Gday I'm needing to get the motor in my van rebuilt, I've rang around a couple of shops and all quoted around the $1000 mark. Is there somewhere, or someone on the forum even, where I could get a basic rings, gaskets, bearings for about 600?

Cheers, Jake

HA!

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Classic Auto Fabrications:
http://www.ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=31659

http://www.lescollinsracing.com/

what sort of engine?

Unfortunately engine machine work would kill your budget.
Maybe a wrecker spec engine. pick a part ?

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Dan.
Official organisor of Thursday nite pizza.

1K is cheap for a shop to do a rebuild. To put it in perspective it cost me approx $5000 to fully rebuild my CA18det and that was doing the work my self (apart from machining)

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1928 Model A CC Pickup

I've had preliminary figures of $6000 and upwards to rebuild my L18, that's with a few performance mods though and me not doing any of the work other than pulling the motor out of the car and delivering it.

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Current Garage:

1971 Datsun 1600
2019 Mazda 6 Touring Wagon
2009 Holden SV6 Sedan

If you are prepared to do the engine strip down and the rebuild, I believe you could rebuild a running L4 engine for close to $600, assuming the engine has no major mechanical problems such as dodgy pistons or excessively worn valve train components.

Have an engine machine shop chemically clean the bare block and deglaze/hone the bores. say $200, including replacing the welsh plugs.

You finish the surface clean up of the head and block using fine emery paper, and then final finish with finer (400 grade) wet and dry paper on the head to get it shiny - use a largish, very flat block of wood or thick glass as backing for the emery/sandpaper - hand sand in a circular motion, dont use a mechanical sander as the surfaces must remain flat finished all over. This ensures removal of all traces of old head gasket so no future blown head gasket issues, assuming the head is not warped. If the head is warped, add the cost of a surface remachining.

Before bolting on the head you should lap (regrind) the valves into their seats (valve grinding paste and a valve grinding tool - say $35)

You need a full engine rebuild kit from Nason's. Buy through Repco or a similar engine parts supplier. $400 should just about do it, perhaps not including a replacement timing chain/guide/tensioner kit, which I would include. Specify a graphite coated head gasket and Hastings rings. You must use a ring compressor to install the pistons fitted with their new rings.

Thinking about it, $1000 to get the whole job done isn't expensive - $6000 is, but that is a vastly different build up, no comparison to your rebuild!

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RichardC
SSS016

I'd strongly advise against any sanding of any decks. Spend the $50 to have the deck and head machined flat. There are some corners that should not be cut and this is one of them. The way I calculate a bare bones re build is:

Hot bath and degrease parts $100
Hone block $100
Machine deck and head $50-$80
Check bearing clearances $30
New bearings $100
New rings $50
Gasket set $200-$300
Timing kit $150
Welshplugs $20
Re lap valves $40
Reassembly $200

So that's comes to approx $1100
Anything else like new components, extra machining and balancing would cost extra.
So as is said before $1000 is a good price. Make sure you know what is being offered for that price though.

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1928 Model A CC Pickup

Hi Hatchman,
Sounds like your project is progressing well.

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RichardC
SSS016

My Dato

I agree that well machined surfaces are preferable, but we were talking here about a "bare bones" rebuild. I was looking for ways to meet the budget.

However, two comments:

I have hand polished a couple of L4 Datsun head surfaces that were freshly machined. I was unhappy with the quality of surface finish from the machining shop.

Rebuilt Subaru twin cam heads are recommended as requiring mirror finishing/polishing to remove all machining marks, to reduce the possibility of head gasket failures. (An OEM gasket blew at 160,000kms.) It took me a full day to mirror finish (NO machining marks) a pair of Suby TC heads - but they have been reliable over the next 250,000 Kms.

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RichardC
SSS016

It's getting there mate

So far I've now acquired
2 x 45 Webers
Datrally Manifold
240K Gearbox with a mount
shortened tailshaft
2 front guards
4 x bumper over-riders (I love those things!)
A 'Datsun 1600' rocker cover
7/8 Dual reservoir for the brakes
Back half of a 1600 shell
and a few other things

We'll be taking the car off the road after Xmas, the body is rusted to buggery so it's going to cost a fair amount of coin to get fixed up even with us stripping it and cutting out what we can but we're getting there. We're not panel beaters so it's pretty limited as to what we can beyond cutting the rust out. Current plan is to go a sunburnt orange colour with blacked out wheels

Interior thankfully is still pretty good but it needs work

The L18 still goes well but it's making more noises than a healthy engine should. Given it's 35 years old and never, as far as we know, had any major mechanical work done to it I'd say that's a good innings for an engine We're still planning to get it completely stripped and re-built to put out a decent amount of grunt so hence the higher cost.

Seems to be resurgence of interest in old Datsuns at the moment, my dad has had quite a few blokes comment on it lately, a couple have even made offers, but we're not taking them, this is something we're going to hang on to so we want it to last.

We've already started talking about the next project after the Datsun, might do an EH or HR Holden, but that will be a few years down the track.

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Current Garage:

1971 Datsun 1600
2019 Mazda 6 Touring Wagon
2009 Holden SV6 Sedan

A 4k. Nothing fancy just rings and bearings. I'm driving it around Australia and I want something with compression, that doesn't burn 3L a week and I can at least half rely on. I don't want a wrecked spec engine because no body in a position to make profit is EVER honest. Hence why I left massive with a **** engine. I know I cwould get a basic rebuild in massive for 500. In a workshop. With a guaranty. Plus my brother had his A12 done for 800 with a decent amount of work done.

hmmm 4k, as in toyota?
just on whatever corolla or ae86 forums.
Guys are basically throwing em out to fit 4ag's in their rolla's.

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Dan.
Official organisor of Thursday nite pizza.

If you were up in qld i would give it a basic rebuild for 600

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68 510 - soon to be restored into a replica 68sss
69 510 - current build - L20b turbo
91 GT turbo legacy
GET THAT DATSUN DIFFERENCE!