Engine Rebuild - How Much???

[rbgosling]

I've just placed an order for the last (hopefully!) parts I'll need to complete my engine build. This seemed to be an opportune time to tot up what I'd spent so far.

Anyway, I thought I'd share with you, no doubt some will find this interesting. The headlines are that I've spent:

• £2,495 on parts for the engine
  £283 on parts for replacing the steering rack (needed doing as it was leaking)
  £243 on consumables - paint, oil, sealants, assembly lubricant, and Swarfega! Most of which I've hardly used (apart from the Swarfega).
  £182 on tools, equipment, storage boxes, floor/table protection etc.

This is now well over three grand, and no doubt there will be the odd item still to come. In retrospect, I don't think it could realistically ever be much cheaper (although not everyone will replace the steering rack at the same time!). Biggest item was re-coating the Nikasil cylinder liners (£589 incl. postage); at this mileage (175,000) they would inevitably need something. The other option was to fit iron liners from an earlier engine, but they'd still have likely needed to be honed and oversize pistons fitted so may well have cost as much. One item I did have to spend more on was the main bearings, due to the oversize block (see the saga here), that ended up costing £340 instead of the £190 heavy duty ones I would have bought from Garry Kemp. Machining work was inevitable, and I was lucky that the crankshaft journals did not need regrinding, so that came in cheaper than expected.

The rest of the parts are almost all standard items to be replaced in a rebuild, plus a few cheap bolts that were either in poor shape or I managed to lose. I've had to replace two engine mounts, at £190, as they were buggered.

Consumables were all essential, although frustrating since I've used hardly any of the sealants and lubricants (might sell the left-overs on at a discount if anyone else out there wants them for their rebuild!).

Tools, arguably, are an investment, and the largest (the engine stand) can always be sold to anyone else who fancies following my path. I've also been very fortunate to be able to borrow some tools:

• Engine hoist (thanks, Father)
  Cylinder liner clamps (thanks, Paul)
  Cylinder liner remover (thanks, the two fabulous blokes at the NEC Restoration Show who's names I've mentally mislaid!).

Lotus mandate several specialist tools for certain tasks. With the exception of the two mentioned above, I've managed to work around all the others using what I had to hand.

Total breakdown below. Most parts come from LotusBits or SJ Sportscars, gaskets and bearing shells come from Garry Kemp (a little pricier, but better than the standard items I hope), non-Lotus specific parts often from eBay or Amazon. Prices don't exactly match the price lists, as I've included the VAT, and postage where applicable. Feel free to ask about any of it, or where I got any bits.

£3,203.27 OVERALL COST

PARTS
£2,494.91 TOTAL
£589.40 Liner re-coating (+ postage)
£402.00 Crankshaft polishing and balancing, valve seat grinding, head skim
£340.52 Main bearing shells - oversize sent from California
£133.14 Piston Rings
£129.00 Gasket set - top end
£105.41 Gearbox mount
£99.00 Gasket set - bottom end
£89.99 Bearing shells - big end
£85.70 Engine Mount nearside
£59.62 Clutch release bearing
£84.00 Carburettor rebuild kits
£48.00 Exhasut valves (used)
£38.40 Shims for valves
£36.64 Cam belt
£24.72 Oil filter - genuine Lotus for after running in
£24.00 Studs cylinder head to cam carrier
£24.00 Fan shroud (used)
£24.00 Thermal valve in inlet manifold
£23.99 Exhaust manifold studs stainless
£12.11 Air filter
£12.00 Exhaust manifold lock nuts
£12.00 Thrust bearings
£11.92 Spark plugs
£10.21 Front crankshaft oil seal (second, after I broke the first)
£7.08 Spire nuts - radiator shroud
£6.20 Oil filter - cheap for running in
£6.20 Belt - water pump and PAS
£6.15 Belt - alternator
£6.14 Exhaust downpipe gasket
£5.90 M6 washers for oil pump
£5.89 Screws - radiator shroud
£5.81 Motor for purge pump
£4.91 Bolts M6x30 for oil pump
£3.59 Mounts for purge pump
£3.54 Spring Washers - nearside engine mount to block
£3.54 Flat Washers - nearside engine mount to block
£3.11 PAS Pump bolts
£2.27 Bolts - nearside engine mount to block
£2.22 Hose for purge pump
£1.38 M6 Spring washers
£0.87 Distributor O-ring
£0.37 Bolt 55mm for water pump


PARTS (STEERING RACK)
£283.14 TOTAL
£130.00 Steering rack (gift)
£126.03 High pressure hose
£23.59 Track rod ends
3.52 M14 nuts


CONSUMABLES
£242.99 TOTAL
£49.54 Oil - Fuchs Titan Supersyn 10W-60 High Performance
£28.25 Running-in Oil - Millers CRO 10W-40 Competition Running In
£24.00 Permabond A136
£22.95 Graphogen assembly lubricant
£12.99 Gunk Engine Degreasant
£12.45 Red Wrinkle Finish Paint (cam covers)
£15.06 Permabond A905
£14.79 Hammerite paint for coolant expansion tank
£11.58 Swarfega
£9.55 Loctite Chisel Gasket Remover
£9.24 Wellseal
£8.50 Gunk driveway cleaner
£7.49 Copper grease
£7.25 RTV Silicone Sealant
£4.85 Plastigauge
£4.50 Hylomar universal blue


TOOLS & EQUPMENT
£182.23 TOTAL
£37.95 Engine stand
£26.50 Storage Boxes
£18.40 Torque wrench
£11.99 Stud extractor
£9.99 Spanner
£9.56 Floor / table covering
£8.99 Digital vernier caliper
£8.86 Precision kitchen scales
£8.40 Rope for engine hoist
£7.99 Valve lapping stick and grinding paste
£7.96 Timber to make ramps to wheel engine stand outside
£6.69 Bar magnets for camshaft tappets
£5.90 Bolts to fix engine to stand
£4.99 Piston ring compressor
£4.07 Hex drive socket
3.99 Wire brush

[IanM92]

I have often wondered how much it would cost but being lazy and getting on in years I have never sat down and priced everything out. Thanks very much for doing so I found it very informative.

[AndyC]

And probably a bit shocking, as those of us that have done it tend to purchase parts and services from a variety of sources even for just one job (such as crank grind from one firm, but parts from another) so to see all together is a sobering thought.

[rbgosling]

Still, it's half the price I'd have paid Lotus to do it for me, and I've had all the fun of doing it myself. On the other hand, if they'd done it, I'd have had the car to drive for the last six months, and it'd have been done properly...

[AndyC]

You've had the fun of doing it. I find shimming the valves a therapeutic activity, just me an engine and hundreds (literally) of thin bits of metal, oh and pencil, paper and measuring devices.

[Pete Boole]

I've just started stripping my engine down. Good to get some idea of prices. Thanks for that. I'm hoping to be able to use the pistons/liners again, but I haven't got them out yet. My engine is believed to have been built by Dave Smith in the eighties, so not quite sure what to expect from the internals! Have just started to measure up the cam specs as I do not know what is in there - may be DS2s - similar to Lotus 104s I believe. Getting the dial gauge onto the cam followers is tricky though!

Pete

[paulsx]

Thats pretty shocking but I suspect I wont be far short of that by the time mines done lol

I'd be interested in the zero thickness sealant for the cam carriers and ladder frame if you want to sell.

You should have mentioned about the gearbox mount I brought one from the states, very good pattern part was under $30 shipped

[rbgosling]

I'd be interested in the zero thickness sealant for the cam carriers and ladder frame if you want to sell.

Cheers Paul - you're welcome to the sealants when I'm done with them. Price - three months' loan of some cylinder liner clamps (payable in advance)