> Now, the bad news. I've never rebuilt an engine before. I think I
> did disassemble a lawnmower engine in Junior High (so I do have some
> experience with the A-series engine :-) but that's the Mesozoic at
> this point. I will have the Air Force instructors available when I
> need an extra set of hands and/or advice, and that's very encouraging,
> but I'll probably need some expert MGB advice.
Twice this year I have rebuild the engine in my Midget for less than
$700 each time, this includes parts and machine shop costs.
- Cylinder head rebuild (includes news valves and guides) - $170
- Crank reground and new bearings - $50
- New pistons and rings - $340
- Block rebored/honed etc - $76
- Oil pump - $34
- Other misc machine work - $70
The valve train was still in good condition, the camshaft and followers
were also fairly recent. Therefore when you say that it will cost you
about $1000 for an engine rebuild, you are in the right ball-park.
My advise though, is DON'T DO ANY OF THE MACHINE WORK YOURSELF - unless
you really know what you are doing. Take the block to a reputable
machine shop and have them do the work. (See if you can find some-one
who is familiar with this engine - it may prove beneficial).
There are certain important factors that you need to know when doing
any machine work -
eg - each cylinder has to be re-bored for a specific piston. If you
get oversize pistons of say +.010 and re-bore the cylinder using +.010,
that does not mean that the piston will fit !!!!!. You have no guarantee
that the piston is perfectly round !. Therefore the cylinder has to be
re-bored to match a specific piston.
Also when reboring the cylinders, they have to checked that they are
all parallel to each other. Then upon assemmbling the engine, you
have to make sure that each of the components is balanced correctly i.e
that the con-rods weigh roughly the same and that the pistons are
within spec weight-wise.
My advise : by all means dis-assemble the engine yourself, find a GOOD
machine shop, and let them do all the macine work. If you feel uncomfortable,
ask the machine shop to assemble to the pistons and the bottom end.
The rest you should be able to tackle yourself. The bottom line is -
don't get over your head. It is very easy to screw up and engine rebuild -
and have disaasterous consequences.
PS - replace the clutch, clutch plate and release bearing during the rebuild.
Gerry
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