Engine refurb

[S2Mick]

Bought the car with 68k on the clock and it had been stood for 10 years.
Looking to have the engine assessed and probably refurbed.
What should a ball park figure be for a top end refurb (valves, guides, oil seals and grinding)
Bottom end (honing, new rings, crank grind and re shell)
Plus all gaskets and seals
I'm making the assumption there's no cracked heads etc.
Cheers

[phillpot]

68K ? Why it's barely run in!

Unless there is an issue leave well alone

[S2Mick]

Aye, that was the first instinct but don't want to be putting her all back together to discover (probably over on the west coast of Scotland somewhere) that I've a 3hr trip home in the back of an AA truck with a silently fuming wife to look forward to.

[v8s4me]

As above. If you want to be sure, do a compression test and connect a capillary oil pressure gauge. If all the figures check out then leave it alone.

[S2Mick]

S2Mick said:

Bought the car with 68k on the clock and it had been stood for 10 years.
Looking to have the engine assessed and probably refurbed.
What should a ball park figure be for a top end refurb (valves, guides, oil seals and grinding)
Bottom end (honing, new rings, crank grind and re shell)
Plus all gaskets and seals
I'm making the assumption there's no cracked heads etc.
Cheers

Suppose the question should have been "Could anyone recommend an engineering workshop in the Central belt of Scotland that is familiar with the Cologne lump and does assessments / refurbs ?"

[S2Mick]

v8s4me said:

As above. If you want to be sure, do a compression test and connect a capillary oil pressure gauge. If all the figures check out then leave it alone.

Thanks for that, we did have her going before the strip down and the oil pressure gauge in the cockpit was registering above 50.
She did run rough although that was probably a combination of ten year old petrol and a malfunctioning distributor cap.
Just want to 'bottom' everything before she goes back on the road but advice appreciated

[phillpot]

S2Mick said:

I've a 3hr trip home in the back of an AA truck with a silently fuming wife to look forward to.

Ten years of Eurotours and no ones engine has gone "bang", breakdowns are invariably caused by ancillaries, be it cooling, electrical or fuel

[S2Mick]

phillpot said:

Ten years of Eurotours and no ones engine has gone "bang", breakdowns are invariably caused by ancillaries, be it cooling, electrical or fuel

Sage, valuable and pertinent advice, thanks for the benefit of your experience. Love this forum.
Wishing you all the best for the forthcoming festivities and a more normal 2021

[djzcarr]

S2Mick said:

Bought the car with 68k on the clock and it had been stood for 10 years.
Looking to have the engine assessed and probably refurbed.
What should a ball park figure be for a top end refurb (valves, guides, oil seals and grinding)
Bottom end (honing, new rings, crank grind and re shell)
Plus all gaskets and seals
I'm making the assumption there's no cracked heads etc.
Cheers

I had mine done in the central belt at the start of lockdown. Engine was on 94K. Would have been around 2k for the above work. I ended up with new pistons and rebore as water had got in while the engine was in storage over the winter it was out the car. Final bill was 3k. Really happy with the work and do not think it was expensive. I know someone that had a 4 pot R53 MINI engine with similar work and that was 2k.

[magpies]

£3k would go a long way to replace the Cologne with a Jag, also get an extra 100 bhp.
Check out both Blue30 (Terry) and magpies (me) build threads
I know of another 2 persons about to do the same conversion

[djzcarr]

Swap the engine to something other than factory supplied and in my eyes its no longer a factory TVR it starts morphing into a kit car with a TVR badge.

[GreenV8S]

djzcarr said:

Swap the engine to something other than factory supplied and in my eyes its no longer a factory TVR

I think it's entirely within the spirit of TVR. That's basically how the original TVRs evolved, up until the AJP train wreck. These days you'll struggle to find two TVRs the same, and if you do they'll probably both be different to how they left the factory.

[Bercilac]

I thought long and hard about my S1 and decided to keep it stock, but even then I ended up with Griff seats, GAZ coil overs, a motor sport fuel pump with pre-filter, modern wiring connectors, rose jointed adjustable drop links, poly bushes and braided brake hoses, so not standard at all!

[Fefeu52]

I completely agree with phillpot. If you want to spend money to increase reliability of your car, work on the cooling system (new radiator, new heater matrix, water pump, thermostat), on the fuel system (pump, pressure regulator, hose, injectors), on the harness and all electrical devices, even if you can afford, a fully mapable modern ECU. But concerning the short block, at 68k miles, there is pretty nothing to do. This block is pretty bullet proof. Mine has twice this mileage and compression values are perfect. Replace the clutch (disk, bearing and slave cylinder), oil sump and rocker covers gaskets. Is it a 2.8l or a 2.9l ?

[Blue 30]

Most past low volume production cars used other manufacturers parts &/or assemblies. So are they all kit cars ?
I own my dad's work pen knife. It's only had x6 new blades, and x4 new handles, but it's original !
Cars are built to be used, so that's what I have done with mine, and if/when parts wear out, I replace them, with either original, copy, or substitute parts. At least we're out there doing it.
It's lovely to see original, never used cars, but they are so soul less. You may have something locked away, pampered, never used.
It'll still be there when you're gone. And who ever gets it, will sell it on.
So go into the garage, wake it up, and bloomin use & enjoy it.
Life's too short.
PS. If I still have my S when ice engines are banned, petrol is no longer made, and I'm still capable of weilding a spanner, don't be surprised to see mine out on the road with a steam boiler & smoke stack, or covered with solar panels and several hundreds of AA batteries under the bonnet, connected to a scalextrix motor