Iain's 1970 MG BGT

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The Cost of the Rebuild

When I embarked on the engine build project I tried to keep an accurate record of expenses. Below are the costs for the main engine rebuild (completed 07/07/04 at 73899 miles), the extra due to the main bearing problem, the costs to spruce up the gas flowed unleaded head, and then what I recovered by selling spare parts.

Main Engine

This is everything except the head. The engine was initially fitted with a refurbished standard leaded head from the used engine. Details of the rebuild of the gas flowed head will be below once done.

Item Source Cost
Used engine Classifieds £100.00
Sleeve for cracked cylinder (with fitting) Entune £97.53
Boring of 4 cylinders to +60 thou Entune £94.00
Crankshaft ground to -20 thou Entune £68.15
Main bearings +20 thous Entune £28.75
Big end bearings +20 thous Entune £28.40
Thrust washer Entune £9.58
Excellent advice! Entune Free!
Set of County cylinders +60 thou Octarine Services £85.00
Payen head gasket set Octarine Services £14.50
Payen bottom end gasket set Octarine Services £16.00
Core plugs Octarine Services £3.00
Lock tab set Octarine Services £5.00
Oil pressure release valve Octarine Services £8.75
P&P from Octarine Services Octarine Services £10.00
Excellent advice! Octarine Services Free!
Piper 270 Magnum Camshaft Ebay £36.00
Set of new lifters Ebay £10.00
Reconditioned rocker assembly Ebay £29.99
P&P from Ebay Ebay £18.00
Timing chain Moss £4.95
Timing Chain tensioner Moss £6.55
Rear engine seal Moss £7.28
Front engine seal Moss £2.00
Main bearing bolts Moss £11.50
Cylinder head stud set Moss £9.99
Thermostat Moss £3.52
Other bits (nuts and bolts, gaskets, gasket sealant etc) Moss £37.96
Running in oil Moss £16.95
Graphogen Moss £8.95
Timing Disc Moss £3.37
Loctite Moss £3.25
Oil filter Halfords £3.95
Engine paint Frosts £18.00

And because of the problem with the with the main bearing bolts bottoming out I also spent:-

Main bearing washers Moss £10.00
Running in oil Moss £16.95
Oil filter Moss £3.80

In addition to the above I spent around £50 on other work. This included a new gearbox seal and new oil hose, as well as some spray paint for the engine bay and a few other bits and pieces. Also got through a lot of petrol and washing up liquid for cleaning parts and me!

So, the main engine build cost £800.87, with an additional £30.75 due to the bolt problem and another £50 on ancillaries, giving a grand total of £881.62.

Head

This is what I spent doing up the gas flowed unleaded head that I had with the original engine.

Item Source Cost
Assorted valves Ebay £20.00 (inc P&P)
New valve seals Moss  
Manifold and thermostat housing studs Moss  
Thermostat housing gasket    
Payen head gasket Ebay £5.00 (inc P&P)
Manifold gasket Moss  
     

For the cylinder head that gives a grand total of £xx

Sales

As I had bought a spare engine, and only needed the block in the rebuild, I have a lot of spare parts. I'll be trying to sell these on Ebay to offset the cost of the build. The target is to recover the £100 spent on the second engine.

Item Sold For
25D distributor that came with spare engine £4.99
Temporary head £60
   
   
   
   
   

So, overall the cost to me of this build of a stage 2 engine has been £xxx. Now, it is fair to say that I'd expect to be able to do this a lot cheaper in the future. The cracked block (both the original and the requirement for sleeving the replacement) added to the cost, although some money has been recouped from the second engine by selling parts. The problem with the main bearing bolts cost a bit, and even having to leave the head to later has added twenty quid or so. Assuming I was able to pick up parts at the same cost (and I got some pretty good prices off of Ebay) then the cost to rebuild a standard engine with a very tired gas flowed unleaded head would have been £xxx, without any of the problems. If I do it again this will be my target figure!

 

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