View Full Version : Thinking of rebuilding an engine myself......
ocdstigy
03-01-12, 01:19 PM
Ok i want to learn how to do this,i will probably but a redtop engine to begin with to get the basics,i'm not daft as a brush but i really have no experience at rebuiilding,what are the tools and tips needed to put in new pistons,valves,shells,uprated cams,
any advice appreciated,the engine wont be going in a car,it will be all old parts going in,but id rather rehearse this a few times before doing my own 'proper' build,if its a good idea to plumb the engine in to a car and have it running to make sure iam doing this correctly,this is what i will do :-)
Peanut_119
03-01-12, 01:24 PM
i want to rebuild my xe this year sometime and i am in the same boat as you pal, so i will be taking notes from people with experience and their replies :D
ocdstigy
03-01-12, 01:24 PM
i want to rebuild my xe this year sometime and i am in the same boat as you pal, so i will be taking notes from people with experience and their replies :D
Note pads at the ready :D lol
haha its not actually as hard as it looks, when ive rebuilt engine i take hundreds of pictures (check my project thread link in my sig) so that when i do go to put everything back together and i get lost i can check back on the pics
its makes things alot easier when things are clean, you wouldnt put dirty clothes on everyday so why build a dirty engine lol
dont rush things or bodge anything, if you do bodge something there always a chance that it could **** up once the engines back in the car which is a right ball ache
buy a haynes manual, i currently own about 10 haynes manuals for different cars, most of them i got for 99p each with some late night ebay bidding all the info you need is in there even though some of it is a bit confusing
dont be scared to ask things on here no matter how daft they are, better asking here first rather than putting valve springs/caps etc on the wrong way then your engine noit running right
im no pro at building engines, i never went to college or anything im just one of those guys thats not scared to do something. i used to do a fair bit of servicing at the rallies with my old boss so got stuck in there and learned alot
I rebuilt one with no experience (never stripped a bottom end down myself etc). Granted it uses a bit of oil but it seems to be surviving lol
Haynes manual for the engine is a good start, loads of pics helped me too, and just ask loads of advice before, during and after doing everything!
knowledge is power n all that crap, plenty people on here with info when you get stuck
everyones been there, where in scotland you from ocdstigy?
Peanut_119
03-01-12, 01:49 PM
cheers :D sound like my tools and a camera and a haynes manual will be dug out and a good read of other thread that have xe being built/rebuilt.
cheers again
Nova_Tek
03-01-12, 01:52 PM
No one starts off with full knowledge and experience when they first strip/rebuild an engine. One thing is tools, get the right stuff it'll make things much easier and reduce risk of getting things done wrong and damaging bits.
If i had the time I'd do the LET myself. I helped strip it with my mate and it was much easier than I expected and not as many bits in an engine as I first thought. Internals are cheap on these engines so it'll be good for your pocket and experience.
Get an 8V engine, get a haynes manual and get on with it :)
No one starts off with full knowledge and experience when they first strip/rebuild an engine. One thing is tools, get the right stuff it'll make things much easier and reduce risk of getting things done wrong and damaging bits.
If i had the time I'd do the LET myself. I helped strip it with my mate and it was much easier than I expected and not as many bits in an engine as I first thought. Internals are cheap on these engines so it'll be good for your pocket and experience.
yeah decent tools are pretty much a must, cheap sockets n stuff will just brake and cause grief
i threw out alot of those multi fit sockets as they were turd and now only use the flat sided sockets
Angus Closier
03-01-12, 02:04 PM
The only thing I would really tell you to do is Clear a workbench (or area) And lay out all the parts in the order you take them out.
You need to do this as its important things like valve springs/cam caps etc etc go back in the same place they came out.
If your replacing things like that then its not as important but still good practice!
Most tools you will already have, things like valve spring compressor and piston ring compressors might not be in your tool box but can be had for very cheap.
Torque wrench and all the torque settings you need is a good start.
Some plastic food bags with labels for nuts and bolts is the way I hold them etc.
For things like valves get a bit of card and poke the valves through in order etc.
There are many other small things like this that you will pick up on the way.
If your doing just a simple new bearings etc etc its only a matter of taking something apart and placing it back the same way.
Ask away on the forum every one will help.
Good luck!
the best advice i can give from personal experience is never rebuild it upstairs in your bedroom like i did with my first one.....the bits went up there easy.... but once assembled.......................
the best advice i can give from personal experience is never rebuild it upstairs in your bedroom like i did with my first one.....the bits went up there easy.... but once assembled.......................
nothing like cuddling into a crankshaft at night
ocdstigy
03-01-12, 02:45 PM
knowledge is power n all that crap, plenty people on here with info when you get stuck
everyones been there, where in scotland you from ocdstigy?
Waaaaaaaaay up North mate,john o groats almost (5miles away)
90% of engine building is measurements.
No point in buying new bits til you have measured things like crank journals etc.
Buy a decent micrometer and vernier caliper,plust some plasti gauge to measure tolerances-which haynes tells you,and your half way there.
As said,everything has to be spotlessly clean and torqued up tp the manufacturers spec,not just as tight as you can!
because tight as you can is usually too tight anyway...
Peanut...if want you can come over to mine and ill show you to build an xe? Always have heads or engines on the go usually and I'm only down the road
Peanut_119
03-01-12, 05:35 PM
sounds good philip, i plan on taking the cav off the road in april and buying a run about while i strip the cav down and rebuild it
Depending what I'm working, if wanted, could do head on its own and then bottom end if like.
I remember Keifs thread about doing his Lotus Carlton engine, the jolem small block thread has a fair few tasty engine building pics aswell,
i also am thinking of a engine rebuild, my engine is getting fairly old and once im finshed with the bodywork i will be looking for the next thing to do, is there a article on rebuilding the xe? also when you do a rebuild on a engine thats still working what actually needs replacing?
If it doesn't smoke or rattle, then could leave it unless its for peace of mind as tbh most xes now ideally want an overbore and pistons, but when you say it will cost .inimum 350 for the pistons and machine work, you can see why people opt to stick with just re-ringing. I priced a few builds up for lads ill dig them out and put up what work + parts are included in price.
But generally as mentioned your checking tolerances out once engines stripped, once disturbed you could find alsorts that may want doing whilst apart, just comes down to budget really and whether want a quick fix or a solid reliable engine for years to come
ocdstigy
03-01-12, 11:30 PM
cavvy sri 130 engine bought,
kent high light cams bought,
picking up r1 carbs at the weekend,
Question,megajolt sufficient enough to run this or am i better of with an omex?
Decided iam going to try for 200bhp!!
cavvy sri 130 engine bought,
kent high light cams bought,
picking up r1 carbs at the weekend,
Question,megajolt sufficient enough to run this or am i better of with an omex?
Decided iam going to to try for 200bhp!!
been reading my project thread? haha
megajolt will be suffice as you are only controling spark not the fuel as the carbs/regulator do that
tbh you wont be near 200bhp with that spec, i dunno if an 8v could reach 200bhp without tb's or turbo'ing it
contact tom reid he is the guy who supplied me with all my magajolt stuff and even made my loom for me
ocdstigy
03-01-12, 11:51 PM
been reading my project thread? haha
megajolt will be suffice as you are only controling spark not the fuel as the carbs/regulator do that
tbh you wont be near 200bhp with that spec, i dunno if an 8v could reach 200bhp without tb's or turbo'ing it
contact tom reid he is the guy who supplied me with all my magajolt stuff and even made my loom for me
You are to blame for me being moved to the spare bedroom yes lol lol
Ok i thought i would achieve 200bhp with this setup,if not i won't cry over it,id be happy to gain anything over redtop power :-)
What gearbox do i want,the sri 130? is this the cr box?
Excellent information cheers,megajolt sorts spark,carbs regulater sort the fuel,didn't even know this!
Going to be quite a learning curve.....
steviegsi
04-01-12, 12:16 AM
is there a article on rebuilding the xe? also when you do a rebuild on a engine thats still working what actually needs replacing?
Had a quick search as I knew i'd seen this a while ago. Now I haven't read this yet, but afaik it should be useful......
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/12811502/Ford/Tech/XE%20Guide%20VXopel.pdf
You are to blame for me being moved to the spare bedroom yes lol lol
Ok i thought i would achieve 200bhp with this setup,if not i won't cry over it,id be happy to gain anything over redtop power :-)
What gearbox do i want,the sri 130? is this the cr box?
Excellent information cheers,megajolt sorts spark,carbs regulater sort the fuel,didn't even know this!
Going to be quite a learning curve.....
yeah it will be a learning curve, it wont be cheap either lol remember you will also need an inlet manifold manifold to mount the carbs which is £190 from bogg brothers but is a great piece of kit
http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/294857_2329414672642_1167986524_2829165_255055_n.j pg
http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/299673_2329414952649_1167986524_2829167_7071223_n. jpg
the standard box that came with that engine is the F16cr box which is what i have, its more acceleration than an f20 but less top speed, look on the end plate of the gearbox and ill be very lightly stamped and will probably need a wire wheel to clean it enough to be able to read
the fuelling is all sorted by the pump which you will need either a bike pump or a low pressure carb pump, i use a filterking regulator to controll the pressure £60 with gauge
What does a fully working Megajolt setup cost?
well i paid £200 for my megajolt kit fully built up with the crank sensor coilpack edis unit, i paid a bit extra and had prey/tom reid make me up a loom to my lengths so it was plug and play
very well built unit and loom aswell, you still need a trigger wheel though and a way of mounting the crank sensor which isnt too hard loadsa pics in my project thread of my bracket
megajolt can also run v6 and v8's
ocdstigy
04-01-12, 02:45 PM
£200 and a smal bit extra for having the loom/megajolt is a small price to pay in my opinion!
you could probably make use of an spi dizzy & ecu (or e16se) to control the sparks, and fitting a resistor instead of the injector seems to work on lpg stuff
yeah you dont have to use megajolt, you can use the dizzy setup but i had money to burn and wanted it haha
ocdstigy
04-01-12, 04:01 PM
Ordering tomorrow,rose jointed gear linkage where do i buy these,anybody?
dont know if anyone actually sells them, i can make them though or you can put a wanted ad up and see if anyone has one
also have you just robbed a bank or something? lol
Nova_Tek
04-01-12, 04:13 PM
lol
ocdstigy
04-01-12, 04:32 PM
Maybe lol
i better go check my car and shed to see if everythings still there lol
ocdstigy
04-01-12, 04:52 PM
i better go check my car and shed to see if everythings still there lol
Trigger has already removed the parts i need,so your video tomorrow will be an epic fail lol
open the bonnet to a big empty space haha
ocdstigy
04-01-12, 04:53 PM
open the bonnet to a big empty space haha
Open the garage to find a bonnet lying there lol
a garage haha, im a proper man and doo all my work outside
ocdstigy
04-01-12, 05:16 PM
im happy with my heated double garage lol lol
im happy with my heated double garage lol lol
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/babbles2316/PAPPY/ill-stab-you-****.jpg
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/babbles2316/PAPPY/ill-stab-you-****.jpg
epic fail it filtered out the word c unt
ocdstigy
04-01-12, 07:13 PM
lol lol
sounds good philip, i plan on taking the cav off the road in april and buying a run about while i strip the cav down and rebuild it
Lol with the way i have seen you drive that car around Hindley no wonder it needs a rebuild!! Anyways nice to see another local lad, from what I've seen its a tidy looking cav. Peanut, if you need a hand with anything I'm local too if you need any advice about anything.
Anyways, My experience of engine rebuilds is that its all down to the preparation and taking your time and check and double check everything. Its no good building a good engine on a garage floor. My workbench is always spotless like you could eat your dinner off it.
I could also recommend Plastigauge for the price of it to check all tolerances, its not essential and I haven't used it every time but I do and will do going foward on future engine builds, also graphogen on all bearings and bores. :-)
Peanut_119
04-01-12, 09:25 PM
Lol with the way i have seen you drive that car around Hindley no wonder it needs a rebuild!! Anyways nice to see another local lad, from what I've seen its a tidy looking cav.
what you mean how i drive it?? lol i get it abit of stick here and there... but nothing ott lol
I must see you here and there then lol.
ocdstigy
05-01-12, 01:51 PM
lol lol
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