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Whatever you do don't get one of those engine crane / engine stand in one. Very dumbass idea

Shane001 wrote:Whatever you do don't get one of those engine crane / engine stand in one. Very dumbass idea

a No no

Download the manual for the engine as it has instructions.
Download a video by Box Wrench on engine rebuilding and watch it.
Research lots, read lots, and understand before moving onto the next area.

Edit:
Why is the engine crane/stand in one such a bad idea?

There are certain steps I simply don't try & do at home mate, you'll need to get it to a shop. If you want to do a proper blueprint rebuild, anything to do with the block, pistons, crank & flywheel I leave to the pros. I simply dont have the precision gear required to do it all correctly.

- The bores will need to be honed or bored depending on wear, this will determine the piston ring sizes you'll need.
- Ever put piston rings on? There's nothing more frustrating than snapping 1 ring that can only be bought in a rather expensive kit... and they're real easy to snap.
- The crank journals, both mains & big ends, will need to be mic'ed up & possibly machined, again this will determine what size bearing shells you'll need.
- A number of things need to be checked (measurement wise) such as the crank tunnel for straightness, the block heights (may need a skim), the conrods need to be checked for stretch etc
- The block will need (or 'should have') a good acid bath & have all the welch plugs replaced.
- The heads should be 'serviced' - meaning a chemical clean, the faces skimmed to straight, valves reseated & guides & seals replaced. Cam carrier bearing surfaces checked & also checked for straight (tunnel bore check)
- Then on reassembly its good practice to have the pistons / crank / flywheel assembly balanced together.

So as you can see, you cant just chuck a gasket kit through it, there are bits you'll need to buy only when you know what sizes you'll need. There are processes there that can't be done at home. I used to try do as much of this as possible, only going to the engineers for the stuff I didn't have the gear for, but it was countless trips lugging a motor round & wasting my time. I ended up finding the right engine guy, dropped the block off as a whole & picking it up a week later & paying the $1500 bucks. I'd then do the rest of the reassembly like putting heads back on & timing gear etc & throwing it in the car.

Bennoz wrote:There are certain steps I simply don't try & do at home mate, you'll need to get it to a shop. If you want to do a proper blueprint rebuild, anything to do with the block, pistons, crank & flywheel I leave to the pros. I simply dont have the precision gear required to do it all correctly.

- The bores will need to be honed or bored depending on wear, this will determine the piston ring sizes you'll need.
- Ever put piston rings on? There's nothing more frustrating than snapping 1 ring that can only be bought in a rather expensive kit... and they're real easy to snap.
- The crank journals, both mains & big ends, will need to be mic'ed up & possibly machined, again this will determine what size bearing shells you'll need.
- A number of things need to be checked (measurement wise) such as the crank tunnel for straightness, the block heights (may need a skim), the conrods need to be checked for stretch etc
- The block will need (or 'should have') a good acid bath & have all the welch plugs replaced.
- The heads should be 'serviced' - meaning a chemical clean, the faces skimmed to straight, valves reseated & guides & seals replaced. Cam carrier bearing surfaces checked & also checked for straight (tunnel bore check)
- Then on reassembly its good practice to have the pistons / crank / flywheel assembly balanced together.

So as you can see, you cant just chuck a gasket kit through it, there are bits you'll need to buy only when you know what sizes you'll need. There are processes there that can't be done at home. I used to try do as much of this as possible, only going to the engineers for the stuff I didn't have the gear for, but it was countless trips lugging a motor round & wasting my time. I ended up finding the right engine guy, dropped the block off as a whole & picking it up a week later & paying the $1500 bucks. I'd then do the rest of the reassembly like putting heads back on & timing gear etc & throwing it in the car.

Thank you ben. As I said, any of the major work that cant be done by myself (probably the whole thing ) can be fixed up for free - or do you mean that not just a regular (but good - works on V8 supercars ) mechanic can do certain things? By the time this project is well and truly underway, I will have finished school and will have plenty of time to put into it.

What sort of costs will I be looking at for just parts? I would have thought it would be at least a few grand?

spetz wrote:Why is the engine crane/stand in one such a bad idea?

Firstly you'll need to remove the stand to use the crane, the crane will need to be pushed under the front of the car.

Then once the engine is on the stand do you really want such a huge contraption taking up half your garage. A separate engine crane folds up nicely and gets shoved in a corner. The engine on a dedicated stand can then also be stored neatly in a corner. Plus trying to manouevre your engine around your garage while on a stand on an engine crane would soon become a massive pita

Is it a cost effective device?
Though I think usually people borrow the crane and maybe only own the stand.

Both items are cheap these days, engine hoists are down to about $250 brand new, the stands you can get for under $100.

Only problem as mentioned is storing them, they're big f*ckers.

Digging up a thread a bit here but figured better than starting a new one - what sort of cost in total am I looking at for a full re-co? (DIY! ) A few grand?

20grand

Sahin wrote:20grand

Not sure if trolling or..

Dras told me around $4500 to get everything done. ( bear in mind he took off and placed the engine back himself (with help))
so i'll assume it will be lesser than that figure (that is if you get everything right)

Akys wrote:Dras told me around $4500 to get everything done. ( bear in mind he took off and placed the engine back himself (with help))
so i'll assume it will be lesser than that figure (that is if you get everything right)

So like.. 30-40 grand? Hahahaha. But yeah, just got it home, struggling to fit the engine onto the stand. Anyone wanna come round tomorrow and help? Beers?

A mechanic will rip the timing belt off, rip the head off, check the flatness of the block and send the head away to get machined/xrayed and rebuilt. Head comes back looking like new.

If the bores and piston look screwed then it's a new engine.

Alternatively..........if you have no mech experience go down to your local wrecker and just offer them 20 bucks for an old 4 cylinder engine you can practice on.

4-cylinder is a good start to just practice and although you won't necessarily run the engine, it'll get you used to seeing what to expect inside an engine as practice. You'll get to rip the head cover off, have a play around with the cams, valves, valve springs, etc. Or if you want, take it apart and put it back together again.

And if you f*ck it up.....what have you lost? $20 but at least you know more about what's inside the engine.

Nacho wrote:Alternatively..........if you have no mech experience go down to your local wrecker and just offer them 20 bucks for an old 4 cylinder engine you can practice on.

4-cylinder is a good start to just practice and although you won't necessarily run the engine, it'll get you used to seeing what to expect inside an engine as practice. You'll get to rip the head cover off, have a play around with the cams, valves, valve springs, etc. Or if you want, take it apart and put it back together again.

And if you f*ck it up.....what have you lost? $20 but at least you know more about what's inside the engine.

I have the 6A12 MIVEC sitting on a stand in my garage, got it a couple days ago

Bit late! But yes, thanks for the suggestion. I might do that if I get stuck on this one or something.