2L Rebuild engine, Engine rebuilder or Engine Rebuild kit in Perth

[jedwards]

Gentlemen,
I'm in Perth and looking for some help in restoring my 2 L engine for my '53 Seris 1 80".
I'm happy to buy a reconditioned engine, commission a good rebuilder or buy a complete engine overhaul kit and have a go at it myself.

Any recommendations or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Jeff

[101RRS]

Hi - I cannot answer your question but to clarify the engine we are talking about - my understanding is that in a 53 you will have a 2 litre siamese bore engine rather than the later 2 litre spreadbore engine. If you went to buy an engine, all 2 litres are pretty thin on the ground these days but a siamese more so. Though if your not after originality a spreadbore will go fine.

Garry

[jedwards]

Thanks for the comment Gary.
We have some lengthy exchanges recently on our forum regarding what engine I have, as I do not have an engine number stamped at the front of the block, but have a very different engine number applied to the rear of the block by the NSW police when first registered. Very confusing to say the least. So the combined advice of this august group was that I need to rely on the physical arrangement of my engine to determine what is it, and as I have a cartridge types old filter under the intake manifold, then my engine must be a 2L spread bore. Engine-front-2.jpgEngine image.jpg

[101RRS]

You could always pull the head off and have a look .

[LR1953]

Jeff, I'd encourage you to have a go yourself, with guidance (when needed) from people with more experience. But start with a few questions: Why does the engine need rebuilding? Do a compression test. Test the ignition system, timing, vac advance, etc. Ensure carb. is functioning correctly, check for wear around butterfly shaft. Perhaps the valves need regrinding. These are all relatively simple jobs that can be done with the block at least in situ. If you're contemplating rings and bearings, possibly a rebore and larger pistons, then you're looking at a much more expensive operation. Having gone that far you'd want to replace the timing chain and possibly the camshaft. On the other hand you might get by with existing pistons, new rings and hone the bores. I would make sure I had good estimates of the cost and availability of parts as a guide to how far to go with a rebuild, taking into account the answers to the questions outlined above.
Cheers, Rob S

[gromit]

Parts are getting more scarce and if you can get the parts you need a rebuilder that understands older engines. Ask if they have done F-head motors before, if they look at you as though you are speaking another language.....move on.

Rebuilding a 2 Litre

Land Rover Series Ones | Cox & Turner Engineering



Colin

[jedwards]

Gentlemen, I have been in touch with a local company with good levels of experience and knowledge with Series 1 engines and they have given me a "ballpark" estimate of between $8,000 and $12,000 to rebuild my 2 litre engine as long as nothing is seriously wrong, and North of that if there is.

Does that sound about right to those who know?

regards
Jeff in Perth

[TimNZ]

EMS in Midland did the machining on my 2.25 Jeff, they seemed quite happy dealing with older engines.

Cheers,

[101RRS]

What is special about older engines - basically the same a newer engines as far as block etc is concerned and from engine machining not a lot different.

That pricing seems exceeding high for a basic engine build. I have not recently done a 4 cylinder landie - the last was a 2.25. I did it my self with the local engine shop doing grinding and boring - and deck leveling - nothing special there. A recent engine build was a Haflinger engine with special barrels and modified pistons and the local engine shop could do this.

May last was a RV8 - I got everything done (crank, block welding, bearings, cam, heads etc) but assembled myself - that cost was about $2500.

I guess the issue for the 2l is not the machining but the cost of parts? How are the bores, does it need pistons etc etc etc. If me I would pull the engine out, drop the sump and the head and then take the lot around for quotes - agree on the place to do the work but insist that you provide the main parts like pistons as you will get them from the UK cheaper than the engine builder will - well he will get them at a good price but charge you.

I would get more quotes as that pricing seems too high.

Garry

[JDNSW]

What is special about older engines - basically the same a newer engines as far as block etc is concerned and from engine machining not a lot different.
.........
Garry

What is special about the F-head Rover engines is that the top deck of the block is not at right angles to the bore. This means it is a lot different from the point of view of engine machining, especially if you do not have the wedge shaped special tool.

Most engine rebuilders, contemplating the job, would either flat out refuse to do it, or add a zero to the quote. The exception would be the few who have done it before and either own the tool or have designed a workaround - they would just inflate the quote by the amount they think the market will stand!