Recon engines

[joe-c]

Hi all,

I've got 2litre CU in my 83 Holdsworth and after a few opinions it would seem I would be better off replacing it as I may have an oil leak from one of the heads, an oily spark plug and and losing oil pressure when hot (ie long time in traffic or after a hard run, like up some hills or over 55MPH for a period of time).

Does anyone on here know anything about these people? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/vw-2000cc-CJ- ... 235775f8da" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Any advice welcome.

thanks

[itchyfeet]

My guess is http://elite-engines.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
mixed reviews on here.

[Mojoh]

I don't want to get involved in any sort of poltics, but it is (from my prospective) almost impossible to recondition a WBX or CU Engine for under the 2K mark...., either in Euros or Pounds. The advertising you give links to is misleading or simple bullshit. It's impossible.... because the parts alone (even in what I call a short reconditioning) comes to about a grand.....plus plus. I really don't trust this.

You get what you pay for and if it was my money I wouldn't look at any cheap options when playing with a boxer engine. We recondition 'fixed' price, but to be honest, it is a labour of love and I'm seriously reconsidering what I'm or why I'm doing this work (costing nearly double this advertisment)..... I just love the engines!....., but my accountant doesn't share my passion.

So, from my experience, don't go cheap, because you'll pay a fortune in the end.

PS. I just checked both adverts. I'm scratching my head..... how can they do this for HALF the price that I do.... I just don't understand..... But then the photo's are also mixed. Look again.... My Dad says, 'if it's too good to be true, it's probably isn't'.

Mojoh

[Ian Hulley]

My guess is http://elite-engines.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
mixed reviews on here.

Mine's on about 80,000 miles, nothing to report yet.

Ian

[joe-c]

Thanks for your input everyone.

I guess it tells me what i already know,

That is, could be worth a gamble, but it is a gamble, a bit of luck would be involved.

I'll keep pondering.

thanks again

[Ian Hulley]

Mine is not 'the norm' when it comes to Elite rebuilds as the known good core engine was supplied to them by a very important customer of theirs (and a good friend of mine) with a kit of quality new parts for Elite to fit. The customer had it as his spare and sold it to raise funds for his fledgling business before the Elite warranty expired ... he covered that warranty himself without question or incident.

However, having seen the insides of a failed 'Vege rebuild' a friend bought in a van with receipts of when it was supplied and fitted (complete with the barrels that had 'Good Side' written on them in permanent marker ) and heard details of others which all suffered from 'blue spaghetti' blocking up the cooling system the only realistic option to hit or miss rebuilds is a PROPER recondition job by one of several highly qualified people who will do a quality job BUT not for the sort of money many people are willing to pay.

Just being honest and open with you.

Ian

[Sir Brixalot]

Yes "oldfatandslow" and Elite are one and the same. I seem finally to have got an engine from them that works but it took 5 failed engines multiple breakdowns and low loader rides to get there. One of the decent specialists on here dealt with them in the end and I have done 5k now on this engine . By the way the nice blue paint doesn't appear to be high temperature resistant.

[Ian Hulley]

By the way the nice blue paint doesn't appear to be high temperature resistant.

The 'nice' green paint on mine wasn't either.

Ian

[silverbullet]

Bright emerald green? Had one of those pass through, nearly all the paint was burned off bar a patch on the top bellhousing flange and the engine had been assembled with clear silicone, from the case split line outwards...

[Ian Hulley]

Bright emerald green?

A bit darker, nothing bright about it. A truly 'fetching' shade

No silicone or problems on mine though. It was fitted with the (replacement) speedo reading 106900 I'll have to take note next time I think on and get the real mileage it's done.

Ian

[horizontal kipper]

Cost me around £700 in parts n machining alone when i rebuilt my cu.

[Mojoh]

Well, I'll stick to my guns. I'm struggling at 1K plus in parts costs (trade) and in all honestly, this is NOT a fully, fully reconditioned engine, just the essentials dealt with. (at least I'm really honstest here). If you consider a few prices, you might see where this is going.
Two replacement cylinder heads, an essential on almost ALL wbx rebuilds. £ 500.
Regrind or polish the crank, bearings, plus camshaft bearings. £ 150.
Using original pistons, cleaned, new rings , bores homed. £145.
Proper German Gasket set complete. £120
Oil switches, cross block pipes, Misc rubbers £ 150.
Oil Pump, Water Pump. (essentials) £110.
Rocker Adjusters, full set £ 80.
Push Rod Tubes. We say 4 here. £ 60.
Set of Hydraulic Cam Followers. £ 160.
Recondition the distributor or air box or both? £150
And don't forget a set of plugs, oil, this and that. OK another £200.

Add that lot up and we are not talking about any labour yet!!!!!

So this is just parts on a very average reconditioned unit.
I rest my case, anything under 2K and you are running a time bomb.
Budget towards 2.5K and you might get a nice recon.

I would retire from this engine building job if it weren't for my crazy love of the WBX.
The good news is, I have a job for life, especially when people think they get a recon for 1.2K.
Simply impossible
or the small print is VERY VERY SMALL.

Have fun........ M

[Paul Weeding]

As above really...

I rebuild type 4 engines... Mainly for T2s... And anything sub £2k and it really hasn't been gone through properly!!

The general issues that I find on "rebuilt" engines that I take apart, is that the case and crank have been ignored... Throwing in a new set of bearings doesn't make everything good again..

9 engines out of 10 need a crank re-grind

And cases are a real 50/50 if they need a line bore

So just do some research about who you're going to use before you spend your hard earned!!

[silverbullet]

Sounds like I havent seen enough really bad wbx yet! The cranks seem to be really tough because of their induction-hardened journals, havent had to have one reground yet but my engine building is very much a part-time activity.
No mention of big end bolts (cost and availability...) or conrod rework costs, but its probably cheaper to buy NOS while we can!

[Paul Weeding]

Type 4 cranks tend to be around 0.1mm out of spec when I pull an engine to pieces, while the case is either just in spec or just out... But you are looking at tight tolerance... 70.00-70.04mm on the case main saddles.. So 0.01mm either way and it's gonna need the boring bar through it!!