Engine Rebuild Information

I will give a general overview of what is done to a FULL AP Cars Kent Classic Engine rebuild. 

I will use a Jaguar engine, Jaguar E Type 4.2 series 2 to be precise.  The owner sent me in his existing engine for a rebuild. (see picture below)

Remember we can do this work to every Engine, MGB, Ford Xf Engines, Ford Pinto Engines, Full range of Triumph Engines. Every Modern and Classic Car and Van Engine.

It looked like it had been at the bottom of the River Thames for the last 50 yrs.

It took three weeks on and off to strip this engine, most of which was scrap and as such we purchased a donor engine to rebuild for the customer.

This Jaguar Engine was stripped, this includes core plug removal, oil plug bolts removed and the whole engine and components are hot tanked.

Picture Below: - Engine block is the re`bored.

---

The Engine Block is then re-faced to make sure that it is not distorted.

---

Once the jaguar block has been bored, honed and refaced it is finished honed with fine stones and external wire brushed and cleaned as required then placed back in the hot tank where it is rotated 360 Degree to clean out from all angles.

High pressure air is used on all components before assembly.

The crankshaft on Jaguar engines is very important as they have sludge traps in the big end journal.  The Jaguar's crankshaft big end is hollow and may have a 1/2 inch or 7/8bsp plug allowing access to clean the trap.  It is my experience that many people can not be bothered to do this and it almost certainly creates premature failure of Jaguar's Crankshaft.

The reason they get over looked is it can take many hours to drill and remove these plugs as often they will not undo (see picture below). Once these are removed we regrind the crankshaft to the first oversize as required (see video below)

The con rods are cleaned with end caps removed and small end bushes also removed. The big ends are assembled and measured for tolerance. We can re-size the big end if out of tolerance. The small end brush is replaced and rough honed 0.002 from size then finished honed with a very fine grit wet hone giving a perfect Finish.

Video

The Cylinder head goes through a very rigorous investigation for cracks.  It is pressure tested to 40 psi, providing its all good and passes it then  is checked for guide wear, valve stern wear which is very common on Jaguar engines.
Many people replace the guides only to find that they have nothing because its the valve stern is worn out.

The head in most cases will have all the new valves fitted.  New cam followers. Re-faced cylinder head,re-cut valve seats and guides are required. The existing camshafts are pretty much always is reused  as they hardly ever wear. The early Jaguar engine has 2 bolt cam pulley fixing and these engines the tappets are set to 0.004 and 0.006 at time of assembly. The later engine with four bolt fixing is considerably larger tappet gap.

The list of Components used in my Jaguar E type Engine rebuilds is every thing you see in the next picture and all of the above pre mentioned.  They are to a very high standard and if fitted correctly and maintained will give years of pleasure to enthusiast classic car owner. 

 If you have any questions please email me at: apcars@aol.com

The Engine is reassembled using all of the New parts pictured above which consists of:-

Piston and Rings
Main and Big End Shells with Thrust Washers
Oil Pump
Complete Timing Chain Kit/Guides/Rails/Tensioner/Chains
Head Studs
Head Nuts
Head Washers
Sludge Plugs
Core Plugs
Small End Bushes
Crankshaft Oil Seals
Inlet Valves
Exhaust Valves
Valve Spring Set
Cam Followers
Rocker Cover Dome Nuts
Rocker Cover Copper Washers
Full Gasket Kit Comprising Composite Head Gasket

If you have any questions please email me at:- apcarskent@aol.com

History of the MGB

The MGB tourer was built from 1962 to 1980, with total production reaching 386,789 units.
In 1965, the MGB GT was added to the range, and by the end of production in 1980, 125,323 A grand total of 512,112 tourers and GTs made the MGB the world’s top selling sports car of its era, the first to reach half a million and the top British sports car of all time.

The total UK market volumes were 49,810 tourer and 64,907 GT - perhaps a reflection on UK weather! Many MGBs were re-imported to Britain from America over the years as demand for ‘classic’ versions grew.

The MGB engine in the early cars had a three main bearing crankshaft and offset con rods it also had a long camfollower and shorter push rod. This was very similar to the 1500 MGA. The later B series engines had 5 main bearing crankshafts longer push rods and a light weight shorter follower. The connecting rod was also changed to a straight con rod. All MG engines will require unleaded valves seats fitted at the time of being rebuilt as the original cast iron casting is not suitable especially when it has had the seat cut removing years of lead impregnation removed.

The MGB’s proved there reliability having Successes included outright wins of the 1965 Guards 1000 race (Brands Hatch) and the 1966 Marathon de la Route 84hrs (Nurburgring); there were class wins at Sebring in 1966 and 1967, in the 1966 Targa Florio and in the 1966 1000km Spa race. At the 1964 and 1965 Le Mans 24 hr events, where simply to finish was an achievement, the MGB netted second place in class each time.

A full remanufactured engine for a 1800 5 main MGB engine is £1200 plus VAT this would include new parts as follows:

See details of restoration of an old 1600 MGA Engine block.

 

PISTONS	PISTON RINGS	REBORE BLOCK
BIG END BEARINGS	REGRIND CRANKSHAFT	MAIN BEARINGS
CAMSHAFT	CAM FOLLOWERS	OIL PUMP
GASKET KIT	SEAL KIT	TIMING CHAIN
CHAIN TENSIONER	ROCKER SHAFT	ROCKER BUSHES