Engine Rebuild Cost?

[TR NIALL]

Looking forward to seeing the full report,no doubt you won't be holding back on the Info or the Do's and Dont's.

[Steves_TR6]

This is a great thread, looking forward to more updates :-)

[Alec Pringle]

Do's and Don'ts . . . .. ? That could fill a book then !!! Long time since I've been involved with a 6 engine, interesting relearning curve.

 

Get your priorities right.

 

First off, factory workshop manual and parts book are essentials; Haynes manual, and the Roger Williams How to Restore/How to Improve books, and the Bill Piggott Original Triumph TR book would be helpful additions - but by no means essential. The TR Technicalities CD would also be useful.

 

Second, you need a decent toolkit, there's no merit in fiddling around with rubbish tools. If you can't afford to buy decent sockets sets and spanners, and a torque wrench, then you certainly can't afford to p*ss about with engines. Get real.

 

Third, you'll need a decent jack, stands, and a proper engine crane - not some cheapjack substitute. Buy or hire the right kit.

 

Fourth, it's not a race, take your time, thought before action, it's supposed to be a pleasurable hobby - so get it right.

 

 

Simply removing and replacing an engine ought to take a competent professional TR specialist around 20-25 hours . . . . not the suggested 75 hours or £4.7K that started this thread. In proper money that's around the £1500 mark, give or take a couple of hundred. You can achieve this yourself given the priorities above and a helpful handy buddy, but assume double the man hours at least, and probably triple once you've found a few extra tasks along the way . . . . Any diy job in a home garage is going to take a lot longer than skilled pro mechanics in a pukka pro workshop.

 

It makes sense to haul out the engine and box complete, change the clutch assembly whilst you're at it for sure, and like as not it will be worth getting the box to some useful man like Pete Cox - to at least check it over and renew what needs renewing. Clutch budget maybe £150, and personally I'd rate £250-500 on the gearbox as money well spent whilst it's out. Stitch in time saves nine principle.

 

 

Would I rebuild the engine myself ? Been there, done that, but . . . . . no thanks, not again, I'd leave that to a man who does it for the day job, and offers a proper warranty to go with his cast iron reputation. I've seen the p*ss poor results of too many diy rebuilds, and Matt's engine (rebuilt by a previous owner) was yet another - good money down the drain to no purpose. Possibly a result of the rebuilt engine having sat around too long before being fired-up and run-in.

 

You could buy an exchange engine off the shelf from someone like Moss for example, bog standard spec rebuild, and it should cost less than £2K depending on which 6-pot variant you have. Decent reliable product rebuilt by competent people and with a proper warranty.

 

Next stage is to go to a well reputed TR specialist or proprietary engine builder, have your own engine rebuilt up to a standard rather than down to a price. In this case, get it all fully balanced; lightened by no more than is necessary to balance; rebored, reground, hardened, whatever as necessary; head and cam modestly upgraded if the budget allows. Don't tell the man his job in detail, let him tell you - he's an expert, you're not, and it's his reputation and warranty at stake. Just explain what you'd like to achieve and the budget, leave him to detail the options. Cost £2.5-4.5K depending on what needs doing and what extras you plump for.

 

If you want to go mad, double that estimate and go for a balls-out low-flying road steel engine for around £8K.

 

Back to the start of this thread again, £7K +vat, £8.4K in other words, for a standard engine and clutch is just taking the mick, big time . . . . overweening ambition and then some. But they do say there's one born on a regular basis . . . .

 

 

Bear in mind that a rebuilt engine does not benefit from sitting around. You want it installed and commissioned asap. We took Matt's TR6 back down to the engine shop on the local recovery truck, which cost all of £30. That allowed the engine builders to fill it up with their preferred running-in oil, check everything to their satisfaction, and start it up and do the initial running-in themselves on their rollers, then do the inevitable fine tweaking.

 

That now leaves Matt to run it in for 500 miles before it goes back for torqueing down, oil change and final tune-up on the rolling road. There's no room for future argument, the engine shop wizards have done all the important skilled stuff, we've done the boring laborious remove and refit. If any problems arise engine-wise, I know they'll sort the matter with no ifs or buts. But not a situation that's likely to happen !

 

Incidentally, don't expect the average specialist to take the same relaxed attitude about payment - the chaps I use know me, and they take the old-fashioned view that their job isn't completed until the 500 mile mark. That's very much an exceptional attitude these days.

 

Don't overlook the engine ancillaries and everything else in the engine bay once the engine is out - check everything properly, something is bound to be going west, you might as well sort it at leisure whilst the engine is being rebuilt.

 

There you go Niall, plenty there to discuss !!

 

Cheers

 

Alec

[Paul Harvey]

and you need to know how to run the cam in straight away, and how to run the engine in without mollycoddling it - no point waiting for 2,000 miles before you go over 3,000 and then thinking it'll enjoy a thrash to 5,500 'because it's carefully run in!'

[TR NIALL]

Thanks Alec,i knew I could rely on you for a detailed and indepth report but was hoping it would be a 1.30 in the Morning jobbie as your Writing/Explaining Skills seem to be at there best around that Time,Thanks all the same we shall Discuss at Malvern I'm sure.

[Steves_TR6]

Picking up this thread as i fear i may need a similar ‘refresh’ on my 6

 

What was the final result and cost Matt?

 

Steve

[Alec Pringle]

Matt no longer owns the car, it passed to my good buddy Jeff last summer.

 

What was the final result ? You could be forgiven for thinking that the lump under the bonnet is a BMW 6 rather than a product of BL. Cracking engine, smooth as you like, and at 30mph in o/d top you can floor the throttle and the engine pulls without a flicker . . . . straight round to 130. Nothing special in terms of 'upgrades', minor head work, but essentially just a modest amount of fine tuning and blueprinting.

 

Bear in mind that the rest of the car was 'gone over' whilst the engine was out . . . . . minimising losses at the UJs and wheel bearings, for example, all helps. As does retorqueing suspension and steering to the correct figures. Plus of course a good job on the gearbox and diff.

 

Costs wise see my post #53 above.

 

I'm no longer willing to go into detailed costs of work, in posts on here or by PM - I'm afraid that TR enquirers can be remarkably thoughtless, and figures supplied in confidence are then bandied about the net to other potential suppliers. The enquirer generally doesn't have the full picture, quotes my comments selectively, and thereby creates inaccurate impressions all round . . . . . and others get upset, justifiably so.

 

Cheers,

 

Alec

[Steves_TR6]

Thanks for the update Alec

 

I may not have a problem at all but am thinking of having the sump off to check and also renew the thrust washers.

 

There seem to be a few reputable tr specialists in Surrey and nearby, Rees Bros and Enginuity i have used before and also Classic and Modern in Bracknell

 

I’ll post a new thread with what we find and outcomes !

 

Steve

[Alec Pringle]

Hi Steve,

 

Classic & Modern seemed to do a good enough job with Moss rebuilds from all I've seen in the past . . . . I've heard numerous reports from satisfied customers, and the only couple of problems that I can recall were sorted quickly and efficiently without fuss or bother.

 

The amount that some Triumph specialists charge for engine rebuilds is outrageous . . . . . in my experience the better TR specialists will happily offer an estimate, subject to specific variables.

 

That's as near as you can expect to a quotation, given just how many variables there can be involved in an engine rebuild.

 

The guys who suck their teeth and ramble on about unquantifiable additional costs are best avoided like the plague - if they can't pin down the potential variables then they shouldn't be pitching for the job.

 

Don't get carried away with insisting on OE/nos quality component, unless you really need it. Throwing money away is all too easy.

 

The benefits of top line pistons, bearings or whatever are only going to become apparent if the engine is being ragged to within an inch of its life.

 

The average TR driver these days is unlikely to challenge the performance of even the proverbial cheapest Chinese budget product, and top notch engine component is simply wasted. Nevertheless, wallies with more dosh than common sense do like being able to boast about hidden bling . . . . .

 

Cheers,

 

Alec