors a lot don't know how to do them these days . they need to fit wedges so they bore the cylinder straight . The guy who I got to do mine years ago didn't know what he was doing & ended up having to fit a sleeve in one cylinder because he bored it at the wrong angle . Ask if any one on here can recommend some one they have used in your area. I would also take it & get them to measure it & see what size O/S pistons you will need , not much use them boring it then finding out that size is not available .

" Make sure the Engine guy is familiar with IOE motors a lot don't know how to do them these days . they need to fit wedges so they bore the cylinder straight"

Please explain?

Originally Posted by dearot

Anyone knows how much to re-bore a 4cyl LR engine?

There's an engine reco shop in Tullamarine and the old guy that owns the place knows how to do these blocks. I've been talking to him recently about doing the 2.6 6 cyclinder for my series 3 - which runs the same ioe design as the series 1 4 cylinder engines.

I'm getting the crank done and the big ends closed and honed as they are out of spec. Have all your parts first - some are hard to get. I'm still waiting on some bearings so I can get mine done. Total cost of all the machining I'm doing is well over $1000. Parts are close to double that.

Rebuilding an engine properly is not a cheap exercise and shouldn't be undertaken lightly or without proper funding.

Originally Posted by Pedro_The_Swift

" Make sure the Engine guy is familiar with IOE motors a lot don't know how to do them these days . they need to fit wedges so they bore the cylinder straight"

Please explain?

The series 1 engine is an inlet over exhaust valve engine and the face where the block meets the head is at an angle to the bores, not square like on modern engines. The engine block needs to be squared accurately to the machine before they can be bored.

It's not just a matter of plonking it on the mill, finding the centre of the existing bore, setting the boring head and cutting sick.

Originally Posted by Pedro_The_Swift

" Make sure the Engine guy is familiar with IOE motors a lot don't know how to do them these days . they need to fit wedges so they bore the cylinder straight"

Please explain?

The top surface of the block isn't at 90degrees to the bore on a F-head. If they bore by mounting the boring machine on the head surface I guess they have to use wedges.
A company I spoke to use the sump plane to hold down onto their machine so no problem.
They do have to bore a section at the top of each bore to a slightly larger diameter otherwise you'll struggle to fit the piston & rings back into each bore.

You should be able to get the idea from the picture below.
If you look at the second bore you can see a dark area which is wider on the RHS which is where the exhaust valve sits. You also get an idea of the angle of the head in comparison to the bores.




Colin

Rover specified a special tool which is a wedge that bolts to the top of the block to give a mounting surface that is at ninety degrees to the bore.

I suspect very few engine reconditioners in Australia ever had one, but probably quite a few dealers did. Finding someone with one today is probably going to be pot luck, but I would look for someone who is long established or who specialises in English cars, or who reconditioned Series 3 engines for the army.

On the other hand, there are probably some reconditioners who have successfully rebored these engines without the special tool, and information from AULRO members is the best bet for identifying these.

John

My 1600cc was re-bored and the re-conditioner told me that he didn't need the special plate for the top.

As Colin suggested; on a boring machine the block can be made parallel to the table using the bottom of the crankcase and square to the spindle. I believe that mine was bored from the bottom of the cylinder upwards.

The special plate would have been recommended for boring tools, that were clamped to the top of the block,

Cheers Charlie