V8 rebuild costs

will6440

Member
Following my cars recent trip to the rolling road it’s now started to smoke (blue) on the overrun or when being revved and stationary. The oil consumption has also gone up so I think whilst the output of the engine is good something has clearly gone wrong. Just wondering how much I might be in for if I want a basic engine rebuild. I’m not interested in changing it with different heads, I just want it to remain original and true to how rover intended. Any ideas of costs would be great!
 
hard to answer that, its a bit like saying how long is a piece of string? if your really really lucky you might only need to spend say £500 on rings bearings, gaskets a chain and a few other odds and ends, at the other extreme, if it needs rockers, shafts, crank grind and a rebore you could easily be spending 3K rebuilding it
 
There's only one variable and that's if you do it yourself or pay someone, the rest is details within a couple hundred quid. If you take it apart you'll always do bearings, rings, pumps, cam, followers, timing gear, gaskets etc. You'll almost certainly want the rear seal machined to swap the rope for a lip seal regardless of "originality"

As for changing the heads, it looks no different and you'd be nuts not to do it for £100 for more efficiency if yours need any work.
 
I'd check the breathers etc and maybe do a compression test to see if that points you at anything?

If you do go for an engine refresh I'd agree that you should definitely fit a set of the later 10 bolt heads, they are much better! Check out my thread on page six to see when I did the swap myself:

My 3500s project - future daily drive
 
All good to know. I did take the flame traps off and they’re not blocked. Is there another breather I should be looking at?
 
All good to know. I did take the flame traps off and they’re not blocked. Is there another breather I should be looking at?

Behind the air canister there is an engine breather filter. It is normally a fuel filter positioned with the arrow pointing down into the engine. It should be changed every 18,000 miles or 3 years, which ever comes first.

Blue smoke is typically from burning oil, which is either being travelling down the valve guides in a greater than normal quantity, or from worn piston rings. It is not inconceivable that the engine has suffered some form of misadventure whilst on the rolling road. Does it run alright, not make any new sounds? How many miles has it covered? If you have not already, start monitoring oil consumption per 1000 miles. What grade of oil are you using?

Ron.
 
Try doing a compression check hot before getting into removing the engine. This will highlight piston ring issues. It is unlikely that running on the rollers will have harmed valve to guide clearances, although Ron is quite right in saying that can be a cause of smoke, but usually guide wear gives smoke on start up worse than other times.
If your car gave 150bhp that is as good as a fresh engine, so lets hope it is just a case of crank case compression not being vented.

You say you topped up the oil before going, you have not over filled ?
 
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