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[henryd]

As Kevin Wood eludes to, the engine should outlast the bodywork, unless something catastrophic happens. The Bullet claims 212k, I bought it at 88k, so (a very conservative ) 124k in my ownership, and I do like to let those horses free....hammer the shit out of it

Fixed that for you

[Webby the Bear]

i suppose the aim of the thread was really to discuss the engine but obviously body is a major factor.

bearing in mind the car will be 20 years old when i next come to do a timing belt i thought it'd be a good time to chuck in a brand new reman engine.

ive got the heads and they're what il immediately be getting on with. but i think i may bet a block, clean it up and prep it as i gp with new parts.

i mentioned also those thrust bearings the other day and im positive someone made the comment that all omegas had work thrust bearings.... perhaps they were made from poor material to start? its stuff like this id like to renew and put together.

so long and short, whilst the body is important especially from an mot point of view im concentrating on engine for now.... this will also aid in the learning...although i have stripped down and erbuilt a few engines now

[Kevin Wood]

My view is that engines are built very well from new these days. To better a factory built engine on a DIY rebuild you need to go to town, and that costs a lot of money. Until there are obvious signs of wear (poor compression, oil consumption, knocking, etc.) you are much better off maintaining the quality that was built in at the factory by leaving well alone... in my opinion, at any rate.

As said, for a V6, that's probably going to be 200k miles or more. Age doesn't really come into it. Engines deteriorate by mileage and, particularly, cold starts more than age.

[Webby the Bear]

Good points kev.... how on gods earth do the piston rings not wear quickly though? they mustbe made out of kriptonite.

would also the cylinders not need a ''skimming'' or whateva the process is called?

ps look forward to seeing you at the curry night mate 

[Kevin Wood]

Piston rings are extremely hard cast iron so wear is not an issue normally. They can break, as they are very brittle, and they can wear the grooves in the piston crowns in which they sit. They can also lose their "spring" meaning that they don't sit tight against the bores with years of heat cycling. They should be moving against a film of clean oil on the bores if oil changes have been frequent, so bores and rings wear very slowly on a modern engine.

Until bore wear becomes a problem, the rings will seal well. Once you disturb something, you need to allow that seal to re-establish itself. You need to "hone" the bore, so that it's slightly abrasive and will wear back against the rings to form a perfect seal again, and also retain plenty of oil while doing so. Once you have got this far, though, you might well find that the bore is a little worn, or the piston ring grooves are a little loose, and, if replacing the pistons, you might as well go oversize and re-bore it. While the bottom end is apart, you'd be silly not to replace the bearings, and you'd be silly to do that without getting the crank polished and renewing all the seals. Before you know it, to do a job properly, you're looking at probably spending a grand for a V6.

[Webby the Bear]

Piston rings are extremely hard cast iron so wear is not an issue normally. They can break, as they are very brittle, and they can wear the grooves in the piston crowns in which they sit. They can also lose their "spring" meaning that they don't sit tight against the bores with years of heat cycling. They should be moving against a film of clean oil on the bores if oil changes have been frequent, so bores and rings wear very slowly on a modern engine.

Until bore wear becomes a problem, the rings will seal well. Once you disturb something, you need to allow that seal to re-establish itself. You need to "hone" the bore, so that it's slightly abrasive and will wear back against the rings to form a perfect seal again, and also retain plenty of oil while doing so. Once you have got this far, though, you might well find that the bore is a little worn, or the piston ring grooves are a little loose, and, if replacing the pistons, you might as well go oversize and re-bore it. While the bottom end is apart, you'd be silly not to replace the bearings, and you'd be silly to do that without getting the crank polished and renewing all the seals. Before you know it, to do a job properly, you're looking at probably spending a grand for a V6.

That is a shed loada dough 

Say you took a perfectly good block with perfectly good cylinder bores and perfectly good pistons/rings etc (just as an example to help me understand)......Do you think that simply removing a piston and putting it back would disturb it enough to mean that you'd need it honed? And by honing and making it abrasive are we talking fine emery or something a little more technical?

[05omegav6]

Webby, your Christmas holiday assignment is to watch every episode of American Hotrod
A bit glossy an 'american', but plenty of detail hidden in there

[Webby the Bear]

  thanks mate ill check it out and we can add to the discussion 

still think im going to get a block to play with 

[The Red Baron]

thanks mate ill check it out and we can add to the discussion 

still think im going to get a block to play with 

as i said, i have one here. i would remove the oil cooler though as its nearly new.
jon.

[Webby the Bear]

pm sent mate