Steve Lovelock
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| posted on 4/8/10 at 09:25 AM |
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XE redtop, replace or rebuild - cheapest and fastest
I have an XE engine in my Luego that I bought for £150 off ebay. It has worked well for the last four years but is showing signs of age now,
particularly since I took up sprinting this year. Upon watching a video of me driving the car at a sprint I was horrified to see how much smoke was
coming out of the car. The engine has never burnt oil but has always been a bit smoky on start up and is a bit ‘chattery’ on tick over. However, as
I am planning to do more sprints in the coming months I am a little worried about the engine. I had always thought that I could just go and buy
another £150 engine from ebay and use that if the current one expired but I have noticed that the price of engines seems to be getting higher. Also,
I am bound to be getting similarly old engines for that price. However, the thought of an engine rebuild horrifies me. I have no engine specific
tools and my one past rebuild (a long time ago and on a MG A type engine) was a total disaster. Naturally I am looking for the best solution for the
cheapest price. Additionally I want the solution that takes the least time to complete as I am keen on working on the new project rather than the old
one which I just want to drive. Any ideas on a good route forward?
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chrsgrain
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| posted on 4/8/10 at 09:31 AM |
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What I would do is get any old cheap engine off Ebay, rebuild it in slow time, and then bung it in the car either when its finished, or just leave it
stored until the older one blows up....
Chris
Spoing! - the sound of an irony meter breaking...
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Ben_Copeland
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| posted on 4/8/10 at 10:29 AM |
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I'm rebuilding a xe at the moment. It's not particularly difficult and have all the necessary tools. Only special tool is the valve spring
compressor I got off eBay.
Plus I'm not a million miles away from you if you wanted any help etc.
Ben
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loggyboy
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| posted on 4/8/10 at 12:00 PM |
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My XE came from a donor car I paid £200 for, then sold the remaining bit for more making it less than free. I then sold the engine a few months back
for nearly £300.
Ive seen 2nd hand prices of enginges alone for anthing from £200 to £350 over the last 7 years, so I would suggest you got a bargain first time
arround, and prices havent gone up that much.
Tappets on start up is pretty much par for XEs, and its not loosing lots oil, and smoking just a little it may be wise to just do a head gasket and
see how that fares.
Its also worth noting that on heavy cornering, the XE can often suck in its own oil, there are a couple of home brewed mods to the
rockercover/breather to cure this, check out migweb.co.uk and pngclub.com for guides on it.
[Edited on 4/8/10 by loggyboy]
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Ben_Copeland
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| posted on 4/8/10 at 12:07 PM |
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Just doing the head gasket is unlikely to make much difference. Check compression before doing anything. Then possibly only needs valve oil seals
changing or could be piston rings. They can also leak oil into the spark plug holes due to gasket on cam cover. All pretty simple things to do.
If the rings do need doing you might aswell do everything else while your there.
Ben
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Z20LET Astra Turbo, into a Haynes
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Angel Acevedo
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| posted on 4/8/10 at 01:58 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Steve Lovelock
....... I was horrified to see how much smoke was coming out of the car. ....
May be a supid question by now, but white smoke, grey or black?
Beware of what you wish.. for it may come true....
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Steve Lovelock
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| posted on 4/8/10 at 06:24 PM |
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I have done the head mod.
The smoke is blue and only on heavy acceleration. This makes me think it is worn rings / bores. Which I guess means the whole lot needs a look
at.
Is that oil additive that Quentin off 5th gear recommends worth a shot?
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cliftyhanger
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| posted on 5/8/10 at 08:32 AM |
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I really don't think any additive is worth a shot.......
A simple re-bore and new set of pistons if bores bad, or maybe just a hone and new rings may be all thats needed. Maybe chuck in a new set of bearings
and headset while its apart, but there really can't be anything too expensive about that, or have I missed something??
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Steve Lovelock
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| posted on 5/8/10 at 08:00 PM |
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Well, maybe not but how much will this lot cost:
Pistons
Rings
Re-bore
Bearings
Head gasket
Oil / filter / gesket set etc.
I'm surely not going to get any change from £6 / 700. I realise that I'd get a lot of engine for that money but it's a heck of a
wedge. Or I am I wrong on the costs?
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rusty nuts
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| posted on 5/8/10 at 08:43 PM |
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Might be worth checking the price of a decent reconditioned engine, it could be cheaper than rebuilding yours?
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Ben_Copeland
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| posted on 7/8/10 at 06:35 PM |
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Price list that i put together, infact with careful choice off a guy on ebay who sells decent bits i've managed to get it a bit cheaper....
Head Set £43.18
Bottom Set £30.79
Head Bolts £13.40
Timing Belt Kit £69.15
Piston Rings £56.40
Oil Filter £2.06
Water Pump £28.32
Main Bearings £37.60
Bigend Bearings £17.58
Crankshaft Pulley Bolts £7.59
Oil Pump £73.41
£379.47
Obviously you might not need to change some bits... but i'd say thats not a bad price for an engine you know is going to be ok...
Better than buying about £200/250 engine with uncertain history...
plus you wont need to buy new pistons if you have a rebore cos you can buy plus size rings !!!!
[Edited on 7/8/10 by Ben_Copeland]
Ben
Locost Map on Google Maps
Z20LET Astra Turbo, into a Haynes
Roadster
Enter Your Details Here
http://www.facebook.com/EquinoxProducts for all your bodywork needs!
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rusty nuts
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| posted on 7/8/10 at 08:35 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Ben_Copeland
plus you wont need to buy new pistons if you have a rebore cos you can buy plus size rings !!!!
[Edited on 7/8/10 by Ben_Copeland]
If you have a rebore you WILL need over size pistons unless you want loads of piston slap!!
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